ALR Student’s Corner: The Environmental Law Practice Guide — An Explosion of Environmental Exposition

Prior to exploring the Environmental Law Practice Guide, I often wondered—why would I use a treatise to research a legal topic when I can use online research tools such as Westlaw or LexisNexis? What possible benefits could there be in physically picking up a print version of something I can find online? So, I picked up Volume 1 of the treatise and flipped through it and had an instantaneous moment of clarity – this treatise had it all, and I simply could not believe it.

Treatises generally provide a neutral, yet broad scope on a specific legal topic, while simultaneously providing historical analysis, statutory authority, and some narrow topical depth. Some treatises also feature forms or useful practice tools. I expected this when I chose the Environmental Law Practice Guide. I also expected general information about each type of environmental law. Instead, I found oceans of information that would ordinarily take weeks or months to compile without the help of this multi-volume series.

Why on earth was I so excited over this treatise? Perhaps because I spent seven years of my former professional life as an environmental consultant for industrial manufacturing companies working on so many different environmental and legal issues that took teams of people to keep all of them straight. Each client had his own specific set of environmental issues: permit requirements; reporting requirements; waste disposal, health and safety issues; treatment, storage and disposal concerns; and on-and-on. In these eleven volumes, I found, not only the holy grail of information, the relevant and current law for each type of environmental issue, but also forms, definitions, acronyms, history, and requirements. A wave of jealousy hit me as I realized how “past me” would have completely benefited from this resource as a consultant, and how much time “future me” as an attorney would save (insert maniacal laugh).

To locate this resource, go to the “Treatise” section of the law library and find call number KF3375.Z95E58. This is an eleven-volume practice guide, which spans four Units covering both state and federal environmental law. The Units are: 1) Procedures, 2) Environmental Quality, 3) Regulated Substances and Waste Management, and 4) States. The Units are then broken down into forty-one Chapters, such as Hazardous Waste, Endangered Species, or Environmental Impact Statements. The Chapters are further broken down into Parts: Part A Legal Background; Part B Procedural Guide; Part C Forms; Part D Reference Guide. Each environmental topic or Chapter is laid out in the exact same manner, even though the contents of each Chapter are very different to one another. The entire organizational format is reflected in the General Table of Contents. The pocket part, or the “Publication Update,” which is updated several times per year, is located at the very front of the first volume and reflects the most current updates.

Additionally, there is a “How to Use This Publication” which is particularly helpful, because the resource has grown in size considerably as the area of law has grown to impact so many different types of transactions. The treatise also includes an Internet Directory after each topical chapter for free and useful internet sources narrowly tailored to the Chapter. Overall, this organization is ideal for each environmental topic because one client may have more than one issue and the legal background, procedural guide, forms, and references are all in the same location for easy and quick access.

In the last volume, I found something incredibly useful—an acronym table that lists and defines over 1,400 of the pesky environmental acronyms that seem to plague this field of law. The only critique I have about this treatise is the lack of visual rhetoric, photos, color, or graphics. But honestly, environmental attorneys, consultants, or “science-types” do not need the fluff and prefer to get to the statistics, science, answers, and the law, which this resource provides in abundance.

To put this treatise to the test, I conducted a brief research experience on a specific environmental topic: the definition of hazardous waste. This may seem like an easy topic to search, but under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the definition of hazardous waste can be different depending on how the materials are used, re-used, recycled, or reclaimed. Locating this topic under Chapter 26, Hazardous Waste, was very simple. I used the search terms, “hazardous waste,” “RCRA,” and “solid waste,” which all lead directly to Chapter 26. The legal background defines the statutory authority and many cases that describe the various interpretations.

Overall, this treatise covers the entire field of environmental law and can be an invaluable tool for attorneys, regulators, corporate and facility managers, and environmental consultants—all who deal with these real environmental problems. Environmental Law Practice Guide may not be able to answer every environmental issue, but this treatise will certainly lead the researcher in the right direction, and not on a fishing expedition.

~ Kelly Johnson, Class of 2013 ~

ALR Student’s Corner: North Carolina Trial Judges’ Bench Book

Do you need information regarding divorce or simple assault in North Carolina?  Need annotations to case law regarding a violation of a 50B order or defrauding an innkeeper?  Before you Google it or browse the North Carolina General Statutes, try looking first at the North Carolina Trial Judges’ Bench Book.

The Bench Book can be found in the Reference Carolinas section of the Charlotte School of Law Library.  It is contained in two large, white, three-ring binders with dark red lettering on the cover and spine.  The North Carolina Bench Book, as the name suggests, contains information on North Carolina law.  Volume one contains information on family law, and volume two contains information on judicial powers, duties, and conduct; criminal law and procedure; and civil trial and procedure.  The table of contents in each volume is specific to that volume, but also contains a basic outline of the other volume.  Each is broken down into chapters or subtopics of the main subject.  For example, the family law volume contains chapters on divorce, child custody, alimony, and equitable distribution.  Each chapter is also divided into sections which can be found in the table of contents at the beginning of each chapter. For example, the chapter on child custody is divided into sections such as venue, jurisdiction, and the definition of custody.  There is also an index at the end of each chapter and common forms which can be copied and filled out.  I feel the sections are efficiently organized because a researcher can identify a main issue and then navigate through its respective sections and subsections in a very precise manner.

The School of Government at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill publishes the Bench Book.  The School also publishes the North Carolina Crimes book, which our library also has.  The information contained in the Bench Book is updated on a rotating basis as needed.  The Library’s copy is from 2011.  In volume one, all the chapters but domestic violence and termination of parental rights were updated in the 2012 online version (available at http://www.sog.unc.edu).  Volume two is updated entirely through the 2011 print version.

Here is an example of how to use the Bench Book.

A client walks into your office and tells you that she is newly divorced and a mother with two young children.  While she and her ex-husband share joint physical custody, he is an alcoholic and, for this reason, she wants to be in control of major decisions affecting the kids.  After taking down some basic information, you assure her that you will research her situation and be in touch.  After she leaves, you decide to consult a copy of the Bench Book that you received as a gift for passing the bar.

The first step is to determine what volume applies to the given facts.  Since the situation involves a divorced couple and the major life decisions of two young children, volume one seems appropriate.  Flip to its table of contents and locate the page number for “Chapter 4 – Child Custody” since the client’s issue involves parental control over children.

Each of the Chapters has its own table of contents to help navigate through the various subsections.  For instance, “Chapter 4 – Child Custody” breaks down further into subtopics, like “definition of custody,” where you will find the definitions for both legal and physical custody.

The information here states that case law has held legal custody to include the decision-making process of parents and that a parent may have sole legal custody or joint legal custody.  Based on this information and the client’s request, you determine she is best served by pursuing an order for sole legal custody.  This same information could also have been found by searching the index at the end of the chapter.

The Bench Book is an all-in-one source for case law, statutory law, and forms in North Carolina.  You can find the same basic statutory information online at www.ncleg.net for free.  There is generally no free equivalent for case law materials; however, the law itself can occasionally be found on free legal websites such as http://www.scfamilylaw.com or by using Google Scholar.  The downside to both of these sources is their lack of annotations.  Finally, copies of forms can be found at the Mecklenburg County Self Serve Center or online at www.nccourts.org.

~ David Sherman, Class of 2013 ~

ALR Student’s Corner: Prosser on Torts

We speak often of legal luminaries at Charlotte School of Law.  All of them reside inside our library.  Their works, ideals, thoughts, and aspirations for our profession are all found on the shelves of our library waiting for your approval or disdain.  

One such great thinker is Dean William L. Prosser; his work Prosser on Torts stands high in the world of treatises [W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts (5^th ed. 1984) (call number  KF1250 .P73 1984)].  If you want a complete and thorough understanding of the law of torts and its ramifications on society, pick up this amazing treatise by a true giant in our profession.

Prosser on Torts is laid out in a chapter format, starting with a thorough introduction into the law of torts, winding through the intentional torts, negligence, products liability, privacy, and ending with immunities.   Each of the 25 chapters contains a pithy review of the law accompanied by an often-time acerbic wit.  It is also a fundamental road map to our law and how it was shaped.  Don’t overlook the fact that this book, in earlier editions, contained our nation’s nascent ideas of privacy, well before Griswold and New York Times v. Sullivan.  Chapter 20, Privacy, provides an insightful and thorough examination of an area of law that would not come into fashion until 20 years after Prosser’s death.  Yet, his thoughts and words still led our formation of this emerging body of law.

