There’s an App for That?

With the bar exam fast approaching for our recent graduates and rising first years through third years waiting with bated breath for the start of the fall semester, all with SmartPhones planted firmly in their hands, this seemed like a fantastic time to introduce you to some of the legal research and bar prep assistance your mobile app store has to offer.

From iPhones to Blackberrys to Androids, it seems like everyone’s connected these days, and the mobile application markets have been growing exponentially, offering endless support for you both personally and professionally.

Did you know that there’s an app that allows you to search, bookmark, copy, share, and annotate text of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Evidence, Appellate Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Bankruptcy Procedure on your Droid device?

Did you know that there are apps that offer free flashcards and instructional videos that you can use to supplement your studies for the bar exam?

Did you know that there’s a deposition question and answer outline app, which allows you to select from over 150 deposition questions by category, to organize the sequence of questions, and to link questions to exhibits?

If you want the latest scoop on these apps and more, Vicki Steiner, from the Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library at UCLA, has created an amazing Apps for Legal Research LibGuide featuring links to tons of current mobile applications that may be of interest to both law students and lawyers.  We are currently adapting this LibGuide for our own CharlotteLaw students with phenom Vicki’s blessing, so stay tuned, and be sure to let us know what your favorite apps are!

~Ashley Moye~

ebooks from Westlaw

The updated Federal Rules of Evidence and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are now available in ebook format on the User Guides page of lawschool.westlaw.com. The Federal Rules of Evidence and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are located in the column on the right side of the page, under the “Advanced Research” category and are designated with an “Updated” burst icon.

The ebooks look exactly like the printed rules pamphlets, but now include several browsing options.  West has provided several navigation tools for accessing these ebooks, including page forward and back arrows, a table of contents, an index and search functionality.  You may also open a static PDF of the document and save or print a copy.

Please contact a reference librarian if you have any questions.

 

Humor from the Journal of Legal Education…

Thoughts on the U.C.C. (With Apologies to Dr. Suess) by Meredith Lauren Zinnecker with help from Tim Zinnecker.

I do not like the U.C.C.

I do not like it, no sirree.

 

Article I and all its terms?

I think I’d rather eat fried worms.

 

“Good faith,” I see. But what’s the test?

And what if I’m an atheist?

 

Don’t care for Sales, not one wit.

Is this a “good”? Don’t give a ___.

 

A holder in due course, you say?

The pain is back. Please go away!

 

Forged indorsements, stolen checks?

My dad enjoys them more than sex.

 

Wire transfers, Article 4?

I’d rather listen to Al Gore.

 

Letters of credit? Oh how boring.

Read one last night. Started snoring.

 

Bills of lading? What a drag.

The topic makes me want to gag.

 

Stocks and bonds. Article 8?

Start without me. I may be late.

 

Secured Transactions? Not for me.

The topic makes me wanna pee.

 

The Code just puts me out of sorts.

Would much prefer to study Torts.

 

I do not hold the Code in awe.

Want something sexy? Try Con Law.

 

Property sounds kinda cool.

Those future interests make me drool.

 

Grant Gilmore? Dude, you make no sense.

But Wigmore? Love your Evidence!

Civ Pro? Now that’s the class for me.

Not daddy.  He received a “D.”

 

A course that works just like Ex-Lax?

The U.C.C. (And maybe Tax).

 

The Code is not my friend or pal.

Would much prefer a root canal.

 

Commercial law? It ain’t for me.

But I still love Professor Z!

 

*Meredith Lauren Zinnecker is the two-year-old daughter of Tim Zinnecker, the Harry and Helen Hutchens Research Professor at South Texas College of Law.  Professor Zinnecker teaches commercial law courses, including Payment Systems and Secured Transactions.

See also: Journal of Legal Education, Volume 59, Number 1 (August 2009)