Need some advice for coping with law school and studying for finals? Here are some books in the Law Library collection that are worth checking out:

ACING YOUR FIRST YEAR OF LAW SCHOOL: THE TEN STEPS TO SUCCESS YOU WON’T LEARN IN CLASS by Shana Connell Noyes and Henry S. Noyes (1999). KF283/.N69/Reserve. Authors include chapters giving advice on reading and briefing cases, using the Bluebook, general legal research, legal writing, using study aids, outlines, exam preparation and writing exam answers.

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN COLLEGE AND LAW SCHOOL: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS by Ruta K. Stropus and Charlotte D. Taylor (2001). KF283/.S77/Reserve. Chapters include advice on reading and briefing cases, notetaking, synthesizing cases, outlining, flowcharting, exam preparation and time management.

CONQUERING LEGAL EXAMS: THE ART OF PREPARING FOR AND WRITING OUTSTANDING LEGAL EXAMS by David R. Simon (1994). KF283/.S65/Reserve. Short book on preparing for and taking final exams. Latter third of book provides sample exam questions, an outline of applicable law and a model answer.

THE COMPLETE LAW SCHOOL COMPANION: HOW TO EXCEL AT AMERICA’S MOST DEMANDING POST-GRADUATE CURRICULUM, by Jeff Deaver (2d ed. 1992). KF283/.D4/1992/Reserve. While the first few chapters are for those who are contemplating attending law school, the bulk of this work provides advice to entering law students. Chapters include “Daily Survival in the Classroom,” “How to Brief Cases,” “The Course Outline,” “Preparing for Exams,” “Taking Exams,” “Sample Exams,” and “Writing a Course Paper.”

THE EIGHT SECRETS OF TOP EXAM PERFORMANCE IN LAW SCHOOL: AN EASY-TO-USE, STEP-BY-STEP PROGRAM FOR ACHIEVING GREAT GRADES! by Charles H. Whitebread (1995). KF283/.W48/1995/Reserve. A short, easily read book telling how to outline and organize exam answers, use your exam time and spot issues. The appendix provides sample questions and model answers for first year subjects.

FIRST YEAR LAW SCHOOL SURVIVAL KIT by Jeff Adachi (1996). KF283/.A32/Reserve. Author, after initially giving brief descriptions of first year class subjects, provides an easily read chapter on preparing for class. The largest section of the book is devoted to giving advice on how to write essay answers for specific first year subjects (i.e., “How to Answer a Torts Problem”). “The Problem Solving Approaches” found in the latter fourth of the book provide short outlines of concepts for the first year class subjects.

FROM HERE TO ATTORNEY: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EXCELLING IN LAW SCHOOL AND LAUNCHING YOUR LEGAL CAREER by Robert Arnett II, Arthur Coon and Michael DiGeronimo (1994). KF272/.A76/Reserve. This book contains sections dealing with getting into law school and finding legal employment, but also has chapters discussing the use of study aids, taking final exams and the significance of being a member of a law review. Appendices include sample course outlines, a sample formal brief, a class flowchart and sample exams with answers.

GETTING TO MAYBE: HOW TO EXCEL ON LAW SCHOOL EXAMS by Richard Michael Fischl and Jeremy Paul (1999). KF283/.F47/Reserve. Authors try to “tackle the exam process by breaking it down into discrete analytical components.” Two-thirds of this book provides an in-depth discussion of how to analyze issues and think like a lawyer. Latter third of the book includes chapters on preparing for and writing law exam answers along with a good FAQ chapter and some sample first year subject exam questions and model answers.

HOW TO DO YOUR BEST ON LAW SCHOOL EXAMS by John Delaney (1988). KF283/.D44/1988/Reserve. While this book is certainly not an easy read, it does provide extensive analysis on how to outline for your classes, identify issues, and write exam answers. Also includes sample exam problems with good and bad answers to these problems.

HOW TO MAKE IT THROUGH LAW SCHOOL: A GUIDE FOR MINORITY AND DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS by J.P. Davis (1982). KF283/.D38/Reserve. Author writes brief chapters on issues such as dealing with first-year law school trauma, teaching methods, study groups, briefing cases, legal reasoning, and preparing for and taking exams.

HOW TO STUDY LAW AND TAKE LAW EXAMS IN A NUTSHELL by Ann M. Burkhart and Robert A. Stein (1996). KF283/.B87/Reserve. Some of the more valuable chapters describe types of materials found in the Law Library, methods for preparing for class, outlining, study aids, how to prepare for and take the exam. The final third of the book provides exam questions for first year subjects and model answers.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN LAW SCHOOL by Gary A. Munneke (3d ed. 2001). KF283/.M86/Reserve. Author provides an invaluable perspective in chapters 3 and 7 entitled “Understanding the Law School Experience” and “Avoiding the Pitfalls of Law School,” respectively. Other chapters well worth the reader’s time are “Studying the Law” and “Taking Exams.”

