The Legal Tech Institute at the Harris County Law Library has just released a new video CLE. Excel Essentials for the Practice of Law is the latest addition to our Learning On-Demand CLE library, where you can earn CLE credit in Texas while staying up to date on legal tech. Visit the Law Library's Legal Tech Institute page for more on our legal tech learning opportunities.
Featured Podcast: Constitutional from the Washington Post
Occasionally, the Harris County Law Library will recommend a podcast that may be of interest to readers of this blog. Previous suggestions include More Perfect, Reveal, and the podcasts of the Legal Talk Network. On Monday, July 24, the Washington Post will launch a new podcast called Constitutional. The press release describes it as follows:
The Washington Post is launching “Constitutional,” a new podcast about the history of the U.S. Constitution and the great debates that have shaped it over time. “Constitutional” will explore the document’s origin story, the passage of its amendments, and the people who fought to frame and reframe it— revolutionaries, abolitionists, suffragists, teetotalers, protesters, justices, and presidents.
Each week the podcast will delve into the big fights over citizenship, race, justice, love, liberty, taxes, and freedom of expression. Sign up for news on the podcast release here.
If you decide to tune in and you find that you like the Constitutional podcast, check out its predecessor, also from the Washington Post, the Presidential podcast. Both are hosted by Lillian Cunningham. Happy listening!
Latest & Greatest – The Noble Lawyer
By William J. Chriss
Published by State Bar of Texas, 2011
KF 298 .C48 2011
Recognizing the apparent dislike and derision that much of the public feels toward the bench and bar, the author of The Noble Lawyer takes up the task of defending lawyers and explains how, despite these attacks, the profession as a whole can regain its status as a noble one. William Chriss begins his examination of the public’s perception of the legal profession by analyzing the causes of the enmity that the public has for the lawyer and why it feels the need to engage and takes great pleasure in lawyer-bashing and lawyer-hating. Positing that the jury trial and the law of torts are at the core of this anti-lawyer movement, Chriss traces the history and developments of tort law, especially with respect to negligence, and identifies some of the factors that have exacerbated this aversion to lawyers, such as the rise and prevalence of lawyer advertising and the larger jury verdicts like those found (and readily publicized) in personal injury cases. He notes, too, that circumstances in the 1970s turned the public against the law in general and eventually against the lawyers and that lawyer jokes were no longer limited to poking fun at the work lawyers did but morphed into criticisms of the attorneys themselves as individuals.
The author does present a bright side, though. He provides examples of lawyers throughout history who embodied the notion of nobility that he believes the attorneys of today could attain once again. He cites such legal icons as Cicero, Bartolomé de las Casas, and Abraham Lincoln, not to mention the most beloved fictional noble lawyer, Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. In the end, the author exhorts his fellow lawyers to become more proactive in changing the public’s perception of the lawyer as a greedy, amoral character, for, as he concludes, “the key to educating a conflicted public…is for lawyers to be nobler.”
American Association of Law Libraries presents Cool Tech Tools
This week, the American Association of Law Libraries is holding its annual meeting in Austin. Librarians across the nation (along with some international guests) will gather to connect with their peers from government law libraries, academic institutions, and private law firms. Information professionals with expert knowledge in the following areas will provide content, inspiration, and plenty of food for thought:
- Leadership
- Marketing
- Advocacy
- Research
- Teaching
- Content management
- Legal technology
One of the highly anticipated sessions each year is the Cool Tools Cafe. Presented by the Computer Science Special Interest Section, this gathering is an opportunity for all interested parties -- from the novice to the pro -- to learn about emerging or existing technologies from experienced tech users. Tech tools for legal research, collaboration, productivity, presentation, and instruction are some of the most popular. Today's blog post will take a look back at two applications that were featured in years past. Microsoft Sway was presented at the AALL Cool Tools Cafe in 2015, and Slack was presented in 2016.
Microsoft Sway is a cloud-based publishing and presentation platform that was launched in 2014. (New and updated features were added in 2017.) One year later, it was rolled out to all eligible Office 365 customers worldwide and quickly became a strong competitor to Prezi, another cloud-based presentation platform. Sway allows you to create and share interactive reports, presentations, assignments, lessons, projects and more. It gives you all the tools you need to design and deliver your content in an unconventional way. Say goodbye to the traditional slide deck and hello to a newer, more dynamic storytelling tool. Drag and drop photos, videos, or files from your computer, Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter to build impressive, polished, professional presentations.
Slack is a team communication and collaboration platform that helps you organize your digital interactions and effectively eliminates the need for email. Teams create communication channels which allow for the exchange of information and documents. To make collaboration spaces even more dynamic and interactive, Slack also allows for the integration of apps and bots, such as Skype or Trello, a user-friendly project management tool.
Following this year's AALL Annual Meeting, we'll have new tools to share with you. Stay tuned for updates in future Tech Tuesday installments on Ex Libris Juris.
Monthly Feature: July is Consumer Law Resource Month
July is Consumer Law Resource Month at the Harris County Law Library.
- Visit our Featured Resource Section to see new and updated resources from the National Consumer Law Center.
- Browse consumer law news, sample pleadings and other companion materials in the NCLC databases now available on the Law Library research computers.
- Stay up to date on Texas consumer law with Advanced Consumer and Commercial Law Course books from the State Bar of Texas. Courses through the 10th annual conference (2014) are available.
- Self-represented litigants can find a copy of the HBA Consumer Law Handbook, which features a variety of legal information of interest to consumers, including guidance on buying a car, dealing with debt collection, landlord/tenant disputes, and more. Download a free copy through the HBA's Legal Handbooks website today.
For more information on Consumer Law and Protection, visit these websites: