Category «Legal Research»

A Time to Act: Putting Awareness into Action

Wendy L. Werner’s call to action is clear: “lawyers have a unique opportunity to intervene on behalf of those with fewer resources, and people who have been under served and under-represented. Many of us have been impacted by the growing knowledge of racial inequities, and recognition of disparities. This is a moment to intervene and no one group has more power to make a difference than lawyers. Now is the time.”

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Continuing Legal Education, Free Speech, Leadership, Legal Education, Legal Profession, Legal Research

RSS Feeds, PACER, and the Fight for Access to Federal Docket Information

What is RSS and how do federal courts use it? Rebecca Fordon informs us that courts vary in the types of documents they provide via RSS feeds – only about 70% of bankruptcy courts and 50% of district courts provide full feeds. The effort urging courts to fully enable RSS feeds has many advocates and would have a significant positive impact for legal researchers in all sectors.

Subjects: Court Resources, Courts & Technology, Freedom of Information, Government Resources, Legal Technology, Public Records, RSS Newsfeeds, United States Law

How to Identify a Phishing Attempt and Thwart It

There has been a huge surge in phishing attacks and swindles during the COVID-19 pandemic as more people are working remotely. The attacks and scams have been perpetrated against businesses and individuals alike. Catherine Sanders Reach talks about the increased importance for lawyers and their teams in the office or working from home to understand the threats, and how to actively engage in efforts to reduce both individual and enterprise wide exposure.

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email, Email Security, Law Firm Security, Privacy

Book Review: A Short And Happy Guide To Advanced Legal Research

Nicole L. Black’s review highlights this book’s breadth of coverage and its format, information about a variety of free online tools, including public records databases, newsletters, and encyclopedias, and case law and statutes, fee-based legal research tools, as well as traditional case law and statutory research tools, and cutting edge AI-based legal research and data analytics software.

Subjects: AI, Book Reviews, Legal Research, LEXIS, Online Legal Research Services, Reference Resources, Westlaw

Hands On with Lexis+, New Premium Research Service from LexisNexis

Robert Ambrogi has authored the definitive review of Lexis+. His precise and expert review of the site, accompanied by relevant screen shots, is a must read guide for legal researchers as they consider whether to transition to this new platform. Ambrogi states: “The basic experience of conducting legal research in Lexis+ is not all that different from Lexis Advance. But the added features that I described above — Search Tree, Missing and Must Include, Search Term Maps, and Ravel View — are valuable in that they give researchers more control over their searches and results without requiring them to be power researchers.”

Subjects: KM, Legal Research, LEXIS

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 26, 2020

Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: The High Privacy Cost of a “Free” Website; Think Twice Before Using Facebook, Google, or Apple to Sign In Everywhere; Cybercrime and the Law: Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the 116th Congress; and FinCEN Files Show How Criminals Use Big-Name Banks To Manage Global Financial Corruption.

Subjects: Business Research, Competitive Intelligence, CRS Reports, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Government Resources, Intellectual Property, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 20, 2020

Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: How to Blur Your House in Google Maps’ Street View; USPS Phishing Texts Are Flooding Phones Across The Country; Creepy ‘Geofence’ Finds Anyone Who Went Near a Crime Scene; and Weather Apps Continue To Share Data With Third Parties.

Subjects: Computer Security, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Email Security, Privacy

Internet Archive Open Library lawsuit moves forward; arguments set for November 2021

Chris Meadows discusses the ongoing case by four publishers, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons and Penguin Random House, against the Internet Archives Open Library respective to the scanning, public display, and distribution of entire literary works. As noted, this is “a potentially sensitive, and complex litigation.” The future of the Internet Archive may hang in the balance. This case is shining light on the heightened importance of evaluating fair use during a pandemic that is keeping vast books collections out of users reach for the unforeseeable future, while most education is confined to distance learning.

Subjects: Business Research, Competitive Intelligence, Distance Learning, Education, KM, Legal Research, Libraries & Librarians, Search Engines, Virtual Library

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 12, 2020

Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Even a Federal Judge Agrees That the FBI and NSA Are Flouting Civil Liberty Safeguards; Chinese hackers go after UNC for COVID-19 vaccine info; COVID-19 and Emerging Global Patterns of Financial Crime; and The State Of Identity Security, 2020.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cyberlaw, Cybersecurity, Economy, Education, Financial System, Government Resources, Health, Legal Research, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 6, 2020

Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Amazon’s Alexa for Landlords Is a Privacy Nightmare in the Making; This Email Could Wreak Havoc on the 2020 Election; How can you spot a tech support scam?; and Republicans flooding internet with deceptive videos and Big Tech isn’t keeping up.

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, Information Architecture, Privacy, Search Engines