O'Connor's Online Federal Resources

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The Harris County Law Library provides access to an excellent collection of online legal resources, including Westlaw, LexisAdvance, and HeinOnline. These databases, whose subscription fees can be too costly for solo and small firm attorneys to maintain, are available to use completely free of charge in the Law Library.

One of our databases that many attorneys and self-represented litigants are using with increasing frequency is O'Connor's Online. O'Connor's is an established and trusted name in legal publishing, particularly in Texas. The O'Connor's print publications are well-known as go-to resources for expert commentaries, legal forms, and for annotated codes and rules. The O'Connor's Online database provides the same quality of information, covering the same content that's published in the print volumes, all conveniently packaged in a searchable format.

O'Connor's Online is not new to the Law Library, but the addition of federal sources is a recent upgrade. Law Library patrons can now access federal commentaries, forms, statutes, rules, and charts using the multiple search tools built into the database. 

For a broad overview of all the available federal content, explore the master menu: Click on the Pretrial & Trial Procedure entry on the Browse menu. This will provide you with a complete listing (shown in the image above) of all the federal and Texas resources available in each content category. 

For a more specific search, enter keywords to perform a full content search of the entire database. Then, narrow your search results by selecting the appropriate jurisdiction from the Filters menu on the left. As an example, you may search for the keywords employment discrimination and then narrow your search results to federal sources. Filter your results once more to view only forms. One of the results in your list will be a general complaint for an ADA violation, Form 2B:16. O'Connor's Online is a terrific tool for accessing all the content that's familiar to users of the print titles and a user-friendly platform for newcomers.

Final tip: Once you've located the form you wish to use, you will have a few options -- download the form to a USB drive, email the document to yourself as an attachment, print the form at our Copy Center, or open it as an editable Word (or Word Perfect) document. There's no better -- or easier -- way to use the O'Connor's forms! 

If you need assistance using O'Connor's Online, the Law Library staff is always happy to help. Further information about navigating the O'Connor's database is available here:

• Navigating the homepage - video
• Navigating the interactive panels - video
• What kinds of searches can I perform?
• Using the persistent Table of Contents in your research

Tech Tuesday: Library Technology Exhibit

The Harris County Law Library has seen many changes since it opened on October 1, 1915, including many changes in technology. This month's exhibit features several treasures from the past century representing the evolution of technology in the Law Library and in the practice of law. Don't miss the exhibit, which will be located in the library's lobby throughout January.

The electric light bulb was the first technology introduced to the Law Library, followed three decades later by a new development in sound recording technology.

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SoundScriber Dictation Machine purchased for use at the Harris County Law Library in the mid-1940s.

The Soundscriber Dictation Machine, which featured an amplified microphone and soft-vinyl recording discs was introduced in 1945. It allowed attorneys to dictate notes, letters, and other documents while conducting research in the Law Library.

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Westlaw Automated Law Terminal (W.A.L.T.) (c. 1982) - a similar terminal was available in the Harris County Law Library as early as 1985. {photo courtesy of Thomson Reuters}

In the 1980s, electronic legal research made its debut with W.A.L.T. (West Automated Legal Terminal), Harris County Law Library's portal to the Westlaw database. This dedicated computer terminal allowed users to access the Westlaw database over the Internet, but the cost of online legal research was prohibitive for most users. Electronic searching could cost up to $150 per hour, so print materials remained popular.

Demand for print resources guided the Law Library's collection development decisions throughout the 1990s. The library began purchasing books on computers and the law, but developments in tech quickly outpaced their usefulness. Fortunately, Westlaw and Lexis were becoming more accessible and robust. Today, the Law Library relies heavily on electronic resources. With 25 public legal research computers available for patron use, a great variety of digital content is readily available.Computers are Internet-connected, allowing for access to several databases, including Lexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline, O’Connor’s Online, and the State Bar of Texas Practice Manuals. 

The library's presence on social media -- Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram --  has also grown, providing users with up-to-date access to information about Law Library resources, services, and events, including the CLE sessions presented by the Law Library's Legal Tech Institute.

