Latest & Greatest – Davis’s Texas Estate Planning Forms 2017

By Mickey R. Davis

Published by O’Connor’s

KFT 1340 .A65 D38

The Harris County Law Library is pleased to have a new addition to its collection of books from that trusted and reliable publisher, O’Connor’s: Davis’s Texas Estate Planning Forms 2017. This new resource, designed to assist in the drafting of wills and the providing of estate planning services to clients, contains a myriad of forms that can be adapted to fit your client’s situation. There is an entire chapter devoted to advanced directives and powers of attorney and an extensive sampling of various types of wills based upon marital status and the need for tax planning. You can also find provisions and clauses for specific testamentary gifts, administrative issues, and the payment of expenses and debts. There are also examples of simple wills that are good for those whose estates are a bit simpler and require little or no additional estate planning. Moreover, there is a chapter dedicated to trusts, including irrevocable gift trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, and charitable trusts . Like the library’s other Texas resources from O’Connor’s, the forms contained in this book can be found on O’Connor’s Online here at the law library.

Legislative Histories of Cybersecurity Laws Enacted by the 113th and 114th Congresses

January is Data Privacy and Information Security Law Month at the Harris County Law Library. All month long, we are promoting the data privacy resources in our collection to raise awareness of the need for data security in the practice of law. We are also featuring relevant electronic sources, including the Cybersecurity Law Institute at Georgetown University, and the Cybersecurity Law Report, both of which are freely available on the Internet.

The Law Library's subscription databases provide access to even more good resources, including legislative histories of key cybersecurity laws. HeinOnline has just added several new cybersecurity law resources to its U.S. Federal Legislative History Library. The new collection, Legislative Histories of Cybersecurity Laws Enacted by the 113th and 114th Congresses (William H. Manz, ed.) (2016)  is a compilation of eight laws enacted in 2014 and 2015 including: 

• Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act
• Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014
• National Cybersecurity Protection Act of 2014
• Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014

Four additional Acts grouped into the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 are also part of the compilation. The legislative histories include the text and chronology of the Acts, bill versions, related bills, committee reports, congressional debates and hearings, GAO reports, and presidential materials. 

To access these legislative histories and a world of other content, visit the Law Library or access HeinOnline on your mobile device.

Data Privacy and Information Security Law Exhibit

National Data Privacy Day, observed annually on January 28th, commemorates the 1981 signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. The Law Library is recognizing this event all month long with an exhibit, Data Privacy and Information Security Law, which will be on display in the Law Library lobby until January 31st.

Among the items featured in the exhibit are books from the Law Library's collection:

• Locked Down: Practical Information Security for Lawyers and Encryption Made Simple for Lawyers address the need for attorneys to protect their clients' data from security breaches, especially in the age of cloud storage, ransomware, and widespread information-sharing across potentially unsecured networks.

• Wiretapping & Eavesdropping: Surveillance in the Internet Age, a 4-volume loose leaf service, includes chapters on computer evidence, Internet technology, and the Fourth Amendment. Relevant federal and state laws regarding digital communications and surveillance in the information age are also discussed. The Wiretap Act (18 USC §2510) and the Stored Communications Act (18 USCA § 2701-2712) are just two examples, both of which were cited in a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case, Robert C. Konop v. Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. (302 F. 3d 868), which is also highlighted in the Law Library's exhibit.

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.

Latest & Greatest – Essentials of Texas Water Resources

Edited by Mary K. Sahs

Published by the State Bar of Texas

KFT 1646 .A75 E87 2016

Water, it can be said, is our greatest and most precious natural resource. It is both life-giving and life-sustaining as well as the subject of a complex and, oftentimes, political area of law. Thanks to a project of the State Bar of Texas Environmental & Natural Resources Law Section, the field of water law can be more easily understood. Now, in its fourth edition, Essentials of Texas Water Resources provides an overview of the challenges the state will face as the population continues to grow and shift and water resources become more burdened. The book begins with an overview of the two systems of water rights: surface water and ground water, and the legislative oversight given to these two systems in the forms of water districts and river authorities and regional water districts. Key to this oversight are the protections afforded to water rights by the enforcement statutes set forth in the Texas Water Code. Using the lessons learned from the most recent drought here in Texas, the authors also address changes made to the state’s water planning laws and the evolution of the groundwater management as well as some water management strategies. Other issues include the effect of the Endangered Species Act on water rights, the economic value of water, and the governmental acquisition of water rights. Filled with many handy illustrations, this book is an invaluable resource for those new to the field of water law and for those who simply need a brush-up.