The Bookmas Tree is back at the Harris County Law Library. Stop by through the end of the year to snap a #shelfie with this annual favorite. When you post/tweet, be sure to tag the Law Library!
Law Library Awarded Texas Bar Foundation Grant to Enhance Digital Content Delivery to Self-Represented Litigants
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Texas Bar Foundation awarded the Harris County Law Library a $16,225 grant to improve access to legal aid resources for self-represented litigants through the Law Library’s Self-Represented Litigant Assistive Technology Initiative.
“We are excited to expand opportunities for access to legal information with the support of the Texas Bar Foundation,” Law Library Director Mariann Sears said. “Public access to legal information is necessary to ensure open and equal access to our civil justice system. With this grant, we can leverage technology to help connect more people who are unable to afford representation with community legal services, like those from our partners at Houston Volunteer Lawyers.”
The purpose of the Initiative is to deploy technological solutions at the Law Library and Houston Volunteer Lawyers (HVL) Information Booth located at the Law Library to streamline access to online intake for legal aid, self-help legal forms, and self-help video content. Creation of up-to-date video content for use in Harris County, which leads the state in the number of cases filed by self-represented litigants, is a major component of the project.
“Since the Law Library joined our Office in 2011, we have worked diligently to make it a resource for everyone,” Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan said. “Most of the people who visit are not lawyers, but people who need help finding legal information to access the courts. At the Law Library, they have access to one of our nation’s leading public collections of digital legal resources and professional law librarians to help them navigate it. It’s a tremendous asset to the people of Harris County.”
About the Texas Bar Foundation
Since its inception in 1965, the Texas Bar Foundation has awarded more than $20 million in grants to law-related programs. Supported by members of the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Bar Foundation is the nation’s largest charitably-funded bar foundation. For more information, visit www.txbf.org.
About the Harris County Law Library
The Harris County Law Library opened in 1915 and has continued to serve Harris County’s legal information needs for more than a century. After joining the Office of Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney, in 2011, the Law Library greatly expanded its technology offerings and services to the public. Today, the Law Library receives more than 60,000 visitors each year, 90% of whom are not lawyers. Ryan’s support for the revitalization of the Law Library was recognized by the American Association of Law Libraries in 2016 when he was named the Law Library Advocate of the Year. The Law Library is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit www.harriscountylawlibrary.org for more information.
Latest & Greatest – The Military Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide to Representing Military Personnel and Their Families
By Mark E. Sullivan
Published by American Bar Association. Section of Family Law
KF 535 .S85 2019
The Texas Access to Justice Commission has designated the week of November 10-16 as Texas Veterans Legal Aid Week. Here at the Harris County Law Library, November is Veterans Law Resource Month, and we are featuring titles to help veterans. One such title is The Military Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide to Representing Military Personnel and Their Families.
There is no such thing as a cookie-cutter divorce. Elements may be the same, but each case is unique and each is fraught with its own circumstances and situations. Divorce can be especially problematic and difficult when one or both spouses are active military personnel. Issues such as custody and visitation may not be as clear-cut and easily resolved as those involving civilians. To offer some guidance in this matter, attorney Mark E. Sullivan has written The Military Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide to Representing Military Personnel and Their Families. This two-volume set begins with a discussion of service of process and its two main concerns: how can one locate someone serving in the military and how can one serve him? The author explains how the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects parties who are in the military and how it can affect the timing of lawsuits brought against military personnel. He addresses the unique issues surrounding custody and visitation, especially as it affects cases in which the military parent is mobilized or deployed. Family support and enforcement of that obligation may take on an added dimension in cases involving military families due to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and other military support rules. Sullivan also talks about divorce and what is considered domicile for purposes of filing for divorce. Another area that requires some discussion is the division of property, which includes military benefits and pensions. Sadly, the military does not afford protection from domestic abuse, so the author includes a chapter about this issue as well.
If you are looking for a fairly comprehensive guide to representing military personnel in a divorce matter, have a look at The Military Divorce Handbook. The appendices after each chapter are especially helpful with extra resources. Moreover, there are practice tips peppered throughout the book.
An Object Lesson in Maximizing Productvity with Microsoft Office
Do you struggle to keep up with innovations in legal tech? Is a simplified media diet something you crave? Let the Harris County Law Library help you more efficiently track the latest trends in legal tech, while making the most of a powerful Microsoft Office product in the process. Learn to use more of the tools at your disposal, in an efficient and productive manner, to get the greatest benefit for yourself and your clients.
Most of us are unaware of the many features that make Microsoft Office products so versatile. Indeed, MS Office is the one-man band of software applications, but most of us do not play all — or even most — of its many instruments. For instance, did you know that Outlook comes equipped with its own RSS Folder? The RSS feed is not a new technology. This we acknowledge. However, using a content aggregator that’s already baked in to an application you access every day may just be novel (for a large number of Outlook users), and it’s smart!
Perhaps you already use an RSS feed to manage your media consumption, or perhaps you rely on Facebook and Twitter to get the scoop on what’s new in legal tech. Either way, you’re making an effort to consolidate your content. However, each of these information management solutions has its limitations. Social media feeds can be unreliable and full of distractions. News aggregators, such as Feedly and Flipboard (or the dearly departed Google Reader) can be terrific, but they must be accessed via individual apps. What if the updates on all the news sites you follow could be delivered directly to your Microsoft Outlook mailbox, allowing you to access your email and customized news feeds via one entry point? With a bit of tweaking, your wish can come true. Here’s how!
For more tips for the beginner, intermediate, and advanced user of MS Office, register to attend one of our CLE classes offered by the Law Library’s Legal Tech Institute. Microsoft Office applications are the focus of the following classes, which you can read about in the LTI Course Catalog.
Find and Format Legal Forms (Next Offered: November 14)
Microsoft Excel for Legal Work (Next offered: Deccember 5)
Microsoft Word for Legal Work (Next Offered: 2020)
A Veterans Day Salute from the Harris County Law Library
On this Veterans Day, with gratitude, the Harris County Law Library salutes all who have served.
In 1938, Congress passed a law, 52 Stat. 351 (pictured above), which established Armistice Day as a legal holiday. Congress amended the law in 1954 following World War II and the Korean War to honor all veterans, “striking out the word ‘Armistice’ and inserting in lieu thereof the word ‘Veterans’.” Later that year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first Veterans Day Proclamation. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy’s delivered remarks at the Armistice Day wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
Further reading on the History of Armistice/Veterans Day: