Latest and Greatest – Federal Deception Law

By Jonathan Sheldon and Carolyn L. Carter

Published by National Consumer Law Center (2016)

KF 1609 .S3 2016

The Harris County Law Library has recently received the new edition of Federal Deception Law, just one of many titles available from the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) in its Consumer Credit and Sales Legal Practice Series. Other titles in this series include Foreclosures, Student Loan Law, Truth in Lending, Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice, Consumer Warranty Law, and Automobile Fraud. A companion treatise to NCLC’s Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices, Federal Deception Law focuses on federal and parallel state rules and remedies applicable to consumer transactions. Chapters address FTC trade regulation rules and their scope, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules, telemarketing fraud and unwanted calls, texts, and Spam, federal and state RICO requirements, the Federal False Claims Act, and much more.

Database Access

Did you know that the online versions of the NCLC materials are available at the Law Library? With the online versions, you will have access to the full text of the treatises as well as any forms and pleadings. Moreover, the online editions are updated more frequently than their print counterparts, so you will always have access to the latest information. In addition, you can print, download, or email the results of your research. To use the database, simply ask at the reference desk, and one of our librarians will gladly log into the database on the Law Library's research computers. Visit our downtown Houston location for more information.

Using Styles to Format Appellate Briefs

According to the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, briefs must follow very specific formatting conventions. Spelled out in Rule 38, these conventions ensure that all appellate briefs are consistently uniform in appearance, organization, and theme. Meeting these specifications fulfills the requirements of the court, conveying not only compliance with court rules but professionalism and credibility.

Formatting can be a time consuming and sometimes frustrating process, but drafting documents in Microsoft Word, taking full advantage of its built-in tools, simplifies the process considerably.  The Styles feature, which is often overlooked by even the most proficient MS Word users, is one such time-saving tool.

A Style is a collection of formatting instructions, applied consistently throughout a document to standardize the font, titles, spacing, paragraphs, headings, and sections. Using Styles to create a document template, you can cleanly and properly format your briefs, substantially transforming the draft-writing process to one of ease and efficiency. Due to the cascading effect of Styles, any one title or heading is formatted just like all of its kind. Therefore, one minor change in some basic feature of the text, particularly one that repeats throughout your brief, is no longer a source of aggravation and wasted effort. And Styles are an excellent remedy for the frustration of formatting your tables of contents and tables of authorities as well. For a useful resource guide, see Georgetown Law School's Styles, Tables of Contents, and Tables of Authorities in Microsoft Word 2010. 

Latest and Greatest - Advanced Consumer & Commercial Law Course

Just in time for Consumer Law Resource Month, the Harris County Law Library has received its copy of the 11th Annual Advanced Consumer and Commercial Law Course sponsored by the State Bar of Texas. Cosponsored by the Consumer & Commercial Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, this two-day seminar and webcast held in Austin in September 2015 featured discussions of the more relevant issues in the area of consumer law. Topics included:

• Telephone Consumer Protection Act
• Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA)
• Successfully Restructuring a Defaulted Loan
• Indemnification
• Texas Residential Construction Litigation
• Ethical Issues for the Commercial Lawyer
• Tenant Rights and Remedies under the Property Code
• Auto Finance
• Debt Collection
• Short-Term Lending

Look for the most recent course materials at the reference desk. All other consumer law and DTPA course materials can be found in the library’s CLE section. Visit our downtown Houston location to learn more.

Women's History Month Resources

In 1987, Congress passed a law designating March as Women’s History Month. In his proclamation, issued exactly 20 years ago on this day, President Reagan called upon “all Americans to mark this month with appropriate observances to honor the achievements of American women.”

The Harris County Law Library is doing its part to recognize this annual event and the continued commemoration of women’s roles in shaping our nation. Along with our exhibit in the Law Library lobby, which looks back at the life and legal career of pioneering Houston attorney, Camille Openshaw, we’ve put together this list of resources to help recognize the contributions of women in the legal profession today.

The great number and variety of institutes, organizations, and professional alliances that now exist are evidence of how the profession has evolved. This coalition of women in law also demonstrates the strength and support of the community that women in law have created. These organizations call attention to issues long-championed by women rights advocates including education, employment, economic security, child care, and reproductive rights. To learn more, take a look at these resources:

• Center for Women in Law
• Ms. JD
• National Association of Women Lawyers
• National Women’s Law Center
• Women, Influence & Power in Law
• Presidential Proclamation 2016

Training Opportunities Calendar

Attorneys need training opportunities, but finding them can be difficult. Even with so many groups offering fantastic CLEs and webinars to Houston’s legal community, it can be time consuming to track them all down. The Training Opportunities Calendar from the Harris County Law Library can help with that.

The Training Opportunities Calendar is an aggregate collection of training session announcements from local providers, like the Houston Bar Association, and names you know, like Westlaw. With a combination of local CLEs and online webinars, there are options to fit all schedules. Event listings are available in calendar format to help you find opportunities by date. You can also limit listings by whether they are local events, online webinars, or offer CLE credit. All events listed are free and links to registration information appear at the bottom of each entry.

Find new training opportunities each month on the Law Library website.