America's Smartest Law Librarian #AALL2009!

Fastcase recently held a trivia contest for law librarians attending the American Association of Law Libraries conference (AALL) in Washington, DC. Participants from across the country tested their knowledge of history, geography, librarianship, and pop culture for a chance to win prizes, including a Kindle DX.

Congratulations to Nickie Singleton and George Matsui, our winner and runner-up!

His office mates tell us that George Matsui, of the Department of the Army's law library, is something of a serial winner, and Sunday was no exception. George won the first day's trivia contest with a high score of 80 (out of a possible 100) points.

But Nickie Singleton (@Almabird to her tweeps), hailing from Florida Coastal School of Law, won the day in grand fashion on Monday, and is the overall winner of a sparkling new Kindle DX. Nickie scored 90 points in the trivia contest, making her the highest scorer for the three-day trivia competition.

We also handed out scores of Godiva gift cards to people who played, proving again that everything is better with chocolate. Thanks for everyone who stopped by to visit us during the conference, and we're looking forward to seeing you all in Denver at #AALL2010!

Notable Articles

China Pledges to Reduce Death Sentences
~ The New York Times

Pro Bono Hours Rise at Major U.S. Law Firms
~ Law.com 

British law students arrested in Brazil over luggage 'fraud'
~ www.telegraph.co.uk

Musharraf Lawyer Absent as Pakistan Court Probes Rule
~ Bloomberg

25 Greatest Legal TV Shows Poll: Vote!

The ABA put together a group of 12 "jurors" to rate the 25 Greatest Legal TV Shows.  Check out the results below:

1. L.A. Law
2. Perry Mason
3. The Defenders
4. Law & Order (Original)
5. The Practice

Now, the ABA is collecting votes from the public - vote at the ABA here: Vote

We took an informal vote at Fastcase, and responses were as follows:
1. Law and Order: Criminal Intent (winner)
2. Boston Legal
3. Ally McBeal
4. Perry Mason
5. Matlock (one very emphatic vote)

Source: ABA Journal

Notable Morning Stories...

Income and Employment Disparity by Gender (Chart)
-BillShrink.com

Opposition to the Rising Minimum Wage
-Washington Post

California Lawmakers Up All Night Trying to Fix Budget
-CNN.com

Senate Judiciary Committee to Vote on Sotomayor Next Week

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy that the Republicans have asked to invoke their right to delay the vote for a week so there is more time to review Sotomayor's responses to written follow up questions.

The Judiciary Committee is now scheduled to vote on Tuesday, July 28.   Watch it here.

Even with this delay, a full Senate vote is expected before recess on August 7.

Source: Washington Post, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing for Vote on Sotomayor

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination today at 10 AM.

Watch the live webcast here.

Source: Constitutional Law Prof Blog

Google Not Liable for Defamatory Information in Search Results

A court in the United Kingdom ruled that because Google facilitates access to information rather directly publishing it, it is not liable for defamatory information in its search results. 

Read the opinion here.

CNET Politics

Welcome New Jersey, South Dakota, and Oregon!

We are very excited to welcome the New Jersey State Bar Association, the State Bar of South Dakota, and the Oregon State Bar to the Fastcase member benefit program.  In addition, we should also welcome back the Virginia State Bar, which recently renewed its member benefit agreement with Fastcase.

The Oregon State Bar has for years offered its members the Casemaker legal research benefit.  As its contract came up for renewal, the Bar accepted our invitation to compare member benefit plans, and after a thorough review, its member benefit committee recommended the switch to Fastcase.  The Oregon State Bar will launch its new benefit in September.

The New Jersey State Bar Association and the State Bar of South Dakota each launched Fastcase member benefit programs on July 1.  Tom Barnett, the Executive Director of the South Dakota Bar, said that after a complete evaluation, the Bar chose Fastcase as "the best service at a very competitive price."

"Smart legal research is the foundation of being able to give quality legal advice. This new service means our members have the ability to access legal research no matter where they are, allowing them to work smarter and more efficiently," said NJSBA President Allen A. Etish.

Fastcase was founded in 1999 to democratize the law.  We are very excited to make Fastcase free -- partnerships with these associations allows us to do just that!

ABA to Reconsider Accrediting Distance Learning Law Schools in 2010

Most states require candidates to be graduates of ABA-approved law schools in order to sit for the bar exam.  To date, the ABA has not approved any "distance learning" law schools.  ABA Standard 306 cites the ABA's "general policy" from Standard 304(f) that a law school shall not grant credit for study by correspondents.

However, the ABA Standards Review Committee intends to review these policies in the Fall of 2010. Above the Law posted a statement from an ABA spokesperson who asked readers for comments and suggestions regarding a potential change in the ABA's policy:

The Standards Review Committee will produce a report on recommended changes to the standards when it finishes its work, and it will then hold public hearings. But even before then, it is seeking comment... [I]t would be lovely if you included in your story the following line: Comments and suggestions should be sent to Charlotte Stretch, Assistant Consultant, stretchc@staff.abanet.org.

View a List of ABA-Approved Law Schools Here

Source: Above the Law

Live Sotomayor Confirmation Hearing Coverage (via C-SPAN)

Interested in watching Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings? C-Span has a really great interactive site providing online streams .... check it out here.

Source: C-SPAN

Announcing: The Fastcase Kindle 2 Winner!

Fastcase would like to congratulate Stephen Cody for winning the Kindle 2 from our recent survey contest! Stephen was randomly selected from all those who completed our user survey.

Here are Stephen's thoughts on Fastcase:

"Dollar for dollar and pound for pound, Fastcase is a better value than Westlaw or Lexis."

We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to our survey. Fastcase is the smarter alternative for legal research, and it's smarter because of great suggestions by members like you. We'd love for you to send us your comments or suggestions on our service.