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF LAW IN A NUTSHELL by Kenney Hegland (3d ed. 2000). KF273/.H4/2000/Reserve. The more valuable chapters in this book for freshmen include “Reading Cases,” “Briefing Cases,” “General Study Tips,” “More Stuff on Taking Exams,” “Fear and Loathing in the First Year,” “Mechanics of the Oral Argument,” “Legal Research,” “Legal Writing,”and several chapters providing an introduction to the litigation process.

LAW SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL: THE COMPLETE LAW SCHOOL SURVIVAL GUIDE: BY STUDENTS, FOR STUDENTS by Robert H. Miller (2000). KF283/.M55/Reserve. This is probably one of the better books giving advice on how to handle law school life. This is not a book discussing the technical aspects of writing or preparing for exams; rather, it is more like a best friend’s discussion on how to get through law school and also find clerking jobs.

LEARNING LAW: THE MASTERY OF LEGAL LOGIC by Sheldon Margulies and Kenneth Lasson (1993). KF273/.M37/Reserve. Author’s purpose is to explain basic legal principles to entering freshmen law students, with most examples centering on the subject of torts.

LEARNING THE LAW: SUCCESS IN LAW SCHOOL AND BEYOND by Steven J. Frank (1992). KF283/.F73/Reserve. Chapter 1 provides a good introduction to the structure of U.S. legal institutions. Chapters 2 through 5 introduce the reader to different aspects of legal reasoning; pretty in-depth reading, however. Chapter 7 provides some specific, though dated, recommendations on commercial study aids for the law student.

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WRITING LAW SCHOOL ESSAY EXAMS by John C. Dernbach (2001). KF283/.D47/Reserve. This is a short book designed to “keep you focused on the most important things you need to know” to be successful in writing an exam, according to the author. Chapters include “Knowing Your Reader,” “Preparing to Write,” “Writing Your Essay,” and “Explaining Your Analysis.” The author also provides a few sample questions with answers.

SLAYING THE LAW SCHOOL DRAGON: HOW TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN FIRST YEAR LAW SCHOOL by George Roth (2d ed. 1991). KF283/.R68/1991/Reserve. Chapters include “How to Prepare for the Semester,” “How to Study for Class,” “How to Read a Case,” “How to Study for Exams,” “How to Answer Exam Questions,” and “How to Write a Brief.” The book also gives a quick review on the first year class subjects.

STARTING OFF RIGHT IN LAW SCHOOL by Carolyn J. Nygren (1997). KF273/.N97/Reserve. Author states that his purpose in writing the book was twofold: to provide a very basic understanding of the legal system and to describe techniques of studying and exam preparation which can prove successful. The book is fairly short and is easily read.

SUCCESS IN LAW SCHOOL: EXAM TAKING TECHNIQUES by Charles H. Whitebread (1989). KF285/.Z9/W3/Reserve. Author includes chapters on dealing with intimidation, allocating time during the exam, reading the question, organizing an answer, analyzing legal issues and writing the exam. Appendix includes sample exam questions with steps involved in answering the question.

SURVIVING THE FIRST YEAR OF LAW SCHOOL by Ralph Canada, Charles Cheatham and Tony Licata (1978). KF283/.C36/Reserve. Very readable, this book provides advice on buying study aids, briefing cases, answering when called upon in class, taking notes in class, moot court, and preparing for and taking exams.

WRITE THE “A” LAW EXAM ANSWER by Betty Brody (1988). KF283/.B76/Reserve. 54 page book gives advice on reading, analyzing and answering exam questions. Provides sample questions and their answers for first year subjects.

CONQUERING LEGAL EXAMS: THE ART OF PREPARING FOR AND WRITING OUTSTANDING LEGAL EXAMS by David R. Simon (1994). KF283/.S65/Reserve. Short, readable book giving advice on test preparation and techniques in writing the final exam. Last section includes sample questions for first year subjects.

MAXIMIZING THE LAW SCHOOL EXPERIENCE II (2000). KF273/.M3/2000/Reserve. This special issue of Stetson Law Review is an update of the 1983 Stetson publication designed to “provide entering law students with the knowledge and confidence to grasp the many opportunities that a legal education yields.” Sections include “Insights on Legal Education,” “Developing Analytical Abilities,” “Gaining Lawyering Skills,” “Building Relationships,” and “Life After Law School.”

