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April Newsletter- San Diego County Public Law Library
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James Brosnahan Lecture- Save the Date!
Noted criminal defense attorney James Brosnahan will speak at the
First Annual Witkin Lecture at the U.S. Grant Hotel here in
San Diego on May 30th, 2003 during lunch. The topic will be
"Hot Off the Press: Cases This Term at the United States Supreme
Court." Brosnahan is a partner at
Morrison and Foerster
in San Fransisco and most notably recently defended
John Walker Lindh,
the American accused of fighting for the Taliban. Tickets are $25
and you can make reservations by calling Amy Conrad at (619) 531-4449
or
e-mailing
her.
This lecture is being presented by the
Witkin Legal Institute
in cooperation with the
Law Library Justice Foundation.
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TV Interview Debut- "Law Libraries Are for Everyone"
In connection with
PACE-TV,
the San Diego County Public Law Library's director, Charles Dyer,
will appear in a televised interview at the end of April discussing
how the Law Library is useful to both lawyers and members of the
public. Entitled "Law Libraries are for Everyone," Dyer and reference
librarian Amy Hale-Janeke discuss the classes and programs geared for
the public, the differences between a law library and a regular
public library, and outreach efforts to the community.
PACE-TV is a non-profit, all volunteer corporation formed for the
purpose of producing topical public access cable television programs
of interest to the general public. Look for the show at the following
times on these channels:
Sunday Apr 27, 2003 TIME-WARNER CABLE TV, CHANNEL 19, 5:30
P.M.
Monday Apr 28, 2003 ADELPHIA CABLE TV, CARLSBAD CHANNEL 3, 6:30
P.M.
Tuesday Apr 29, 2003 COX CABLE TV, SAN DIEGO CHANNEL 23, 5:30 P.M., NORTH COUNTY, CHANNEL 18, 5:30 P.M.
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Get on the DO NOT CALL List Now!
We all hate telemarketing phone calls but it has always been
difficult to stop them. Now, however, there is a nationwide Do Not
Call list being established by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is offering a chance to
pre-register
for the list. The FTC expects to begin signing up consumers in July.
Enforcement of the "no call" ban will begin in October.
If you pre-register, your designated home and/or cellular phone
number will be included on the FTC's first list that telemarketers
must check and stop calling beginning in October. Only California
residential and mobile telephone numbers are eligible for this
program. Business telephone numbers are excluded.
Please be aware, though, that while most telemarketer calls will
be prohibited, there are certain exceptions. For example, charities,
and companies that have an established relationship with a consumer
will still be allowed to make calls.
Registration by telephone will be offered by the FTC in phases
across the United States beginning July 1. Under the region-by-region
plan, California consumers would be be able to register for the
national no-call list by telephone beginning in mid-July. The
FTC
has more information on telephone registrations and the nationwide Do
Not Call program.
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April 2003 Cartoon- Pass the Salt and a Pen
This cartoon is one of Stu's Views. These are cartoons by a local
lawyer, geared for lawyers. Stu is an entertainment lawyer here in
San Diego who represents mostly visual arts creators. As he says in
his bio on his
home page,
"Stu is the lawyer for cartoonists and the cartoonist for lawyers."
See other cartoons by Stu at
www.stus.com.
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Pilot Project- E-Filing in Superior Court
Attention! The San Diego Superior Court is conducting a pilot program
that allows certain cases to be filed electronically (called E-File).
Construction defect cases and certain
California Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings (
JCCP) can now be filed using E-File. These include JCCPs dealing with
tobacco,
firearms,
DSL, Wholesale Electricity, Natural Gas Anti-Trust, and Cipro. For
further information, call the JCCP clerk at (619) 531-3331.
The reason these cases may now be E-filed is that they involve
many hundreds of litigants. The Court hopes that using E-File in
these cases will minimize paperwork and provide better access to
court documents. The San Diego Superior Court hopes that eventually
all pleadings will be filed electronically, resulting in savings to
litigants, 24 hour access to court documents, and the ability to file
documents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Litigants involved in a construction defect case or a JCCP case
can file pleadings by going to
www.courtlink.com
and enrolling. Questions about e-filing should be directed to the
E-File department in Room 241 in the Hall of Justice at Courthouse at
330 West Broadway, (619) 531-4460. For those who do not have access
to computers to file pleadings, there is a kiosk in the business
office on the second floor of the Hall of Justice that is available
for filing pleadings.
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New Phone System
To help us deal with the large amount of telephone calls we receive
every day, the main Law Library is implementing a new phone feature
at the end of April- an automated attendant. This automatic system
will direct calls to specific departments, such as reference,
circulation, or cataloging. Phone numbers will stay the same.
Feedback about the system is welcome- e-mail Amy at
ahale@sdcll.org.
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Law Day 2003
Every year on May 1st, the San Diego County Public Law Library
participates in Law Day, a nationally recognized day praising
the presence and value of law in our government.
Originally conceived in the 1950s by Charles S. Rhyne, former
president of the American Bar Association, Law Day was formally
recognized via a
Proclamation
by President Eisenhower on Feb. 3rd, 1958.
