Legal Research

Reading 1194 Sotomayor Opinions So You Don't Have To

Posted on July 14, 2009
From above the 49th Parallel, our colleague Library Boy alerts us to the latest entry in the "read and analyze all of Judge Sotomayor's opinions" sweepstakes. NYU Law School's Brennan Center for Justice gives us: Monica Youn, Judge Sotomayor's Record...

Digging Deep Into the Sotomayor Record at National Archives

Posted on July 09, 2009
Today we heard that the National Archives has just added 122 Clinton-era emails mentioning Sonia Sotomayor [ginormous 310 MB zip file? took us over 20 minutes to download at T1+ speeds] to its collection of documents related to or mentioning...

Justice Ginsburg's Candid NYT Magazine Interview

Posted on July 08, 2009
The New York Times Magazine just released a very candid and far-ranging interview with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg answers questions about the importance of having women on the Court, her thoughts on Court nominee Judge Sotomayor, affirmative action,...

Bar Study Break: Awful Library Books Blog

Posted on July 07, 2009
We are reaching that time of year when bar studiers need a little humor and something to distract them -- something that doesn't have anything to do with contracts, community property, con law, civ pro, corporations, crim law, crim pro,...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Is Cheerleading a Sport?

Posted on June 30, 2009
I'm a child of the seventies, and I freely admit that, during fifth grade, my career goal was to become a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. Sadly, my cheering career ended in eighth grade (I still recall that my 1981 pom poms...

Congressional Research Service Analyzes Sotomayor's Opinions

Posted on June 29, 2009
Some of SCOTUS candidate Sotomayor's judicial opinions have been analyzed in a Congressional Research Service report, "Judge Sonia Sotomayor: Analysis of Selected Opinions." The 59-page report includes a detailed table of contents that helpfully breaks down the discussion by legal...

Michael Jackson -- Singer, Songwriter, Inventor.

Posted on June 25, 2009
We at ZiefBrief were saddened to learn that Michael Jackson, the self-anointed "King of Pop", died today at the age of 50. What, you may ask, is the connection between the Moonwalking Mr. Jackson and the Law? Well, in his...

Standing Out on Your Summer Law Job - Secret Weapons

Posted on June 18, 2009
Law students lucky enough to have landed summer jobs or internships in these tough times are working harder than ever to make a good impression on their employers. One sure bet is to get known as a great researcher. Students...

Judge Sotomayor's Senate Judiciary Committee Questionnaire ? and More

Posted on June 05, 2009
The Senate Judiciary Committee has released the questionnaire prepared by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. The questionnaire comes with a raft of varied and fascinating attachments which include: news stories going back to the 1970s; speeches; minutes of the State...

Savvy Investors Say "It?s always a good time to invest in litigation"

Posted on June 04, 2009
The New York Times recently ran a short article about a practice that is proving profitable even during the current economic meltdown. According to the article "Investing in Lawsuits, for a Share of the Awards" by Times writer Jonathan Glater,...

Search Engine Feature Smackdown

Posted on June 03, 2009
Microsoft released a new search engine this week, bing. I was immediately taken by the bold images on the bing home page -- I add custom images to everything, my Google home page, Firefox, my desktop, etc., so the splashy...

Judge Sotomayor: In-Depth Background

Posted on June 02, 2009
If you're looking to get your hands on comprehenisve information about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, these sources should help. Sonia Sotomayor page, Law Library of Congress. Lists articles and other publications; has information on Judge Sotomayor's 1992 and 1997...

Helping Vets Apply to Law School

Posted on May 29, 2009
The Connecticut Law Tribune's Patrick Linsey has a really interesting story this week about a recent Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who wants to help members of the military with the law school application process. Drew Schaffer is forming a new...

The Dean Tweets From Cambodia

Posted on May 28, 2009
Twittering on war crimes trials and genocide: it sounds like a tasteless joke, or an indictment of social media. But USF's Dean Jeff Brand manages to pull it off in his updates from Cambodia, where he has visited the killing...