[This bibliography is an update of one that appeared in the September 2000 issue of Check It Out.]

During the month of October and particularly around the 31st, the web site that deals with the Salem witch trials of 1692 http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/salem/home.html may be of interest. This web site was created at the University of Virginia, under the supervision of Professor Benjamin C. Ray. This site contains court records, maps, and educational information about the trials. These resources also include biographical profiles, a collection of images containing portraits of notable people involved in the trials, pictures of important historic sites, historical paintings and published illustrations taken from 19th and early 20th century literary and historical works. The project draws heavily upon the manuscript and rare book collections of several participating libraries, archives, and historical societies.

:-) Turns 20, at http://www.cnn.com. (Sept. 19, 2002).

Hein-On-Line also provides full- text access to pre-1980 journals, a segment typically omitted on Lexis or Westlaw. In the Law Library, Hein-On-Line can be accessed from any public access Internet station by using the pull-down menu at the top of the Web-based screen. In Law Library labs, go to the library’s home page, http://lawlib.samford.edu, and follow the link for “Research Aids.”

A great way to save documents is to burn them to a CD-ROM. CDs are more reliable than floppies.

The new Dell GX240s in the Lower Level Lab are equipped with CD burners. Each Dell comes with Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 Basic. Double click the icon to open Roxio Easy CD Creator. You may then Select A Project. There are four choices: Make A Music CD, Make A Data CD, Make A Photo Or Video CD, and Disc Copier. Most often, law students will choose Make A Data CD and Disc Copier.

To create a Data CD, hover your mouse over Make A Data CD, then click Data CD Project. This opens the CD Creator. The top portion of the CD Creator shows the Source Files. This is where you will locate the items you want to burn to your CD-ROM. Click on the drop down arrow to choose the files you would like to burn. Once you have located a file, highlight it by clicking on it once, and then click on the Add arrow. When you have chosen all the files to be burned, click on the red Record button. A new dialog box will pop up: Record CD Setup. Click the Start Recording button. A box with details regarding the recording progress will appear. When it is done, click OK.

To use Disc Copier, hover your mouse over Disc Copier, then click the Disc Copier button that appears. The Disc Copier dialog box will appear. Be sure that the disc you want to copy is in the CD drive. Click the Copy button. The Record CD Progress box will open. When it is through copying, the drive will eject the CD-ROM. Insert a blank CD or a CD with enough room to copy the original CD. Click OK. The information from the first CD will be burned to the new CD. The CD Progress box will appear. When it is finished, click OK.

You may then exit the Roxio Easy CD Creator program. If you have any questions or problems regarding the new CD burners, please e-mail Grace Simms at glsimms@samford.edu, or call 726-2687.

It is quite common that an attorney, clerk or student needs help finding biographical or other information about a particular judge. Depending upon the court that is involved, the information may be plentiful or scant; federal judges seem to be covered in great detail while state and county court officials have significantly less or no coverage.

When looking for information on a federal judge, the best resource in the Law Library is the ALMANAC OF THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY (KF8700/.A19/A46/Reference). This two volume set is organized by circuit within each volume, with volume 1 containing the district court judges and volume 2 providing the court of appeals judges. The level of detailed information in these volumes is outstanding, though the opinions stated within may be controversial. The publication lists the normal biographical data, such as education, address and professional background. It also includes sections not commonly seen in a biographical directory, i.e., synopses and citations of “noteworthy rulings” by that judge as well as a “Lawyer’s Evaluation” (also referred to as “Miscellany” under some judges’ entries) which can be quite blunt in sizing up the particular judge’s abilities. Some typical comments include “he can get cranky”, “he is a bit of an ideologue” or “his ability is very questionable.”

Another resource which will include federal judges as well as state and county court judges is THE AMERICAN BENCH: JUDGES OF THE NATION, 9TH ED. (KF8700/.A19/A47/2001-2002/Reference). This directory usually provides appointment information, professional background, address and telephone number. While this work does provide both county and state judges, the level of information for these judges is erratic; in many instances, the researcher will find nothing more than an office address in the entry.

If a researcher is needing to find information on a judicial candidate who has been recently recommended, nominated or confirmed as judge, your best source is FEDERAL JUDGES AND JUSTICES: A CURRENT LISTING OF NOMINATIONS, CONFIRMATIONS, ELEVATIONS, RESIGNATIONS, RETIREMENTS (KF8700/.A19/F427). This three volume set is first organized by congressional year and then lists nominees and confirmed candidates alphabetically by name and also by court. Each entry provides nomination date, name of the judge who the candidate would be replacing, information on the candidate’s current position as well as a listing of periodical articles that include some information about the candidate.

