The Law Library is open... virtually!

Like many public spaces, the Law Library is currently closed to the public as public health concerns continue. However, many of the valuable services and resources are still available through our Virtual Reference Desk.

As many professionals in our local legal community transition to working remotely, access to the legal databases that they typically access in the Law Library remains important. Likewise, self-represented litigants have fewer options to access the resources they need to access justice as public spaces are temporarily closed.

The Law Library is here to help. We have worked with vendors, including Lexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline, and the State Bar of Texas, to make valuable resources available through document delivery via our Virtual Reference Desk. Our law librarians are standing by to help you find the legal research materials you need to Stay Home and Work Safe!

Our law librarians are also collecting the information you need to comply with emerging tech requirements. For example, as local courts transition to video conferencing for hearings and more depositions take place remotely, our Video Conference Resource Guide helps you find the learning opportunities you need to keep working in the new normal. Download your copy here!

Learn more about remote depositions and video conferencing with a new video CLE from the Houston Bar Association!

Now is a great time to improve your tech skills with training opportunities from the Law Library’s Legal Tech Institute. Visit the Learn On-Demand page to find learning opportunities that are available at home or on the go.

From Picture Books to Board Books – Bridging the Justice Gap

Like most law libraries, Harris County Law Library is dedicated to bridging the justice gap and providing its patrons with access to the legal resources and materials they need to navigate the legal justice system. In a previous post, “How Children’s Books Promote Access to Justice,” we highlighted how the Law Library’s partnership with Harris County Public Library fostered access to justice by including children’s books in the Law Library’s collection. We were thrilled to learn that our friends at the Hamilton County Law Library in Cincinnati, Ohio, have followed our lead by partnering with the Public Library of Cincinnati to provide visitors with age-appropriate reading material, including children’s picture books as well as fiction and nonfiction offerings for adults.

Now, we’ve taken it one step further by adding board books to our collection. For those of you who may not know, board books are children’s books that are printed, not on regular paper, but on much thicker paperboard or cardboard. They are perfect for small children, typically for those up to age 3. They are designed to withstand the less than gentle touch and handling of toddlers. We have a large array of picture books for children between the ages of 4 and 8, but we were seeing more and more people coming to the library with toddlers. We knew we needed something more appropriate to keep these little ones busy while their moms, dads, or caregiver managed their legal business.

Law Library Awarded Texas Bar Foundation Grant to Enhance Digital Content Delivery to Self-Represented Litigants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Texas Bar Foundation awarded the Harris County Law Library a $16,225 grant to improve access to legal aid resources for self-represented litigants through the Law Library’s Self-Represented Litigant Assistive Technology Initiative.

“We are excited to expand opportunities for access to legal information with the support of the Texas Bar Foundation,” Law Library Director Mariann Sears said. “Public access to legal information is necessary to ensure open and equal access to our civil justice system. With this grant, we can leverage technology to help connect more people who are unable to afford representation with community legal services, like those from our partners at Houston Volunteer Lawyers.”

The purpose of the Initiative is to deploy technological solutions at the Law Library and Houston Volunteer Lawyers (HVL) Information Booth located at the Law Library to streamline access to online intake for legal aid, self-help legal forms, and self-help video content. Creation of up-to-date video content for use in Harris County, which leads the state in the number of cases filed by self-represented litigants, is a major component of the project.

“Since the Law Library joined our Office in 2011, we have worked diligently to make it a resource for everyone,” Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan said. “Most of the people who visit are not lawyers, but people who need help finding legal information to access the courts. At the Law Library, they have access to one of our nation’s leading public collections of digital legal resources and professional law librarians to help them navigate it. It’s a tremendous asset to the people of Harris County.”

About the Texas Bar Foundation

Since its inception in 1965, the Texas Bar Foundation has awarded more than $20 million in grants to law-related programs. Supported by members of the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Bar Foundation is the nation’s largest charitably-funded bar foundation. For more information, visit www.txbf.org.

About the Harris County Law Library

The Harris County Law Library opened in 1915 and has continued to serve Harris County’s legal information needs for more than a century. After joining the Office of Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney, in 2011, the Law Library greatly expanded its technology offerings and services to the public. Today, the Law Library receives more than 60,000 visitors each year, 90% of whom are not lawyers. Ryan’s support for the revitalization of the Law Library was recognized by the American Association of Law Libraries in 2016 when he was named the Law Library Advocate of the Year. The Law Library is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit www.harriscountylawlibrary.org for more information.