Analyzing Judge Sotomayor Opinion by Opinion

Posted on May 27, 2009
Not for ZiefBrief the YouTube clips, the excerpts from the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, or the 8-second sound bites. To to take the measure of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, we prefer to dig right in to her opinions....

Olson and Boies Join Forces to Challenge Prop 8

Posted on May 27, 2009
Remember Bush v. Gore? Of course you do! The whole nation held its breath while Bush and Gore battled each other in the courts to determine the outcome of the 2000 presidential election. Perhaps you don't remember that former Solicitor...

Wolfram Alpha, the New Search Engine on the Block

Posted on May 18, 2009
New search engine Wolfram Alpha launched last week, and so far I'm having a hard time imagining ways in which it will be useful for my usual Internet legal research queries. Sure, it's handy for socioeconomic data, math, and statistics,...

Wikipedia Unveiled on Volokh Conspiracy

Posted on May 18, 2009
Guest blogger and attorney Ira Matetsky has a series of interesting and informative posts on Wikipedia on the Volokh Conspiracy this week. You can access the first post here -- links to all of Ira's Wikipedia posts throughout the week...

New Bar Exam Blog

Posted on May 15, 2009
The Shark, one of our favorite law student blogs, has launched The Wringer, a blog all about the California bar exam. The Wringer will feature links to free Cal bar exam resources and an advice column for all of those...

Free Case Law Websites

Posted on May 11, 2009
Robert Ambrogi at Law Technology News has a very handy list of websites that provide access to free case law, including a description of available jurisdictions, search functions, and date ranges. If you're not going to have access to Lexis...

Supreme Court Nomination Information

Posted on May 07, 2009
There was a time in the not too distant past that Zief law librarians scurried around and printed out everything we could find on the nominees for a newly vacated seat on the US Supreme Court. All of those pages...

Whither Quality in Legal Publishing?

Posted on April 28, 2009
Perhaps it's because ZiefBrief is a cynic, but we weren't at all surprised to learn from the Stanford law librarians' excellent Legal Research Plus blog that two law professors are suing West Publishing Corp. for defamation for daring to claim...

Professor Peter Honigsberg's New Book on the War on Terror

Posted on April 09, 2009
Professor Peter Honigsberg's new book, Our Nation Unhinged: The Human Consequences of the War on Terror, is now available! Published by the University of California press, Professor Honigsberg's book tells "the story of the Bush administration's response to the attacks...

Our Very Own Raiderette!

Posted on April 06, 2009
The San Francisco Chronicle has a great profile of attorney Emily Compagno, who is not only a USF Law alum, she's also a Raiderette! In the profile, Emily describes her typical practice and game day routines, which sound demanding and...

Professor Freiwald Files Amicus Brief in Cell Phone Case

Posted on March 31, 2009
University of San Francisco School of Law Professor Susan Freiwald recently authored an amicus briefs to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a case involving the legal procedures under which law enforcement agents can compel...

Professor Freiwald Files Amicus Brief in Cell Phone Case

Posted on March 31, 2009
University of San Francisco School of Law Professor Susan Freiwald recently authored an amicus briefs to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a case involving the legal procedures under which law enforcement agents can compel...

Technology Hurts

Posted on March 10, 2009
David Cambria, manager of law department operations at Aon Corp., has a great Law Technology News editorial on technology woes and how to fix them. One of Cambria's pet peeves: "Who hasn't been involved in an e-mail stream 15 messages...

3L's Oral Argument in D.C. Circuit Called "Superb"

Posted on March 09, 2009
The BLT reports that Duke law student Sarah Campbell was praised for her oral argument before the D.C. Circuit by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who called her performance "superb." Ms. Campbell argued on behalf of Peter Atherton, a D.C. resident who...

Favorite Searches of ZiefBrief Content

Posted on March 06, 2009
TypePad has lots of nifty features, including tracking how searchers get to your blog posts. By using the "Referring Address" feature, we can review the searches that led someone to click on one of our blog posts in a search...

Visualizing Law Firm Layoffs

Posted on March 04, 2009

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.