December 29, 1845: Texas Achieves Statehood

On this day in 1845, Texas became the 28th state of the United States of America. Texan voters supported annexation as early as 1836, but opposition in the U.S. was strong. After years of heavy debate, Texas finally achieved statehood.

The Harris County Law Library has been recognizing this important date all month long with an exhibit in the Law Library lobby. A new exhibit will take its place at the start of the new year, but many of the featured items can be viewed online, including sections from Unites States Statutes at Large that document the annexation, as well as an 1844 broadside of the annexation debate, a political cartoon depicting the marriage of Texas and the United States, and an early Texas map. For more information about the events leading up to annexation and eventual statehood, please visit the Texas Almanac online.

Latest & Greatest – In a Nutshell® Series

Throughout the month of December, Harris County Law Library has been celebrating Self-Help Resources Month and featuring publications that are designed to assist those who are representing themselves in legal matters. Following this theme, we are pleased to announce that the law library has recently acquired several new titles from the In a Nutshell® series. Published by West Academic Publishing, the In a Nutshell® books provide concise summaries and explanations of a particular area of law. Designed as study guides, these small books are loaded with cases and statutes to guide the reader to a better understanding of the topic at hand. Some of our recent acquisitions cover such topics as legal drafting, electronic discovery and digital evidence, mental health law, children and the law, legal malpractice law, Section 1983 litigation, and consumer protection law. Look for these and other titles of interest in our Self-Help Collection or browse our collection using our catalog.

Microsoft Excel for Lawyers: Potential Pitfalls and the Promises of Proficiency

Several Tech Tuesday blog posts have provided tips for using Microsoft Word in the practice of law. Today's tech tip focuses on Excel, another popular program in the Microsoft Office suite.

Excel is a data management tool used for organizing, calculating, graphing, and sharing tabular information. The importance of developing proficiency in the use of Excel cannot be overstated. Knowing how to manipulate spreadsheets is just as important as properly formatting a written document, and without a firm understanding of how Excel works, embarrassing and potentially costly errors can result. Consider the following: 

When Barclays sent over its offer to buy up Lehman Brothers in the immediate wake of the firm's September 2008 collapse, it did so with an Excel spreadsheet. The makers of the spreadsheet, which detailed Lehman's assets and what Barclays was willing to buy, hid, rather than deleted, nearly 200 cells. But when a junior law associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton converted the Excel file to a PDF and e-mailed it over to the bankruptcy court, the hidden parts of the spreadsheet reappeared. The result: Along with the parts of Lehman Barclays wanted, the British bank was also forced to swallow losses on an additional 179 toxic deals it never intended to buy.

 -- From Stephen Gandel, writing in Fortune magazine, April 17, 2013

This cautionary tale is just one example of how Excel has been used improperly, with very negative consequences. This is obviously a mistake of greater magnitude than most attorneys encounter on an average day, but nonetheless, it does illustrate the perils of using software improperly.

If you're interested in learning how to use Excel in the practice of law, keep an eye on the LTI Course Catalog to find out when the Harris County Law Library will offer a CLE program on Excel for Lawyers. In the meantime, visit the website of Excel Esquire, where you will learn many practical tips for generating Bates numbers, using pivot tables, sorting metadata, and much more.

Documenting Texas History

Texas became a state on December 29, 1845. The Harris County Law Library is recognizing this anniversary with an exhibit, Texas Achieves Statehood. The exhibit will be on display through the end of this month. Visit the Law Library’s lobby to view the display. It features sections from Unites States Statutes at Large that document the annexation, along with an 1844 broadside of the annexation debate, a political cartoon depicting the marriage of Texas and the United States, and an early Texas map.

To satisfy your taste for more Texas history, you can also visit the Library of Congress website. Here, you can view a collection of panoramic, historical maps from cities throughout the United States, including many cities in Texas.