This year, the theme of Law Day is "Celebrate Your Freedom-
Independent Courts Protect Our Liberties." The Main Library and each
branch of the San Diego County Public Law Library will celebrate Law
Day this year by serving refreshments and hosting programs related to
law.
Additionally, the East County Branch will feature a FREE legal
clinic from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., courtesy of the Foothills Bar
Association.
Look for further information coming soon on our website!
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Sifting Useful Legal Info from the Web
An article in the March edition of the ABA Journal entitled "Netting
Information," by Jason Krause, discussed different on-line sites and
ways to glean useful information from the vastness of the web.
However, he forgot to mention one of the easiest ways to find useful
information quickly- asking a law librarian. We collect the
most frequently used free on-line resources for legal research in one
spot on our website at
www.sdcpll.org
and list them under the heading
"Useful Links".
We spend a lot of time finding and reviewing electronic legal
resources and updating our list so that you don't have to waste time
floundering around in cyberspace.
So next time instead of spending hours surfing the web for a
particular piece of information, visit our
website, e-mail
us at the reference desk at
refdesk@sdcll.org,
or
call us-
we are here to help!
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Military Law
With the war in Iraq, there is a lot of focus on the military and the
United Nations so this month we too are focusing on these topics.
SearchMil.com-
Looking for military information? This is the place to go! This
google.com-style engine searches and indexes over one million
military pages. Using this search engine, one can find the
Uniform Code of Military Justice
on-line as well as the
Manual for Courts-Martial, 2000 Edition
(takes a while to load as it is .pdf format).
United Nations
- This is the home page of the United Nations and includes updates
on the Iraq situation as well as international law topics such as
treaties, and law of the sea. A wealth of information!
GlobalCourts
This non-commercial, simply-designed site gives you access to supreme
court decisions from around the world. There are links to the
supreme courts of 95 countries, from Algeria to Zambia. There are
also links to those courts that operate electronically or permit
e-filing.
Islamic and Middle Eastern Law
This site from the World Wide Web Virtual Library provides excellent
print and Internet resources on Islamic and Middle Eastern law. Here
you'll find primary sources, commentary and legal rulings, articles,
constitutional law, international law, and texts from commercial,
personal, and government sites. This page is run by CIMEL, or the
Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, in London, England.
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New Books- April 2003
Here is a recent roundup of some newly arrived books. Please note
that while many of these books are located only at Main, those that
circulate can be sent to our branches upon a request
from the branch.
CALIFORNIA MAKING & OPPOSING MOTIONS TO TERMINATE CIVIL CASES BEFORE TRIAL
by Donna Bader, Litigation One Publishing, 2002. This tabbed binder
has citations and sample briefs and forms for summary judgment
motions and other termination motions, such as motions to strike,
dismissal, demurrer, etc. Also includes motions to oppose termination
motions. Available at Main at KFC1012 .B33 2002.
REAL PROPERTY PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENTS: PROGRAM HANDBOOK
by CEB (November/December 2002). An excellent book for those with
limited experience in real estate transactions. Covers how
miscellaneous provisions affect clients' rights and responsibilities,
and how experienced
practitioners draft escrow instructions and resolve title issues.
Also details how and when they use form agreements and clauses. While
the book focuses primarily on commercial transactions, some issues
that are unique to residential transactions are discussed. Available
at Main at KFC169.Z9 R42 2002.
ESTATE ASSET PROTECTION PLANNING: PROGRAM HANDBOOK by CEB
(January 2003). This program handbook helps practitioners deal with
sticky issues such as pre-bankruptcy and exemption planning, moving
to another jurisdiction and evaluating domestic jurisdiction in
Alaska, Delaware, and Nevada. Available at Main at KF6585 .E87 2003.
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Reference Question of the Month- Finding Free Federal Cases
Q: Can I find federal appellate cases online for free?
A: Yes, to a limited extent. First, If you have a direct
citation (e.g. 316 F.3d 1048 (2003)), it will be easier for you to
find the case. For example,
Lexisone.com
allows you to search either a specific circuit or search all of them
at once (this is helpful if you are not sure which circuit court
decided the case). Coverage goes back 5 years and this site allows
you to use either a direct citation, a name search or a full text
search. It even allows you to narrow your search by attorney or
judge.
Findlaw.com, on
the other hand, has always allowed you to find and pull up federal
cases but you can't do it with the federal citation. You have to
search by docket, name, or full text. And you have to know which
circuit to start looking in or you have to search each circuit
separately. However, they do have decisions from the the 9th Circuit
Court decisions going back to 1996, an additional two years of
coverage beyond what Lexisone.com offers.
Don't forget, though, that you can always come to any branch of
the Law Library and access
Loislaw.com
free. LoisLaw has federal cases going back to the 1920s. We also have
Shepard's available free to help you Shepardize the cases you find.
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We hope you've enjoyed our newsletter. We're hard at work on the
next edition. In the meantime, please visit us online at:
http://www.sdcpll.org/.
And come see us in person at one of our locations. For locations
and hours please click here:
http://www.sdcpll.org/location.htm.
For more information contact:
Amy Hale-Janeke
ahale@sdcll.org
Media Coordinator /
Reference Librarian
(619) 531-3900
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