Ohio State Bar Association and Casemaker legal research database

Casemaker is a legal research database containing federal and state legal materials.  Casemaker is available to all members of the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) and is also used by many other state bar associations in the U.S.  As law students you can get an OSBA membership for free.  Just fill in the OSBA law student application and mail it to the address listed on the application.   It is free unless you join a special section that costs extra.  Here is a link to the PDF copy of the application-> Download the Student Membership Application.

After your application is processed by the OSBA you will have access to the Casemaker database.  Other than typical licensing restrictions, there are no “law school only” password restrictions. You can use the database for school, work or for fun.

A brochure that explains the many benefits of having a student membership with the state bar can be found here -> Download the Membership Brochure.

 More information on Law School Student Membership.

Tips, Tricks and Hints for using Westlaw and LexisNexis

Check your profile on Westlaw and LexisNexis

At least once-a-year law students should update their profiles on LexisNexis and Westlaw.  Things change such as your e-mail address and other information stored on your profile page.  You can change this information yourself. 

For Westlaw: Log into Westlaw http://lawschool.westlaw.com/ and just to the right of your name is the UPDATE link.  Click on that link to update your profile.

For LexisNexis: Log into LexisNexis http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/ and click on the GET HELP tab.  At the next screen, click on UPDATE REGISTRATION INFORMATION.

Questions?  Contact Lynn Lenart, 330-972-6357, llenart@uakron.edu.  Office 269, Law Library, second floor.

Scholarship Opportunity: The Richard Linn American Inn of Court Mark T. Banner Scholarship

The The Richard Linn American Inn of Court Mark T. Banner Scholarship (“Banner Scholarship”) is a new scholarship created in the name of the late Mark T. Banner, a former Linn Inn founder and Master, a leader in the field of patent law in his own right, and the son of Donald W. Banner. This new scholarship is part of the Linn Inn’s commitment to fostering the development of intellectual propertylawyers with commitment to ethics, professionalism and civility.

The Banner Scholarship is open to all students currently enrolled in an American Bar Association (ABA) accredited law school and interested in pursuing a career in intellectual property law. The applicant must have exemplary writing and oral communication skills. Applications for the 2010 scholarship are due on October 9, 2009. Questions regarding this scholarship should be addressed to Charles Shifley, President, Banner & Witcoff, cshifley@bannerwitcoff.com.

Please e-mail Adam Messner (apm@uakron.edu) for an application form if you are interested in applying.

CAREER NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY

Career Networking Opportunity – As you may know, Akron Law regularly hosts alumni outreach events in various cities where our alumni reside and work. The law school is offering an opportunity for students who are interested in meeting with alumni living and working in cities we are visiting this fall and spring to join us in these cities for an opportunity to network.

City Visit Date Location Event
September 16, 2009 Columbus, OH Alumni/Friends Dinner
September 23, 2009 Cincinnati, OH Alumni/Friends Dinner
September 24, 2009 Washington, DC Alumni/Friends Dinner
October 17, 2009 Buffalo, NY Alumni Breakfast
October 20, 2009 Pittsburgh, PA Alumni/Friends Dinner
October 27, 2009 New York City Alumni/Friends Dinner
October 29, 2009 Cleveland, OH Alumni/Friends Dinner
November 2, 2009 Trumbull County, OH Alumni Breakfast
November 9, 2009 Columbus, OH Alumni Breakfast
November 10, 2009 Phoenix, AZ Alumni/Friends Dinner

All students are welcome to attend alumni city visits. In addition, to allow for greater student participation, Akron Law alumni through the Office of External Programs have provided funds to support student travel to these events. If the number of student requests exceeds the amount available, reimbursement requests will be determined by a lottery. Student reimbursement for these events will be made at a maximum of $150.00 per student for events held within Ohio and a maximum of $250.00 per student for events held outside Ohio for reimbursement of travel expenses.

Students who are interested in attending these events and wish to receive reimbursement must respond by submitting their name and city of interest by 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.  Students may submit their names for reimbursement for multiple events, but will only be available for one reimbursement.  (Winning the lottery for one event automatically excludes an individual for a chance to be reimbursed for another event. No prioritizing or selecting is allowed.)  Again, students are welcome to attend as many events as they like, without reimbursement.

Please note:  Attendance at these events are not excused absences from class.  Interested students should contact their professors before agreeing to attend to determine how any such absence will be treated.

If you are interested in attending one of these events and/or being considered for reimbursement, please respond to Jeanne Kennedy (jeanne2@uakron.edu) by 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 and include:

            Your name
            Your e-mail address
            The city(ies) of interest

Career Planning Hosts Judicial Clerkship Workshop

Please join us on Wednesday, September 2 at 12:15 p.m. in Room 134 for an informative presentation on judicial clerkships. Michael Altvater and Elizabeth Davis will be at the Law School to speak about their experiences with applying and interviewing for clerkships, what judges look for and what it’s like to be a judge’s law clerk. A valuable presentation for all students who might ever want to work for a judge. We strongly encourage all students to attend. Food will be served.