Celebrating the 104th Anniversary of the Harris County Law Library

This day, October 1st, marks the 104th Anniversary of the founding of the Harris County Law Library. Every day, we are committed to promoting open and equal access to justice for all, including self-represented litigants and the local legal community.

Since the celebration of our Centennial in 2015, the Law Library has continued grow and evolve. We are especially proud of our expanded digital offerings.

Our Legal Tech Institute (LTI) now provides even greater opportunities for hands-on learning about the effective use of technology in the practice of law. One hour of free CLE instruction is provided every Thursday at 2:00 pm at the Law Library in our Legal Tech Lab. We offer nine classes on rotation, and all are welcome to attend.

Additional learning opportunities are available in our Digital Education Nook or DEN, where library visitors can select from a full menu of videos to watch in a convenient and comfortable setting. There’s something for everyone! Licensed Texas attorneys can earn CLE credit by viewing previously recorded LTI presentations. The general public can get familiar with basic civil procedure and learn about the experience of filing a lawsuit and representing oneself in court.

These are just a few of the resources we offer to our many library visitors. We also provide access to heavily used print resources, including a wide variety of practice guides and form books, as well as an extensive collection of online content. Increasingly, the Law Library has expanded its selection of digital information available through Westlaw and Lexis. We also offer database access to HeinOnline, which includes a comprehensive collection of digitized law reviews and other legal journals. We are especially happy to offer access to the new Lexis eBook Collection, which is available to anyone connected to the Harris County wi-fi network. This Digital Collection contains complete searchable sets of several popular titles, such as the Texas Transaction Guide and the Texas Litigation Guide, along with a wealth of other materials published by Lexis for legal practitioners.

With so much growth in recent years, we are excited to see what the future holds. We are eager to implement a number of new ideas as we begin our next year of service to the Harris County community. As technology and legal technology, in particular, continues to develop and evolve, we will embrace and be responsive to those changes for the legal community and the residents of Harris County.

Recursos en Español (Spanish Language Resources)

The Law Library is pleased to announce a new collection — Recursos en Español. This collection of booklets, pamphlets, and brochures brings together information from our community partners about services that are available to Spanish speakers in Harris County. The materials, which are published in Spanish, are collected in one location near the Copy Center, and are free to all! Pamphlets covering family law matters, such as custody, parenting, adoption and mediation, as well as a selection of pamphlets from the State Bar of Texas on choosing a lawyer, writing a will, and much more are available. Additionally, information is provided by Texas Young Lawyers Association, the Office of Domestic Relations, the Federal Trade Commission, the Texas Attorney General, AVDA (Aid to Victims of Domestic Violence), and other legal aid organizations. TexasLawHelp.org provides bilingual forms for divorce and annulment. Finally, a publication from the Law Library titled Manual para Litigantes Pro Se connects Spanish-speaking patrons with even more local community services. Spanish language translation services are available from 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday. Library staff can answer reference questions in Spanish and help patrons find the information and resources they need.

La Biblioteca Jurídica se complace en anunciar una nueva colección: Recursos en español. Esta colección de folletos reúne información de nuestros socios comunitarios sobre los servicios que están disponibles para los hispanohablantes en el Condado de Harris. Los materiales que se publican en español se pueden conseguir cerca del Centro de Copias, ¡y son gratuitos para todos! Encontrará folletos que cubren asuntos de derecho de familia, como custodia, la crianza, la adopción, y mediación. Así también, hay una selección de folletos de la Barra Estatal de Texas sobre como seleccionar un abogado, como hacer un testamento, y muchos más. Asimismo, encontrará información provista por la Asociación de Abogado Jóvenes de Texas, la Oficina de Relaciones Domesticas, la Comisión Federal de Comercio, el Fiscal General de Texas, AVDA (Ayuda a víctimas de violencia domestica) y otras organizaciones de asistencia legal. TexasLawHelp.org ofrece formularios bilingües de divorcio y anulación. Por último, una publicación de la Biblioteca Jurídica titulada Manual para Litigantes Pro Se enumera las organizaciones que provee servicios comunitarios locales a los hispanohablantes. Servicios de traducción en español están disponibles de lunes a viernes de 8am a 5pm. El personal de la biblioteca puede responder a preguntas de referencia en español y ayudar a usuarios a encontrar la información y los recursos que necesitan.