Category «Legal Research»

DNA Identification Evidence in Criminal Prosecutions

In criminal cases, there have been challenges on sufficiency grounds and concerns over the use of forensic DNA evidence as the sole or primary proof of guilt. Uncorroborated DNA matching might not be enough to satisfy the burden of establishing guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The reliability of forensic DNA testing results might be questioned for any number of reasons, e.g., laboratory error, cross-contamination, interpretive bias or fraud, etc. Ken Strutin’s essay provides an overview of nuclear DNA typing, a sampling of the kinds of discretionary decisions that analysts often confront when interpreting crime scene samples, and concludes with with remarks about current disputes in forensic DNA typing, and how recognition of its inherent subjectivity might inform and illuminate these debates.

Subjects: Court Resources, Courts & Technology, Criminal Law, Features, Legal Research

Social media, geolocation and privacy, oh my!

Nicole L. Black highlights how our net activities are carefully monitored and meticulously tracked by some of the biggest players, including Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook. Our individual online footprints, from the Web sites we visit, the items we purchase, the people with whom we communicate, to the locations where we access the Internet, are extremely valuable commodities that are increasingly sought after.

Subjects: E-Commerce, Email, Features, Intellectual Property, Privacy

Cloud Computing for Lawyers

This is Nicole L. Black’s primer for the legal profession on an emerging technology which is defined as a “type of computing that is comparable to grid computing, [and] relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications. The goal of cloud computing is to apply traditional supercomputing power (normally used by military and research facilities) to perform tens of trillions of computations per second.”

Subjects: Computer Security, Digital Archives, Information Management, Internet Trends, Law Firm Marketing, Open Source, Technology Trends

FOIA Facts: Why the Wait?

Requesters who are new to using the FOIA statute often complain that they have filed a request within the last month but haven’t receive their documents yet. FOIA expert Scott A. Hodes explains that the congressional budgeting process does not specifically provide FOIA operations within an agency a set line item amount. Thus, FOIA Offices usually have limited resources from within their own agencies to fulfill requests.

Subjects: FOIA Facts, Freedom of Information, Government Resources

Preserving Born-Digital Legal Materials – Where to Start?

Sarah Rhodes discusses the monumental challenge of preserving our digital heritage. She argues that law libraries specifically have a critically important role to play in this undertaking as access to legal and law-related information is a core underpinning of our democratic society. Our current digital preservation strategies and systems are imperfect but tremendous strides have been made over the past decade to stave off the dreaded digital dark age, and libraries today have a number of viable tools, services, and best practices at our disposal for the preservation of digital content.

Subjects: Features, Information Management, Law Librarians, Legal Research, Legal Technology, Library Software & Technology, Technology Trends

Business Intelligence Online Resources

This extensive guide by search expert Marcus P. Zillman includes a wide range of sources designed to serve as a foundation for knowledge discovery specific to business intelligence resources on the Internet.

Subjects: Business Research, Features, Legal Research

The Government Domain – Congressional Documents on FDsys: Advanced Techniques

Following up on a previous column in which she introduced FDsys and explained the site’s simple search and navigation, this month Peggy Garvin provides an update and introduces more advanced search techniques for the congressional information available on FDsys.

Subjects: E-Government, Government Resources, The Government Domain

Wrongful Conviction and Attorney-Client Confidentiality

Interpreting Rule 1.6(b)(1) of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct in the context of wrongful convictions is complicated by evidentiary and practical considerations surrounding the potential use of such information. This article by Ken Strutin examines resources about several notable cases and the scholarly literature analyzing different approaches to resolving this dilemma.

Subjects: Criminal Law, Features, Legal Research

Google Scholar: A New Way to Search for Cases and Related Legal Publications

Courtney Minick and David Tsai provide an overview of the new features Google Scholar provides for the legal research market.

Subjects: Internet Resources, Legal Research, Online Legal Research Services

Project Management – A Law Librarian Survival Skill

Carol A. Watson discusses how effective project management requires considerable thought and preparation before actually initiating the work of the project. Although many of us are eager to jump into the tasks related to a project, it is important to remember that careful planning will provide the groundwork for a successful project outcome. Carol reminds us, “Remember, it takes time to save time,” and she will be writing on this overall topic in forthcoming issues of LLRX.com

Subjects: Law Firm Marketing, Law Librarians, Law Library Management, Legal Research, Legal Research Training, Legal Technology, Libraries & Librarians, Program Planning, Reference Resources