When most people hear “law,” they imagine courtroom dramas or criminal trials. The truth is, legal issues impact our daily lives much more than we realize—especially civil law. From leases to medical bills, knowing basic legal terms can protect your rights, help you make informed decisions, and prevent costly mistakes.
Read moreDigital Discoveries: Freedom for All
Digital Discovery: Freedom for All: An Attorney’s Guide to Fighting Human Trafficking — Kelly Hyland, who co-authored the first edition of this title in 2016 with Kavitha Sreeharsha, partnered with the American Bar Association Book Publishing division to release a second edition in 2023. With this latest iteration, Hyland and the ABA seek to “encourage more attorneys to engage in anti-trafficking work.”
Read moreDetention & Deportation Defense: Know Your Rights
For information about the rights that are guaranteed to all people living in the U.S. regardless of immigration status, as well as a variety of Know Your Rights guides for people who are confronted by police or Immigration and Customs Enforcement in their homes, at work, while driving, or out in public spaces, please consult the list of resources within.
Read moreYou've Got a "Bud" in Your Ombudsman
There have been reports circulating in the media that there is a shortage of ombudsmen in Texas, especially in long-term care facilities. It is said, too, that these ombudsmen play vital roles in the lives of the people living in and receiving care at these facilities. However, what is less known is who these ombudsmen are and what they do.
Read moreGeography and the Law: Identifying Legal Deserts with GIS Mapping Tools
In 2016, during Geography Awareness Week, Ex Libris Juris featured a brief discussion of GIS mapping technology and its applications for understanding Access to Justice (A2J). In the years since, opportunities for GIS data analysis in the A2J community have only grown. Today, November 20, is GIS Day, the perfect time to highlight additional uses of GIS software for analysis of datasets relevant to law. An assortment of GIS applications for legal contexts are mentioned in the list below, alongside two additional short compilations—a sampling of StoryMaps and a beginner’s collection of mapping tools for your own GIS projects.
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