Legal Tech Institute Legal Tech Collection

The Harris County Law Library's Legal Tech Collection is a growing library of print resources, located at the Reference Desk, that address tech topics relevant to to the practice of law. Books in the collection include several titles in the "One Hour" series. iPad in One Hour for Lawyers, Facebook in One Hour for Lawyers, and LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers, are just a few of the available titles. Other books in the collection focus on encryption, digital privacy, e-discovery, social media, Adobe Acrobat, and how to use Google more effectively for legal research. 

One of the featured books in the collection is an updated edition of a popular publication from the ABA Law Practice Division -- The Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide: Critical Decisions Made Simple. The Law Library recently acquired the 11th edition (published in 2018), which, surprisingly, is a much slimmer volume than the 2016 edition that it will replace. At just under 200 pages, the 2018 edition is nonetheless chock full of useful content for any solo and small firm practitioners in need of guidance in selecting the best technology options for more efficient and effective legal work.

In the introduction to The 2018 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide, the authors explain that this year's edition is more narrowly focused on the core technologies of the law office. It is therefore more condensed and compact. Readers requested a book that presents just the essentials of law office technology, making it easier to use and to read. This feedback from readers demonstrates an important point -- that even the most tech savvy users of legal tech tools still like to consult print resources for guidance.

Our interactions with Law Library patrons certainly show a high demand for traditional books in print, which in turn motivated our decision to create a legal tech collection of print materials There are of course many excellent online resources including legal tech blogs, how-to videos on YouTube, recommendations via social media from colleagues and fellow users, vendor websites, and so much more, but many times a compact, single-volume handbook is just what a new tech user needs to get acquainted with an unfamiliar resource. In addition to our print resources, we link to several other useful digital legal tech resources via our Legal Tech Institute web pages, and, when consulted in tandem with our print resources, these online digital sources are also excellent tools for gaining a toehold in the sometimes overwhelming world of legal tech. 

Celebrating San Jacinto Day

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Today is San Jacinto Day! We, along with many others across the state, turn our thoughts to the final battle of the Texas Revolution that took place on April 21, 1836. The victory paved the way for a new government to form under the 1836 Constitution of the Republic of Texas and the rest is legal research.

To celebrate the day, we're offering a #shelfie opportunity the week of April 23 at the Harris County Law Library. Grab your phone and take a #shelfie in front of our monographic replica of the San Jacinto Monument. Be sure to post it to Twitter and tag it #SanJacintheStacks!

Celebrate the Texas Day of Civility in the Law by Earning Free CLE Credit in Ethics

Tomorrow, Friday, April 20, is the Texas Day of Civility in the Law. The State Bar of Texas calls upon legal professionals to observe this day by reaffirming their commitment to the Texas Lawyer's Creed, which calls for attorneys to conduct themselves with courtesy and professionalism toward judges, adversaries, peers, colleagues, and clients.

Local bar associations across the state will be celebrating, marking the day with a variety of events, several of which will offer free CLE credit in ethics.

The Dallas Bar Association, along with the Dallas Bar Foundation, American Board of Trial Advocates, AlixPartners, Inns of Court, and the State Bar of Texas Professionalism Committee will be hosting the Day of Civility at the Belo Mansion in downtown Dallas and offering 4.5 hours of CLE in ethics.

A live stream of the seminar will be available for those who are unable to attend. State Bar President Tom Vick will give the opening remarks. For more information, contact Kathryn Zack at (214) 220-7450 or kzack@dallasbar.org.

The Houston Bar Association will be hosting a number of events as well, including an open CLE video-watching event, the perfect opportunity to earn CLE/ethics credit at no charge. Bring your lunch or snacks the HBA office between the hours of 8:30 am and 4:30 pm to view the videos. The office is located at 1111 Bagby Street, FLB 200, Houston, 77002.

Finally, the Texas Center for Legal Ethics will be offering free online CLE ethics credit online. Topics include The Noble Lawyer and Developing Your Professional Reputation.

Whether you're approaching your birth date and need to earn CLE credit in a hurry, or you'd just like to log your ethics credit now in preparation for your Bar license renewal date, these offerings are excellent opportunities to reflect on professionalism and civility in the law as you learn. 

Latest & Greatest – Texas Real Estate Forms Manual, Third Edition

A Project of the Real Estate Forms Committee of the State Bar of Texas

Published by TexasBarBooks

KFT 568 .S7 2017

The Texas Real Estate Forms Manual, Third Edition is here! Prepared and written by Texas attorneys specializing in real estate law, Texas Real Estate Forms Manual is a go-to guide for handling real estate transactions. Almost every chapter features handy and useful forms and practice notes that discuss and analyze the issues and topics addressed in that chapter. In this manual, you will find explanatory material and forms relating to the preparation, execution, and recording of documents, real estate sales contracts, deeds, promissory notes, deeds of trust, security agreements, foreclosure documents, construction contracts, lien documents, and much more.

Come to the Law Library and ask for Texas Real Estate Forms Manual, Third Edition at the reference desk.

Digital Divides and Justice Gaps

A recent study by the Pew Research Center suggests that 11% of Americans don't use the internet. 11%! For those of us who spend our days talking about ways to more effectively use digital resources, 11% is a staggering statistic. At the Harris County Law Library, we're on the internet every day. Pulling a case in Westlaw or Lexis requires connectivity. Assisting self-represented litigants (SRLs) access TexasLawHelp.org for forms and information does too. Access to many forms of legal information is either bolstered by internet access or, in some instances, totally dependent on it.

Legal aid organizations across the country are also on the internet every day leveraging technology to close justice gaps. In Texas, we have a variety of success stories. TexasLawHelp.org counts thousands of page hits each month and offers chat services to SRLs across the state. Houston Volunteer Lawyers and Lone Star Legal Aid share information and leverage automated intake forms on their websites. The Houston Bar Association and Texas State Law Library distribute legal information to SRLs on the most needed topics, including family and consumer law.

Can you see where this is going? What happens when our efforts to offer legal aid and share legal information are focused on a medium that the intended recipients either cannot or do not access? Diving further into the Pew report, we see the problem is exacerbated. The digital divide is concentrated in vulnerable populations that legal aid services are intended to help. Specifically,

• 35% of Seniors (65+),
• 19% of those earning less than $30k per year, and
• 35% of individuals without a high school education

do not use the internet. Building on these base statistics, if 19% of those living in poverty do not use the internet at all, how many of the remaining 81% have had the opportunity to develop the skill set to use it well?

Ok, enough doom and gloom. What do we do? Answer: remember that public law libraries are partners in access to justice. If the issue is lack of access to equipment, libraries offer public access computers. If it's digital literacy, we offer reference assistance and free learning opportunities. If information literacy is the issue, we help patrons every day wade through nonsense Google results to find authoritative resources like TexasLawHelp.org. And all of these resources are available for free to all at locations across the country.

For more information on the role of public law libraries in access to justice, take a look at the following resources:

• Report: Law Libraries and Access to Justice. A Special Report of the American Association of Law Libraries Access to Justice Special Committee (AALL 2014)
• Partnering with Libraries, Center on Court Access to Justice for All
• Report of the Texas Commission to Expand Texas Legal Services (Dec. 6, 2016)