As Prosser notes in his chapter on Privacy, “(p)rior to the year 1890, no English or American court had ever granted relief expressly based upon the invasion of (privacy).  Id. p. 849.  Prosser forwards his argument for recognition of a “right of privacy” by announcing what is now common knowledge among law students: the elements necessary to prove the four privacy torts.  It is in this treatise that we find our common understanding for the elementary constructs of privacy. “It is clear, however, that there must be something in the nature of prying or intrusion, and that mere noises which disturb a church congregation, or bad manners, harsh names, and insulting gestures in public are not enough.  It is clear also that the intrusion must be something which would be offensive or objectionable to a reasonable person.”  Yes, there he is, the root of our most favored of persons: the reasonable man.  We owe it to Prosser.

If you fail to pick up this treatise, you’ll also miss some great quotes that all your older attorney peers have committed to memory long ago.  “Assault and battery go together like ham and eggs.”  Classic Prosser.  “The thing speaks for itself, (referring to the doctrine of res ipsa) but what the hell is it saying.”  You simply can’t miss out on legal explanations like that.

Prosser on Torts is also a great research tool.   Each topic segment contains a list of Westlaw Reference Tools that can be used to find more authority on a given topic.  Id. at 7.  For instance, the Introduction lists “379k1” (Use and Occupation of Realty) as an example of a Digest Topic and Key Number.   Plugging these into Westlaw Classic or WestlawNext will produce a wealth of additional resources to expand your research.   Accompanying this example in Prosser is the following Terms and Connectors Boolean search string: topic(torts) & reasonabl* unreasonabl* /20 interfer! /20 interest*.  This search in Westlaw Classic returns over 450 federal and state cases and numerous secondary sources in the results.  To narrow these, a researcher merely has to restrict by source or jurisdiction or use the “Locate in Results” feature.

Another time saving research tool found in Prosser is the comprehensive appendix.  Appendix A provides a complete, albeit dated, detailed introduction to Westlaw Classic researching methods for specific torts-related searching.  This is a great resource to perfect Boolean searching.  Id. at 1082.  The Index also provides a useful tool when a general topic search is all that is required.  If you know a general topic, the Index will lead you to a treasure trove of sources within the chapters that will prove to be worthy for even the most stingy of research budgets.

Prosser on Torts proves that blind searching with Google or Bing may be “free and easy” but not necessarily free or easy.  Using a treatise to narrow and target your research will likely produce more relevant and efficient results.  The competitive job market demands that we reduce our hours of research and, at the same time, increase the relevancy of our search results.  Pick up and use Prosser on Torts and you may well be on your way to that sought after title of research guru.

~ Adam Thornton, L ‘14 ~

ALR Student’s Corner: Police Misconduct Law and Litigation

The word “treatise” made me cringe my first semester of law school.  Coming from a business background, I had no idea what a treatise was other than a text recommended by my professor.  After receiving exposure to treatises through a practical exercise, their value as a free research tool became apparent to me.  This post will examine a criminal law treatise and is intended to help illustrate how using a treatise can easily enhance legal research or knowledge of a specific area of law.

Police officers play a prominent role in American society. They help ensure order by enforcing federal, state and local laws.  As a result, police officers are equipped with extreme power, but they pose a threat to society if their power is not restricted and monitored.  The problems created by police misconduct are of particular concern for individuals of a minority race, class or gender, but have the potential to affect any American as a result of a violation of our Constitutional Rights.  For example, the Federal Government’s “War on Drugs” has had a huge impact on civil liberties as police officers and judges have ignored the Bill of Rights to enforce narcotics laws.  The potential dangers of police misconduct are clear, but how is it handled in our judicial system? In order to create a greater understanding of this area of the law, a good starting place is the treatise, Police Misconduct: Law and Litigation (3^rd ed. 2012).

Locating the Treatise

In order to utilize the treatise, you must first physically find it in the library.  The book is located in the Treatise section in the northwest section of the Charlotte Law library.  Once you have identified the call number (KF1307 Av38p) from the Library catalog and located the treatise section of the library, proceed to the Torts / Products Liability shelf.  The book is about three-quarters of the way down the aisle on the left hand side, third shelf from the top.

Contents of the Treatise

Now that you know how to locate the book, we can explore its contents.   The book is contained in a single volume that was initially printed in 1977; two additional editions followed, the most recent in 2012.  The book contains a Table of Contents, Index, Sample Pleadings and Table of Cases which allows for practicing attorneys to quickly locate relevant subject areas.  This book provides an in-depth analysis of each step in the police misconduct proceedings process from actionable conduct to the charge of the jury.  There is discussion of each important litigation step supplemented by relevant case law.