Practitioners also want to know how judges have approached particular issues in writing decisions; this can be accomplished online using LEXIS or WESTLAW. When using WESTLAW, an easy means of doing this is by formulating a query entering the needed name in the judge field and combining it with a West key number. As an example, if I were needing cases written by Justice See on products liability issues of mobile homes, it would be a fairly simple proposition to combine his name with the key number of that subject area; the researcher can do this by entering:

The key number system is not available when using LEXIS, but combining the OPINIONBY segment search with a keyword query will likely yield similar (though less specific) results:

If you have any questions about finding information about a judge, please ask a reference librarian.

[This article is an update of one that appeared in the January 1999 issue of Check It Out.]

LAUREL R. CLAPP
lrclapp@samford.edu Law Librarian and Professor of Law. Director of the Law Library since 1975. B.A., David Lipscomb College; J.D., Mercer University; M.L. Lib., University of Washington.

EDWARD L. CRAIG, JR.
elcraig@samford.edu Reference Librarian since 1988. B.A., Ohio Northern University; J.D., University of Tennessee; M.A.L.S., University of Missouri, Columbia.

REBECCA M. HUTTO
rmhutto@samford.edu On library staff since 1978. Cataloging Librarian since 1982. B.S. and M.L.S., University of Alabama.

BRENDA K. JONES
bljones@samford.edu Reference Librarian for Evening/Weekend Services since Sept 1995. B.S. Mississippi State University; J.D., University of Houston; M.L.I.S., Louisiana State University.

GRACE L. SIMMS
glsimms@samford.edu Computer Services Librarian since 2001. B.A., Birmingham-Southern; M.L.I.S., University of Alabama. Formerly a librarian with a law firm.

LANIE P. WILLIAMSON
lpwilli1@samford.edu Serials Librarian since January 2002. B.A., Birmingham-Southern; M.L.I.S., University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Formerly a serials cataloger at Wake Forest University.

The United States Government Manual is now available online via GPO Access. The web site is: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/nara001.html. .

The U.S. Government Manual contains comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial and executive branches. The Manual also includes information on quasi-official agencies; international organizations in which the United States participates; and boards, commissions and committees.

Samford University Library now offers electronic books on the Web. On the library’s home page at http://lawlib.samford.edu, mouse over the heading to “Find Books” and choose “NetLibrary.” This virtual library operates much like a traditional brick and mortar one. Authorized users may browse an eBook for about fifteen minutes without logging into NetLibrary. Folks in the Samford community may create an account to access the collection remotely or to check out books, typically for four hours at a time. Electronic books are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with an added benefit – no overdue fines! At the end of the checkout period, an eBook automatically returns itself.

To search eBooks exclusively, jump to the NetLibrary website from Samford University Library’s home page. Alternatively, a search of Samford’s online library catalog automatically includes traditional print plus electronic books. A bracketed notation in the title field for [computer file] identifies an item as an eBook. When using Samford’s Web-based library catalog, simply click on the designated icon for the full-text online version of an electronic book. Currently, Samford does not offer an option to download and read eBooks off-line.

When viewing an electronic book, patrons may print or copy one page at a time. Be aware, however, that printing an entire eBook violates copyright law. NetLibrary detects excessive printing or copying.

NetLibrary offers a wide range of reference and scholarly books on economics, business, health, education, technology, literature, history, political science, and other topics. The collection also includes some law books. For instance, eBooks published by the American Bar Association, CCH Incorporated, Congressional Quarterly, and many academic presses may be of interest to legal researchers. Just a few illustrative titles in the electronic collection include:

The ABCs of the UCC: Revised Article 9, Secured Transactions, 2nd ed., by Russell A. Hakes, Amelia H. Boss, editor

Construction Accident Law: A Comprehensive Guide to Legal Liability and Insurance Claims, by Marc M. Schneier

Ethical Standards in the Public Sector: A Guide for Government Lawyers, Clients, and Public Officials, Patricia E. Salkin, editor

Qui Tam Litigation Under the False Claims Act, American Bar Association, Section of Public Contract Law, Procurement Fraud Committee, 2nd ed.

State Constitutions of the United States, by Robert L. Maddex

This is the last issue of CHECK IT OUT for this semester. Three issues will be published during the Spring Semester beginning in January 2003. If you have any ideas or suggestions as to ways we can improve, contact Becky Hutto at rmhutto@samford.edu. We look forward to the Spring Semester and new issues of the newsletter.