April is National Poetry Month, and the Harris County Law Library is celebrating. We're shining a spotlight on the Poetry of the Bench and Bar with an exhibit featuring poetic judicial opinions and poems written by and about attorneys. Visit the Law Library all month long to view the exhibit.
Court News: March Madness Research Guide, Promoting Successful Brackets for All
March Madness has struck, and the Harris County Law Library has a cure. If you are a Houston Bar Association member who is participating in the Bracket Challenge, or just a college basketball fan in need of some guidance in completing your bracket, the Harris County Law Library can help! We have assembled a March Madness Research Guide with information and links to insider data from sports experts at ESPN, SB Nation, Sports Illustrated, FoxSports, the Bleacher Report, and more. Get the inside scoop from experienced basketball pros, such as statisticians, researchers, and correspondents, as well as former players who know the game from the inside out. On the line-up are:
Chris Dobbertean: College basketball contributor and resident bracketologist at SBNation and editor of Blogging the Bracket
Reid Gettys: Part-time NCAA basketball analyst for ESPN, lead attorney for ExxonMobil, and part of the "Phi Slama Jama" era of the early 1980s, who participated in three Final Fours and had two national championship appearances. Follow him on Twitter @reidgettys.
Joe Lunardi: College basketball analyst for ESPN who is best known for creating Bracketology. He correctly predicted all 65 teams to appear in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and all 68 teams for the 2013 tournament. Wow!
Jerry Palm: Resident Sports Geek at CBS Sports and a pioneer in predicting the March Madness bracket and in understanding the tournament selection process. Follow him online at CBS Sports, NCAA Basketball.
John Rothstein: College Basketball Insider for CBS Sports and host of the College Hoops Today podcast, as well as a driving force behind Bleacher Report. Get the app here for Apple and Android.
Check out what these and other NCAA basketball experts have to offer in helping you build your bracket. Click on the image above to view the Harris County Law Library Research Guide for even more tips from the pros. Good luck, bracket hopefuls. May the best bracket win!
Celebrating National African American History Month: Justice Thurgood Marshall
In 1925, the historian, Carter G. Woodson, called for a week-long celebration to recognize the contributions of African Americans in the development of our country. Negro History Week was celebrated for the first time in 1926 and expanded to a full month in 1976, the year of our nation's sesquicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history."
This year, the tradition continues. In the presidential proclamation issued by the White House on January 31, 2018, a special theme was designated commemorating the contributions of African Americans in Times of War. To educate and inform the public about the significant contributions of African Americans in combat, the National Archives has assembled an extensive list of resources called Blacks in the Military.
We at the Harris County Law Library hope to do our part in honoring National African American History Month. We'd like to call greater attention to the many notable African Americans who have played such crucial roles in shaping the law and achieving civil rights. With a special exhibit, we honor the first African American to rise to the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court and perhaps the most influential African American lawyer in U.S. history -- Justice Thurgood Marshall.
An exhibit commemorating the extraordinary life of Justice Marshall will be on display in the Law Library lobby throughout the month, and a digital exhibit is available on the Law Library's website.
For additional digital resources celebrating African American history and the remarkable life of Justice Thurgood Marshall, please visit the following sites:
Biography.com -- Thurgood Marshall: A Justice for All (VIDEO)
Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
Legal Research & Writing Resource Month
February is Legal Research & Writing Resource Month at the Harris County Law Library. Whether you are an attorney drafting a motion or a self-represented litigant navigating the court system, writing is a necessary component of your legal work. Visit the Law Library all month long to find resources on display that you can use to improve and enhance your legal research and writing skills.
To improve your legal writing skills, look for the following:
- The Redbook A Manual on Legal Style, 3rd ed. / by Bryan Garner, 2013
- Thinking like a Writer 2nd ed. / by Stephen V. Armstrong & Timothy P. Terrell, 2003
- Legal Writing to Win, Texas Bar CLE / by Chad Baruch, 2015
To improve your legal research skills, look for the following:
- Fundamentals of legal research / by Steven M. Barkan, Barbara A. Bintliff, Mary Whisner, 2015
- Legal research: how to find & understand the law / by Stephen Elias and the editors of Nolo
- Legal research in a nutshell / by the late Morris L. Cohen, Kent C. Olson
- Strategic legal research: Finding the information you need efficiently and cost-effectively / by Tobin A. Sparling
Latest & Greatest – Wills Road Map: Practical Considerations in Will Drafting
By Steve Akers, Bernard E. Jones, and R.J. Watts, II
Published by State Bar of Texas (Texas Bar Books)
KFT 1344 .A94 2017
Continuing with Wills and Probate Law Resource Month, the Harris County Law Library is pleased to have available the new edition of Wills Road Map: Practical Considerations in Will Drafting. Now in its third edition, Wills Road Map outlines the fundamental concepts that attorneys need to consider when preparing a will and when upholding the validity of such will. The authors begin with a discussion of the basic requirements of a will, including those that are statutorily-mandated and those that have been derived from years of case law. They provide examples of some specific will provisions and their purposes, including those that identify the testator, his/her family, and the property being disposed under the will, and some other miscellaneous provisions, such as definitions, in terrorem clauses, and the attestation clause. The authors also provide some insight into the substantive laws that affect the disposition of assets under a will, such as those regarding extraneous references and integration, and legal doctrines that may affect specific bequests, such as ademption and abatement. They round out their discussion of practical considerations by addressing trust planning, fiduciary powers and trust administration, and revocation of a will.
With both the general practitioner and the wills and estate planning specialist in mind, the authors have prepared a guide that not only covers the law surrounding the preparation and execution of wills but also the practical aspects in drafting them. In the appendixes, you can find a checklist for will review, client information questionnaires, and some samples of basic will forms. Next time, you are visiting the Harris County Law Library, have a look at Wills Road Map: Practical Considerations in Will Drafting. Just ask for it at the Reference Desk.