Research Exercise

We now turn our attention to using the treatise as a secondary source.  For this exercise, imagine that you are a summer associate at a Criminal Law firm.  You are asked to take notes in a client consultation.  The client, a 22-year-old female, was Tasered after police responded to a noise complaint at her apartment.  She was charged with aiding and abetting alcohol to minors and resisting arrest.  After the meeting, your task is to find case law discussing the reasonableness of the use of a Taser.  The firm has access to Westlaw, but is charged for each search; so, to minimize costs, you must start your research with secondary sources at the CSL Law Library.  To start your research, you look for “Taser” in the index of Police Misconduct: Law and Litigation.  Unfortunately, the term is not listed in the table of contents (TOC) or the index.  Before turning to a different secondary source, you try “Excessive force” as a search term, and are then directed to various subparts of chapter 2.  Confused about where in chapter 2 to start, you reference the TOC and a section labeled, “Excessive Force and Physical Brutality.”  Having isolated the relevant portion of the book, you flip to the section and find a discussion on the use of Tasers by police officers (p. 115).  This section provides a good starting point for your research because the discussion of the law relating to the use of Tasers is current and, equally important, annotated to key federal authorities that can be used on Westlaw to create a custom digest.

Conclusion

Police Misconduct: Law and Litigation is a good resource for any criminal attorney dealing with police misconduct, because the treatise clearly and logically lays out the entire judicial process related to this kind of litigation.  A notable feature of the treatise that I found very helpful is the sample complaints section located in Appendix B.  However, the authors might have assisted researchers further by providing more charts and checklists throughout the book (like those found in Appendix A).  Charts help engage the reader and highlight key concepts in the text.

In order to supplement the materials in the treatise, a reader should visit The National Police Accountability Project website.  The website is free and updated by an organization of plaintiffs’ attorneys who work on police misconduct cases with the intent to end police abuse.

Citations

Michael Avery et al, Police Misconduct Law and Litigation (West Publ’g, 3^rd ed. 2012)

National Police Accountability Project, http://www.nlg-npap.org

 ~ Brian Dunaway, Class of 2014 ~

ALR Student’s Corner: Regulations.gov Blog

The Regulations.gov is a great place to locate information on the development of Federal regulations (e.g Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Environmental Protection Agency) issued by the United States government. This site provides helpful information regarding various rules, proposed rules, and public comments on regulatory issues that affect the entire society.  Regulations.gov is managed by the eRulemaking Program Management Office with the assistance of several federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency. The eRulemaking Program was created in 2002 as an E-Government project. Additionally, Regulations.gov aims to promote more efficient and effective rulemaking through public involvement.

Searching Regulations.gov.

 

Let’s research whether the Bureau of Prison has enacted or proposed any new rules that deal with overcrowding and housing conditions in federal prisons.  First, we need to click the Advanced Search link located in the middle of the page, just below the main search box.  When using the “Advance Search” field, there are options to limit your search results to keywords, document types, and by agency or docket.  A keyword search is search based on a general topic and common words used in the rule or topic. The document type option allows the user to limit the search result document to public submission, notice, rule, proposed rule and/or other supporting and related material.

Let’s now run a keyword search by typing “housing condition” in the text box.  Scroll down to middle of the page and in the “By Agency” box, type “Federal Prisons Bureau.” This section encompasses an auto-fill feature that allows the user to limit the agencies results as the text is being typed. Then click, search.  When searching by agency filed, we can search particular agencies to locate documents in a particular area of law.

After the page redirects, you will see a list of two proposed rules, one enacted rule, and three public submissions.  The page is displayed by title, document type, agency,  document identification, and posted date. Using the option field located at top left of page, you can sort your results by display topic, filter the result by other agencies, by category, or by comment status.

By clicking on an enacted rule, you can review the comments, the summary of rules, and the contents of the new rules.  By clicking on the Proposal Rule, you can review the notice of proposal changes, the deadline, the procedure for submitting comments, and the summary of proposal changes. The Public Submission is a detailed list of comments submitted by the community.

After reviewing the regulation of interest, you can provide comments to a document that is open for comments. To do so, click the “Submit a Comment” link either on the Search Results page or Document Details page.

After click the “Submit a Comment” link, a web form will open and allow you to enter your contact information and submit a comment.  The comment will be sent directly to the particular agency.

