Author: saltmeyer

Finding the law in each of the 50 states is a typical law firm research assignment for summer associates.  Or, you may be writing a paper and want to discuss and compare the law in the 50 states. Sure, you could search databases of state statutes, regulations and/or cases.  But there may be sources that already compile the results for you!  There are 50 State Surveys on Lexis and Westlaw, CCH Intelliconnect Smart Charts, and a whole lot more.  Find them on our new research guide, Fifty-State Law Surveys .

43 students entered our drawing for the $50 Amazon Gift Card.  The drawing was an incentive for taking the Law Library student survey.  And the winner of the gift card is …. Julie Jakmides! Congratulations and happy shopping to Julie!

Thanks to everyone who took the survey.  We received a lot of good feedback and suggestions.

You still have access to these great databases for some time after graduation!

LexisNexis

• Access: Spring graduates have access to Lexis Advance via their law school IDs through December 30, 2016. This ID also grants  access to the Graduate Home Page (detailed below).
• LexisNexis Rewards Point Expiration: Spring graduates have until June 30, 2016 to redeem their LexisNexis Rewards points.
• Graduate Home Page: On August 1^st the spring graduates’ view of the Law School Home Page will switch from the current view to the graduate view. This new view will provide helpful information for your career and job search. It will also award you 10,000 Graduate Rewards points that can be redeemed for LexisNexis eBooks and online subscriptions for Lexis Practice Advisor, Lexis for Microsoft Office, and Law360.
• Aspire Program:  Graduates conducting verifiable 501(c)(3) public interest work may sign up for the Lexis ASPIRE Program for extended access to some items.  Please contact our Lexis Account Representative, Jennifer Durkin, at jennifer.durkin@lexisnexis.com, if you have any questions.

Westlaw

Graduating students can extend access for 6 months after graduation by registering for Grad Elite at https://lawschool.westlaw.com/registration/gradelite.aspx.  Graduating students who request a summer extension before May 30, 2016 will receive 60 hours of access per month through November 2016.   If you fail to extend your password you are restricted to 10 hours per month and it will expire earlier.  All graduates will also automatically retain access to lawschool.westlaw.com and a number of career-related databases for 18 months following graduation.  Please contact our West Academic Account Manager, Brooke Stokke, at brooke.stokke@thomsonreuters.com, if you have any questions.

Bloomberg Law

Graduates automatically keep full access to Bloomberg Law through their individual account for six months following graduation.  Please contact our Bloomberg Law School Relationship Manager, Chris Bartkowski, at cbartkowski@bna.com, if you have any questions.

Other databases:

• Free Fastcase App for iPhone or Android
• For free databases on the Internet, see United States Federal Law – Free Sources and Ohio Law – Free Sources

Summer Access to Lexis Advance

Access to Lexis Advance will continue during the summer.  As long as you are registered for Lexis Advance you do not have to do anything to continue using Lexis Advance this summer.  You may use Lexis Advance for work or school during the summer.  In the fall, usage reverts back to academic use only.

Summer Access to Westlaw

Westlaw is available for academic use over the summer.  To access Westlaw over the summer, students need to register on Westlaw.   Log onto Westlaw and click on the image that says summer access.

• You can extend your Westlaw password for summer use if you participate in one of the following:

  1. Summer law school classes and study abroad programs
  2. Law review and journal – including write-on competitions
  3. Research assistant
  4. Moot court
  5. Unpaid internship/externship

Passwords may NOT be used for research for law firms, government agencies, corporations or other purposes unrelated to law school coursework.

Bloomberg Law

Access to Bloomberg Law continues over the summer.  You may use your Bloomberg Law password for any purpose during the summer as well as year-round.  The court dockets and transactional resources may be particularly useful to those working at law firms over the summer.

Other databases accessible over the summer:

• Students can sign up for a free Ohio State Bar Membership, which includes access to the Casemaker legal research database
• Continue to use Law Library databases such as HeinOnline and Proquest Legislative Insight.
• Free Fastcase App for iPhone or Android
• For free databases on the Internet, see United States Federal Law – Free Sources and Ohio Law – Free Sources

 

The following online sources can help you with exams:

Akron Law Digital – Contains the Questions and Answer series so you can practice exam-taking, and the Understanding Series to go over the cases and concepts you learned in class.  You can access these sources on mobile devices using the Overdrive app.

West Academic Study Aids Online – If you need help outlining, the Gilbert’s Law Summaries and Black Letter Outlines on West Academic may help.  For sample exam questions, take a look at the Sum and Substance titles and Acing series.  Other study aids on this platform include Nutshells and Concise Hornbooks.  These can be viewed on mobile devices.

CALI –  Interactive lessons on many legal concepts. Click here for information about the CALI authorization code for UA Law students.  You can take CALI Lessons on your smart phone or tablet.

Mobile Apps –  Go to the library’s Mobile Apps Guide, Law School and Bar Study Apps to find apps useful for studying.  Some of them are free.

Library Guides:  Study Aids for First Year Courses and Study Aids for Upper Division Bar Courses & the Bar Exam can help you find study aids for a particular subject.