20 June 2011
Summer Research Success
Law students are now well into their summer jobs and externships and we hope it's going well. Don't forget the law library is still around to help if you get stuck, so don't …
14 June 2011
Dead Precedents
The ABA Journal had an interesting article last month discussing the Supreme Court's practice of stealth overruling. This is a practice in which the justices avoid expressly overruling precedent, but in effect do overrule it by …
04 May 2011
50 State Surveys
One of the most daunting and painful research projects asked of research assistants is the 50 state survey. In short, this requires you to find the law on a particular topic in all …
28 April 2011
25 April 2011
Summer Research Help – 2011
Classes are done. Finals are over. But, in law school there's always work to do, even if it is of a different sort. We wish luck to all of you working on the …
19 April 2011
Alternatives to Westlaw/Lexis
My last post laid out Westlaw and Lexis policies for summer access for law students. There may be times during the summer where you won't qualify for student access and you may be looking for some free sources …
07 April 2011
Changes to Reserve Room
If you've looked for something recently in the Reserve Room (the enclosed room across from the Reference Desk), you've likely noticed things have changed a bit. In an attempt to provide better access …
06 April 2011
The Search For Legislative Intent
Legislative history research is a skill all aspiring lawyers should gain. Because this type of research doesn't come up as often as statutory or case law research, it can be difficult to remember how …
21 March 2011
State Secrets
If you're interested in researching the state secrets privilege, you may be interested in a new State Secrets Archive from the Georgetown Law School. The archive has case law, litigation documents, executive branch materials, news …
11 March 2011
Topic Bank
Trying to come up with a topic can be one of the hardest parts of researching and writing a paper. To help, the Litigation Section of the Utah State Bar has recently initiated a topic bank focused …
17 February 2011
Historical Utah Senate Bills
State legislative history can be a beast, especially when you have to go beyond the 1990s. Luckily, the Utah State Archives is working to make things a bit easier for Utah legislative history …
10 February 2011
Legislative Process
Understanding what happens on the floor of the House or Senate can be complicated. You've heard about filibusters and cloture, but there are a number of other particular rules and procedures followed on …
02 February 2011
Google Scholar Legal Opinions by Court
It's been over a year now since Google Scholar's addition of free, searchable legal opinions. This is a great option for law students and attorneys looking to do some cheap searching to find …
19 January 2011
Fastcase
The Law Library has recently acquired access to Fastcase, a low-cost alternative to Westlaw and LexisNexis. As attorneys look to cut costs, legal research systems like Fastcase are becoming more popular. Currently 18 …
07 January 2011
Ask Us
With a new semester upon us we want to remind you of your options for getting research help. Hopefully you are aware that reference assistance is available in person at the 2d floor …
19 November 2010
Law Libraries After Law School
Attorney, Edward Elkins, explores some of the reasons to head back to the law library after graduation in "Your Law School's Library is Your Best Friend...Really." Attorneys are welcome in our library and …
08 November 2010
Utah Session Laws
HeinOnline has recently completed their run of Utah Session Laws, taking them back to 1851. This is a tremendous asset to Utah legal researchers, as HeinOnline's Utah session laws previously only went back …
27 October 2010
Effective Date on Westlaw
Legal researchers often ask me how to find out what a specific statutory section said on a specific date. There are a few ways to approach the problem. Westlaw's effective date tool is …