After submitting your comment, a comment tracking number will be issued.  This number can be used to quickly search for and locate your comment once it has been posted to Regulations.gov. This number is also permanently tied to your comment.  (Note: Since the Federal Prison Bureau comments for housing condition have closed, the section above is an illustration on how to submit a comment.)  

~Brian Tyson, L’12~

ALR Student’s Corner: LegalTrac

LegalTrac is a resource which can be used to find legal publications.  It provides indexing for more than 1,400 titles including major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals and international legal journals, along with law-related articles from over 1,000 additional business and general interest titles.  All articles contained in LegalTrac have been published between 1980 and 2012.  Currently 1,635,213 articles can be found in LegalTrac as of April 1, 2012.

LegalTrac may be accessed through the Charlotte School of Law homepage by clicking on “Law Library”–>”Electronic Resources”–>”A-Z Index of Databases” tab, then locate “LegalTrac” under “L”.

To locate articles within LegalTrac you may begin with a basic search.  This basic search allows you the choice of searching either by keyword, subject, publication title, or entire document.  As you enter one or more words into the input box to begin a search, a “search assist” feature will make suggestions based on the text you type.  You may further limit your search by checking one or more of the boxes below the input box.  And it is that simple!  Just click the search icon and the system will display your results, with the documents organized by type of content.  You may further refine your results in the left-hand sidebar.

You may also choose to search for a publication by clicking on the “Publication Search” tab.

This screen allows you to search for a specific publication.  You may either click on “List All Publications” above the search box which yields a list of all 2,757 publications in LegalTrac’s database, or you can type a search term to locate a relevant publication.  For example, if you wished to find a publication on criminal law you would begin by typing “criminal law” into the search box.  As you type this term search assist will begin populating relevant publications in a dropdown form as illustrated:

You may either select a publication which populates or finish typing your term then click on the search icon to receive a list of relevant publications.  You may further refine your results to publications with full text and/or to peer-reviewed publications.  It is important to know, as well, that not all articles are available in full text, but rather some articles found in LegalTrac are only available as citations or abstracts.

LegalTrac can be a valuable resource in a search for legal articles and publications.  You will find the site is very user-friendly unlike some other electronic research resources.

~Emily Little, L’12~

ALR Student’s Corner: LLRX

LLRX.com is an online journal that provides legal and other professionals with up-to-date information on research and technology-related issues.  The best part is LLRX is completely free!

LLRX.com provides monthly installments of new guides, articles, and topical resources. The areas in which LLRX covers can be categorized into three broad topics: (1) Court Rules, Forms, and Dockets; (2) Articles; and (3) beSpacific, an awareness monitoring blog on breaking legal, technology, and research related news and primary resources. Sabrina Pacifici, the founder, editor, and publisher of LLRX, has authored the blog since August 2002 winning multiple awards including Best Overall Legal Blog of 2004 and Best Law Librarian Blog of 2005. Now, let’s browse each helpful feature individually.

Accessing LLRX.com

The online journal is available at www.llrx.com. The website is also accessible by clicking the LLRX hyperlink made available on Charlotte Law Library News’ homepage under Legal Research Websites.

Court Rules, Forms, and Dockets

Let’s begin with a simple task: you are a newly sworn-in attorney in the state of Washington and need to access local court forms and rules.

1)      Locate the Court Rules, Forms & Dockets tab at the top of the homepage. Click the tab to access LLRX’s compilation.

2)    Scroll down to find the states listed in alphabetical order. Locate and select Washington.

3)     LLRX sorts rules, forms, and dockets in Washington into multiple helpful categories, such as U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District of Washington and State Court, with links to official and unofficial websites that contain relevant information. Thus, to access Washington State Court Forms, select the Washington – State Court (Washington) – Court Forms and Instructions as shown below. LLRX will redirect you to http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/.

Articles

This round, you are a family law practitioner searching for articles, news, and blogs on your practice area.

1)      From the LLRX homepage, select Article Archives and Legal Research as a subtopic.

2)    Next, select United States Law from the box labeled Subcategories of Legal Research.

3)     LLRX will then direct you to a box indicating Subcategories of United States Law. Click on Family Law in the right column.

4)    The journal provides three options; however, I chose the most current resource, Criminal Justice Resources: Juvenile Law and Family Court Resources. This source contains an abundance of helpful information for family law practitioners including links to family law related news, journal, and law review articles. Additionally, ABA standards, reports, studies, and secondary sources are provided.

 

beSpacific Blog

Finally, you are a law student interested in staying current on legal issues involving cybercrime.