Interested in entering more contests?

For all the twitter addicts attending AALL, check out our current twitter based contest here. In addition, if you're attending this summer's AALL conference in Washington, you can participate in our trivia contest - the grand prize is a Kindle DX!

Google Operating System (OS) Announced

Google has announced their intention to release an operating system built off their speedy Chrome browser. The Google OS will be based up a linux kernel and will be developed in tandem with the open source community.

If you are not using Chrome, you can download it here.

Wired has a great piece describing Five Things Google’s Chrome OS Will Do for Your Netbook.

Would you use an operating system created by Google? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Source: Google Blog

Fan Removed from Yankees Stadium for Using the Bathroom During "God Bless America" Settles for $22,000

Without admitting liability, the Yankees, NYPD, and NYC settled with Bradford Campeau-Laurion, the man removed from Yankee Stadium for attempting to use the bathroom during "God Bless America."  Campeau-Laurion will be paid $10,001 and his attorneys (the New York Civil Liberties Union) will be paid $12,000 as a part of the settlement.

The suit was filed in federal court and claimed that Campeau-Laurion was the victim of religious and political discrimination when he was punished for not staying in his seat during "God Bless America."

The stipulation, judgment, and order is available on Findlaw here.

Campeau-Laurion sued the NY Yankees and New York city after being ejected from Yankee's stadium.  He had attempted to visit the restroom during the 7th inning stretch rendition of "God Bless America."  Upon being told that he could not leave his seat until the song ended, Campeau-Laurion responded that he did not care about "God Bless America" and attempted to leave.  Following this statement, two officers pinned his arms behind his back and escorted him to the exit.  Allegedly, one of the officers told Campeau-Laurion to "get out of my country."

Source: New York Times City Room Blog

Fastcase Announces Law Librarian Trivia Contest

Starting tomorrow, Fastcase will hold a trivia contest for law librarians attending the American Association of Law Libraries conference (AALL) in Washington, DC.


About the Trivia Contest:
The contest begins at 1:23 pm eastern on Wednesday, July 8 and will lead up to the AALL annual conference starting July 25.

Each week day at 1:23 pm eastern, one trivia question will be posted to the Fastcase twitter (@Fastcase) and AALL twitter (@AALL2009) pages. Trivia contest tweets can be identified by the hashtag #AALL2009.

Prizes will be awarded to winners. Winners are determined according to contest rules (see below).

In addition to the daily twitter trivia contests, you are invited to visit the Fastcase booth #904 during the conference to participate in live action trivia contests.

Contest Rules:
Each day, the first correct response to the posted trivia question will be awarded a prize.
If you aren’t the first responder with the correct answer, there is still a chance to win! Remaining correct answers received prior to the posting of the new trivia question will be pooled and one winner will be selected. Participants must be attendees of the 2009 AALL annual conference, as prizes will be awarded during the AALL event in Washington, DC.

Notable Morning Stories ....

How to vanquish mobile spam
~ Cnet

Automakers’ Swift Cases in Bankruptcy Shock Experts
~ The New York Times

Justice Deptartment eyeing telecom probe
~ Reuters 

Amazon Patent Details Ad-Supported Kindle Books
~ Gizmodo

Notable Morning Stories ....

Smaller Law Firms Get More Big Company Work, Survey Finds
~ ABA Journal

Lawyers set to square off over Michael Jackson estate
~ Reuters

Court Ruling Clears Path for G.M. to Restructure
~ The New York Times

Carbon ring storage promises 1,000 times higher memory density
~ Engadget

Ethics Watch: May a Lawyer Examine Metadata Contained in Electronic Documents?

What is Metadata?
Metadata is "data about data."  It's hidden in most of your documents and contains information about the document's history.  For example, if you prepare a document and send it to colleagues who amend and comment on the document, and you then email the document to a third party, that person may be able to "mine" the document and view the amendments which were later deleted.


Is it Ethical to Examine Metadata?
Most states have addressed the issue of whether it's ethical to examine metadata embedded in electronic discovery.  According to the Legal Ethics Forum,  states and bars have come down on the issue as follows:

Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, the New York State Bar, the New York County Bar, and West Virginia agree that it is unethical for attorneys to look at metadata.

Maryland, the D.C. Bar, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and the ABA have found that viewing metadata is permissible and that the burden of removing metadata lies with the attorney producing the electronic documents.

Many firms use metadata removal tools or "scrubbers" that remove private metadata from files before they are sent to third parties.

Source: Young Lawyers Blog

Seven Facts About the Statue of Liberty: Happy 4th of July!

Happy Fourth of July! Today is the day that visitors will again be allowed to climb up into the crown of the Statue of Liberty. (The statue had been closed for security reasons following September 11.)

In celebration - we bring you these:

"7 Obscure Facts About The Statue Of Liberty."

1. There is some controversy about what her spikes represent. The National Park Service says that her seven spikes represent the seven seas and seven continents of the world. However, Barry Moreno, author of "The Statue of Liberty Encyclopedia says the spikes are "sun rays" and that the circle is a halo showing that she is divine.

2. Her weight is distributed as follows: the copper in the statue weighs 31 tons, the steel weighs 125 tons, and the concrete foundation is 27,000 tons.

3. No one has been allowed in the torch since 1916 and the National Park Service has to climb a 40 foot ladder in order to maintain its floodlights.

4. When the wind speed is more than 50 mph, she sways three inches and her torch sways five inches.

5. Three people have thrown themselves off The Statue of Liberty.

6. The Statue of Liberty first appeared on screen in Charlie Chaplin's 1917 film "The Immigrant."

7. Vandalism is a big problem in The Statue - especially people writing their names in her crown in lipstick.

Free Book of the Month: The Art of Cross Examination

Click here to download.

Source: Google Books