The Legal Tech Institute is an ongoing series of free learning opportunities focused on using technology for more efficient legal work. Since October of 2016, a new learning session has been offered each month with content designed for a diverse audience of legal tech beginners and experts. Microsoft Word for Lawyers, Excel Essentials, and Finding & Formatting Legal Forms are just a few of the courses that LTI has presented so far. Representatives from Westlaw and Lexis have rounded out the schedule with regular Vendor Visits.

LTI continues to grow with an ever-expanding menu of learning opportunities both in person an online. Earn CLE credit and improve your tech proficiency by visiting the LTI webpage where on-demand recordings of previous events are available. Look for even more offerings via our Hands-On Legal Tech Training courses which are scheduled to launch in 2018.

Software Solutions for Your Small Business or Law Practice

December is Small Business Resource Month at the Harris County Law Library. All month long, we're featuring resources, tailored for solo and small firm attorneys, who own, operate, manage, or advise small businesses. 

Finding the best law practice management software to meet the needs of your small firm can be a challenge. There are many different options to choose from at a range of prices and levels of sophistication. The Legal Tech Institute at Harris County Law Library provides links to several law practice management software packages, along with a link to the American Bar Association Legal Technology Buyer's Guide. While we do not endorse any particular product or service, we do list a limited number of affordable options.

Features offered by the various programs are similar. In general, they offer functionality for client communications, billing and accounting, task management, document automation, time tracking, and calendaring. Comparing how the programs differ is key. The following are good questions to ask when deciding which law practice management software is best for you?

• Is it a cloud based system? How much data storage is provided? Is access secure for you and your clients? 
• Is there a mobile version for access on the go? How good is it? Does it provide access to all features or is it limited?
• Does it integrate with any third-party programs such as Box, Dropbox, Fastcase, Google Drive, Office 365 or Quickbooks?

After exploring your options, contact the chosen providers to request a free trial and/or a guided demonstration. Then, let the software work for you. Using a law practice management program to automate routine tasks will boost your business, giving you more time to focus on serving your clients' needs. 

Legal Tech Institute Event - Legal Practice Technology

Please join us on Monday, December 18, 2pm-3pm, for Legal Practice Technology. Emily W. Lawson, Law Reference/Research Librarian at the O'Quinn Law Library, University of Houston Law Center, will highlight technology of interest to lawyers, such as legal apps and software.  Information about how to research legal technology options and stay up to date on technology trends will also be provided. For further details, and to register for this event, please visit the Legal Technology Insitute Events page. 

MyHein, A Personal Research Tool for HeinOnline

HeinOnline is one of several legal research databases available at the Harris County Law Library. Its digitized collection of law journals is the very best source for comprehensive, up-to-date, full-text legal scholarship. It's an excellent resource for a number of other publications as well, including United States Congressional documents, federal legislative histories, state session laws, legal classics, treaties and agreements, restatements, and so much more. If you haven't used HeinOnline, we'll be happy to help you navigate the available content and to take advantage of all the database's best features, including a relatively new tool called MyHein.

MyHein is a personal research tool that allows you to bookmark articles, save search queries, and set up eTOC alerts. The MyHein User Guide is a four-page document that details (1) how to set up your MyHein account and (2) start using it to create personal libraries of saved content for later access and retrieval. Content includes any of the articles, documents, books, reports, or journals available in HeinOnline. That means the entire database is yours to bookmark, track, and save. Additionally, MyHein is portable, meaning that you can log on to your personal account at any subscribing institution and still have access to your bookmarked items and saved search queries wherever you are. If you've dowloaded the HeinOnline app for your iPhone or Android device, you can even access the database -- and your MyHein account -- remotely. 

To gain remote access to HeinOnline via the HeinOnline app, first download the program to your device. Click here for Android or here for the iPhone. Then, visit the Harris County Law Library to authenticate your device through our HeinOnline subscription. Once IP authenticated, your device will be able to access the database from any location for 30 days. At the end of that period, visit us again to re-authenticate and never be without access to MyHein and HeinOnline!