1)      Utilizing the LLRX.com homepage, locate and select the beSpacific Blog tab. You will be redirected to the homepage of beSpacific.

2)    Locate the topic list to the right of the screen. Find and select Cybercrime from the options.

3)     You have arrived! Here, you will find a variation of articles, blogs, programs, and more relevant to cybercrime. The resource is updated multiple times a month for accuracy.

As you can see, LLRX and beSpacific are excellent resources for practicing attorneys, law students, and law librarians regardless of practice area.

~Brittany Schott, L’12~

Bloomberg BNA Environment Reporter: Customizing the Reporter to Provide Current Research for YOU

The Bloomberg BNA Reporters can be accessed through the Law Library section of the Charlotte Law website and using the A-Z Index of Databases or at the link above. The Bloomberg BNA Newsletter Package provides you with BNA resources for nearly all areas of law and can all be customized for a personalized reference to current research.

The Bloomberg BNA Environment Reporter is a multi-part environmental resource that is published and updated weekly.  The Environment Reporter is an excellent resource to stay up to date on rapidly changing developments in courts, Congress, federal agencies and environmental organizations.  While this post focuses on the Environment Reporter, many of these features can be used for any of the other Bloomberg BNA Reporters of interest.

The Reporter can be customized in many easy ways in order to provide a user with relevant sources depending on their preferences.  First, along the left side of the main screen, the Recent Topics, Agencies, States, Courts and Federal Statutes can all be customized to narrow the subscriber’s research results quickly.  As you can see below, I have customized the Recent Topics Section to include topics of interest for an upcoming project on Renewable Energy Law.

After clicking on one of the Topics, a window opens with relevant research regarding that Topic only, organized by date from newest to oldest, as shown below.

This feature can be very helpful in narrowing results not only from topics of interest, but from articles pertaining to North Carolina only, specific jurisdictions or specific regulatory laws or federal statutes.

After locating relevant articles, BNA makes it very easy to save the research using the MyFolders tab and organize it by Project, Name or Date Added.  Above the full text version of an article, BNA gives an option to Add to MyFolders, Share or Print, as shown below in the upper left hand corner.

The MyFolders tab is located at the top of the Reporter and will list all saved articles and organize the information by Project, Name or Date Added.  This feature provides an efficient way to accumulate relevant research and save it for future use.

Finally, one of the easiest customized features provided by Bloomberg BNA is the BNA E-mail Registration.  Each Reporter gives you the option to receive alerts outlining the current highlights in the news, as well as the ability to select how frequently you would like to receive them.  Links are provided to the articles listed, and can be saved to MyFolders after opening for easy access later.  Below is an example of the E-mail the Environmental Reporter sends each week, according to my preferences, organized by Topic.

With minimal effort, the Bloomberg BNA resources can be customized to each subscriber’s personal interests allowing an efficient way to stay up to date on areas of law for personal or professional use.

~Sara Garske, L’14~

ALR Student’s Corner: Bloomberg BNA Antitrust & Trade Regulation (A&TR) Report

When it comes to learning about competition law and fair business practice amongst government regulators and international market traders, the Bloomberg BNA Antitrust & Trade Regulation (A&TR) Report houses all the necessary information needed to stay up to date on the practice area. Since 1961, the A&TR Report has covered all the major topics of competition law, including monopolization, mergers and acquisition, and price fixing while also tracking the progress of cases and international enforcement initiatives for the  DOJ and FTC.

With all the website has to offer, including recent U.S. and international court decisions and a list of law firms who were recently involved in antitrust litigation, I will focus on using the search feature in “Recent Topics”.

Let’s use this example: As a compliance director for a university, you are concerned with the growing number of student-athletes who are being harmed because of their involvement with sports agents. You wish to see if there are any federal laws regulating the interaction between sports agents and student athletes.

First, visit CSL’s website, hover over “Law Library” in order to click on “Electronic Resources,” click on “A-Z Index of Databases” and scroll down to the A&TR Report listed in the A’s. After clicking on the link, it will take you to the home page, which will feature highlights from the issue of the particular week.

Near the top of the screen and towards the middle, you will the tab “Recent Topics,” which will give you an alphabetical heading list, that can be broken down to give you particular cases, legislation or official action within that area. Next you can click on the letter “S” at the top of the next screen and then click on the “Sports” tab to expand the heading.

