Research

Attention Legal Practice Students

Winter is nearly over and spring is just around the corner. If you are in LP, this means the deadline for satisfying your RSW requirement is coming closer and closer.

To avoid being left out in the cold, please don’t wait until the last minute to register for the classes you really want to take.

In addition to our proven winners, the library has added three new Research Skills Workshops to this semester’s lineup:

Premium Legal Research Sources beyond Bloomberg Law, Lexis Advance & Westlaw Next

  • Review of the Legislative Process
  • Secondary Sources

To get more details and to register for the classes of your choice, please visit http://www.nyls.edu/library/for_students/library_research_classes/ .

Be My (Library) Valentine

What are you looking for this Valentine’s Day?  Love? Adventure? Excitement?   Head over to the Library and join the annual Find Love in the Library Info Hunt!  Joining is simple (and free).  Just answer 3 of the 6 questions, submit your answers either by email (reference@nyls.edu) or by dropping your answer sheet in the raffle drum at the Reference Desk.  Drawing is on Thursday, February 12, 5:30 pm.  Our prizes this year includes Amazon gift cards, OneCard guest cards, LexisNexis rewards points, research guides and study aids.  There will also be sweets and treats at the drawing. Hope to see you there!​

Haunted Halloween Hunt

Happy Halloween from the Mendik Library!

As an early Halloween treat, here’s your opportunity to WIN one of more than a dozen great study aids, texts, and other prizes we’ll be giving away (samples below).  Just answer any 3 of the 6 Haunted Halloween Info Hunt questions.  Answer all 6 and we’ll double your chances to win by adding a second entry for you. Your answer doesn’t need to be perfect—just close!

Click here to access the questions.  Each slide includes just one question, along with step-by-step instructions to get you to the answer.

Print this PDF answer sheet (or pick up a copy at the Reference Desk) and drop it in our Reference Desk Raffle Drum by 5 PM on Thursday, October 30.  Drawing will be held on Thursday, October 30 at 5:30 p.m. right outside the library.

Winners will choose from these and more prizes:

A Lawyer Writes: A Practical Guide to Legal Analysis
A Practical Approach to Client Interviewing, Counseling, and Decision-Making: For Clinical Programs and Practical Skills Courses
Administrative Law Stories
Basic Legal Research: Tools and Strategies
Black Letter Outlines: Wills, Trusts, & Future Interests
Civil Procedure: Cases, Materials, and Questions
Civil Rights Law and Practice
Contract Law: Flowcharts and Cases
Demystifying the first year of law school : a guide to the 1L experience
Employee Benefits Law: Qualification and ERISA Requirements
Estates and Future Interests in a Nutshell
Inside Bankruptcy Law: What Matters and Why
Inside Property Law: What Matters and Why
Inside Sales and Leases: What Matters and Why
Just Writing: Grammar, Punctuation, and Style for the Legal Writer
Legal Ethics in a Nutshell
Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing: Structure, Strategy and Style
New York Criminal Statutes and Rules
Principles of Securities Regulation
Questions and Answers: Administrative Law
Questions and Answers: Family Law
Questions and Answers: Torts
Questions and Answers: Trademark and Unfair Competition
Questions and Answers: Civil Procedure
Questions and Answers: Environmental Law
Questions and Answers: Evidence
Questions and Answers: Professional Responsibility
Real Estate Finance in a Nutshell
Skills and Values: Evidence
Sum+Substance Quick Review Series: Constitutional Law
Sum+Substance Quick Review Series: Evidence
Sum+Substance Quick Review Series: Wills, Trusts, and Estates
Understanding Modern Real Estate Transactions
Understanding Secured Transactions
Wills, Trusts and Estates
Writing and Analysis in the Law

There’s a Form for That!

Need to draft a contract or pleading and don’t know where to start?  Don’t re-invent the wheel because…there’s a form for that!

Practicing lawyers will often refer to forms when drafting standard legal documents.  Legal forms can be found on the Internet, on subscription databases and in print.  Because there are so many places you can look, we suggest you start with the Mendik Library’s Legal Forms guide; it will direct you to sources that provide forms for a variety of practice areas.

When using a form, remember that it is important to review all relevant laws and rules.  Forms are not etched in stone and should be tailored (and updated) to conform to your particular case!

And the Winners are . . .

We are pleased to announce the winners of our Legally Clueless Info Hunt held last Thursday, August 28.

Congratulations to: Juliet Knapp-Vega, Barbie Melendez, John Michalski, Amelia Maddox, Kevin McLafferty, Daniel Oquendo, Kyle Reed, and Laura Rion.    Among the prizes our winners picked were Black’s Law Dictionary, study aids in Contract Law, Torts, Civil Procedure, and Property Law, a $10 OneCard guest card, and 500 Lexis points.   We also wanted to thank ALL participants for joining in what we hope you found to be a fun learning experience!

Congratulations also to our “Keep your coffee off us for a chance to have coffee on us” winners:  Evelina Sierzputowska, Jacqueline Henry Lucio, Eddie Balkus, and Ally Rockolf, each of whom will receive a $5 OneCard guest card.

There will be more chances to win later this semester.  Stay tuned!  Our next Info Hunt will brew in time for Halloween (but don’t be scared).

Make The Library Your Home Office

Summer’s finally here! Wherever you may be working or studying this summer, think of the Mendik Library as your home office.  Reference librarians are available all summer, including most weekends, to help with any research projects.  If you’re having difficulty with a particular research question, don’t hesitate to call, e-mail, or visit the library.  Our schedule is always posted on our home page.

All library resources remain available to you during the summer.  Be sure to take advantage of our online databases, including HeinOnline and Bloomberg BNA.  These resources can be found in the Electronic Resources quadrant on our home page.  Looking for a good treatise?  Check out our Treatises by Topic page for top treatises organized by subject.  Be sure to review our Current Awareness research guide to help you stay informed about current legal developments.

Visit our website for special summer access provisions and usage policies for Westlaw, Lexis and Bloomberg Law.

We’re looking forward to working with you this summer!

Black’s is the New . . . Black’s

Thomson Reuters has just published a new edition (the tenth) of Black’s Law Dictionary, the well-known and highly regarded legal dictionary.  Check this blog post from Dewey B Strategic for a great photo of all ten editions with an annotated timeline.  The post also provides a brief history of Black’s and summarizes some of its new features.

There is still time to enter the Mendik Library’s Info Hunt!

To enter the drawing, simply answer six questions using these easy step-by-step instructions.  They’ll lead you right to the correct answers.  You don’t have to get the answers right and you’ll learn a lot in the process!  This year’s prizes include study guides, texts, NYLS OneCards, and more!

Submit your completed answer sheet at the Reference Desk or email it to reference@nyls.edu before 5 pm on Tuesday, April 1.  The drawing will take place outside the Library entrance on Tuesday, April 1 at 5:40 pm.  Winners need not be present, but an additional entry form will be given to all who attend the drawing.

Can You Outsmart the Jester?

Can you outsmart the Jester’s tricks?  Find out by joining the Mendik Library’s Annual April Fool’s Info Hunt.

To enter the drawing, simply answer six questions using these easy step-by-step instructions.  They’ll lead you right to the correct answers.  You don’t have to get the answers right and you’ll learn a lot in the process!  This year’s prizes include study guides, texts, NYLS OneCards, and more!

Submit your completed answer sheet at the Reference Desk or email it to reference@nyls.edu before 5 pm on Tuesday, April 1.  The drawing will take place outside the Library entrance on Tuesday, April 1 at 5:40 pm.  Winners need not be present, but an additional entry form will be given to all who attend the drawing.