This does not provide you with much help, so in order to locate additional articles, use the “Search” feature of the index located near the top of the screen on the right hand side. You type “sports” in the general search box, hoping that there is more information available to you regarding the area than the first search provided. You receive more than 300 documents back, which is good to know but you do not have the time to look through each one to figure out if it pertains to you.

Using “Advanced Search”, right under the search box, you can focus on terms like “sports agent” and “student athletes,” while also limiting the search to the past 10 years to get exactly the results you are looking for.

While the only real limitation I see is that you have to search the entire report for a topic rather than one index at a time, the resource is a great tool for all attorneys, no matter the area of practice we may end up in.

~Taurian C. Houston, L’13~

ALR Student’s Corner: The Bloomberg BNA: White Collar Crime Report™

White collar crime is an ever-expanding and complex legal field with very little Congressional guidance and much room for advocacy and judicial interpretation.  As such, it is helpful for both prosecutors and defense attorneys to have a resource to share and research different news articles, court decisions, and passage of laws in the field of white collar crime.  For those interested in this growing and fascinating field, the Bloomberg BNA offers the White Collar Crime Report™, provides that marketplace for practitioners and lawmakers to see the recent news in the area and tailor either an effective strategy or lawmaking pursuit based on success and failures in other jurisdictions.

To gain access to the Bloomberg BNA White Collar Crime Report™, simply go to the Charlotte School of Law website.  Scroll over “Law Library” on the left side of the screen and then select “Electronic Resources.”  Next, you will see the ResearchGuides page of the Charlotte School of Law library.  Click on the tab titled “A-Z Index of Databases.”  Select “B” and click on “Bloomberg BNA Newsletter Package.”

You will then have the option to select whichever Reporter you wish.  Scroll down towards the end of the page and select “White Collar Crime Report” which is third from the bottom.

Congratulations!  You have entered your white collar crime paradise.

The White Collar Crime Report™ is a wonderful and user-friendly resource.  The first thing I did was sign up for the free listserv so I can receive daily updates on current white collar crime news and reports.  To do this, scroll halfway down the page and on the far right, click on “Sign Up for E-Mail.”

Type in your E-Mail Address, and click “Submit.”  You then get the option to Sign-Up for whatever Bloomberg Newsletters you want.  As you can see, I am signed up for the Criminal Law Reporter, U.S. Law Week, and White Collar Crime Report.

While signing up for the email listserv is a great way to stay connected without having to visit the site every day, The White Collar Crime Report™ offers the white collar crime attorneys the opportunity to search for recent news in their particular practice area or area of interest.  Let us say that you are a local defense attorney who, after successfully defending your client Ima Crook from a bribery charge, has taken an interest in other bribery cases around the country.  If you want to find recent news on bribery, you can search the White Collar Crime Report™ Index.  Click on the “Browse Indexes” option under Finding Tools on the right side of the page.

 You are given an alphabetical search option for different states and / or practice areas.  First, however, you want to select your time parameters.  You want to see fairly recent happenings in the world of bribery, so under the dropdown menu in the middle of the page, select Index Jan. 13 – Feb. 24, 2012.

Now that you have set your date parameters, click on “B” and select “Bribery.  You now see a list of different issues regarding bribery.  Having friends in New York, you have recently heard about the lobbyist who pled guilty back in January for bribes to a certain N.Y. state senator.  You can see the story by clicking on the link located next to the story.

You can now read what exactly happened when the lobbyist pled guilty on January 4 in the U.S. Southern District of New York.

However, after reading the article, you are worried that Ima Crook, who has friends who are lobbyists, might be a possible return client.  Therefore, you want to search for issues regarding lobbying.  At the bottom of the story, there are “Related Articles” by “Topics” and “Courts.”  Lobbying happens to be conveniently located at the bottom.

Clicking on “Lobbying” will open up all relevant headlines regarding lobbying.  At the very top is a story from March 9, 2012 regarding the White House announcement on March 8 that it has created “ethics.gov.”  This resource is meant to provide people easy access to a centralized location regarding lobbying reports.  While you are sure that Ima Crook is a respectable citizen, you might want to pass along this information you learned to him, just in case.

The ease of locating topics is just one of the many options that are available on the Bloomberg BNA White Collar Crime Report™.  You can also locate Hot Topics off to the left side of the main screen, sort through the news by prominent white collar crime Law Firms, or read some interesting commentary From the Editors.  Enjoy the White Collar Crime Report™!

~Allen Souza, L’12~