Legal Marketing

Off the Shelf - MARCH, 2010: Vol. 25, No. 3 - Selections

WHAT’S NEW:   From Nolo Press: The trustee’s legal companion: a step-by-step guide to administering a living trust (1 vol., $39.99) (http://www.nolo.com/).

 

From BNA Books: American factoring law (1 vol., $395); Drafting and enforcing covenants not-to-compete (1 vol., $410); The uniformed services employment and re-employment rights act (1 vol., $235.00).(http://www.bnabooks.com/)

 

From Oxford University Press: Competition Litigation- UK Practice and Procedure (1 vol., £145.00); Market Abuse Regulation (1 vol., £115.00); Internet Crimes, Torts and Scams
Investigation and Remedies (1 vol., £105.00); International Commercial Litigation (1 vol., £175.00); International Trust Laws (1 vol., £145.00); A Practical Approach to Planning Law (1 vol., £44.99) (http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/)

 

New from Legal Information Services: Jury Instructions Drafting Manual and Resource Guide (1 vol., $65) (http://legalinformationservices.com/)

 

New from Edward Elgar: Intellectual Property And Sustainable Development (1 vol., $215); Intellectual Property And The Limits Of Antitrust (1 vol., $105) (www.e-elgar.com)

 

CD/CALR:   Case law scope of coverage – not Westlaw/LexisNexis databases. There are other sources besides the fee-based Westlaw and LexisNexis databases. However, whether you use fee-based or free sources, you should be aware of what they cover.

 

My favorite starting place is sometimes LexisOne. You can search LexisOne for free and view full-text cases free with registration. (http://www.lexisone.com/). LexisOne contains all Supreme Court cases, and state and federal cases going back ten years.

 

I recently ran a search using boolean connectors. I got 25 hits for combined federal cases; 31 for combined state cases; no Supreme Court cases. You can narrow down the search to specific state or federal courts.

 

It lacks the additional functionality of the full Lexis, however. For the best coverage, of course, you would need Lexis, Westlaw or the equivalent.  

 

Other alternatives are:

Casemaker Online Research Library http://www.casemaker.us/; Fastcase http://www.fastcase.com/; Loislaw http://www.loislaw.com/; NationalLawLibrary http://www.itislaw.com/; TheLaw.net http://www.thelaw.net/; Versuslaw http://www.versuslaw.com/

When comparing these, look for coverage of local, state and federal cases. Some have specialty areas, such as federal tax cases or bankruptcy cases. Others may contain state statutes, regulations, and administrative decisions.

 

Although you will not be able to Shepardize®, cases may be updated using an “authority check.” An automated citator lists cases that cite your case and point to the appropriate text.

 

Also check if the database supports full Boolean connectors and other ways to help narrow your search, such as field searching and date restrictions. Can your results can be sorted in different ways, including relevance and by date.

We welcome Rachel Rubinstein, our Intern, who will be helping us with marketing materials, office administration, and various other stuff.

Research Off the Shelf - FEBRUARY, 2010: Vol. 11, No. 2 - Selections

WHAT’S NEW: From Wiley: Wiley handbook of technology for homeland security (1 vol., $1650) (http://www.wiley.com/)

 

From Nolo Press: Making it legal: same-sex marriange, domestic partnerships & civil unions (1 vol. $29.99); The sharing solution: how to prosper while sharing resources, simplifying your life & building communities (1 vol., $24.99); The Women’s small business start-up kit – a step-by-step legal guide (1 vol., $29.99); The judge who hated red nail polish & other crazy but true stories of law and lawyers (1 vol., $19.99); Bankruptcy for small business owners – how to file for Chapter 7 (1 vol., $39.99); Business loans from family & friends – how to ask, make it legal & make it work (1 vol., $29.99) (http://www.nolo.com/)

 

From Government Institutes:  Space flight – history, technology, and operations (1 vol., $55); Falls aren’t funny: America’s multi-billion dollar slip-and-fall crisis (1 vol., $29.95); Social security handbook: Overview of social security programs, 2009 (1 vol., $60) (www.govinstpress.com)

 

SUBJECT SEARCHING: Trademarks - International IP Agencies
Are you looking into trademarking your business or product name in the U.S.? If so, visit the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) (http://tess2.uspto.gov/) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/). Use the TESS to verify that a trademark is not already in use or that it is sufficiently different from existing trademarks.

International Trademarks are governed by the Madrid System (http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/guide/)  which is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (http://www.wipo.int/portal/index.html.en). Marks registered under the Madrid System are available online on the WIPO website in the Madrid Express Database or through its official publication, the E-Gazette (http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/services/madrid_express.htm; http://www.wipo.int/madridgazette/en/). The WIPO website also has a list of National Intellectual Property Offices (http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/)  that you can use to verify trademark registrations in specific geographical areas or countries. (http://www.fita.org/)

COOL SITES:  If you like doing puzzles, see www.crickler.com for a different twist to crosswords. (Thanks to Rachel Rubinstein for the suggestion of this Cool Site).   

Off the Shelf - FEBRUARY, 2010: Vol. 25, No. 2 - Selections

WHAT’S NEW:   From Wiley (not so new but a client recommends it): iProperty: Profiting from Ideas in an Age of Global Innovation (1 vol., $45, also e-book, http://tinyurl.com/yl256ad)

 

From Oxford: Internet Crimes, Torts and Scams: Investigation and Remedies (1 vol., $185); MLRC 50-State Survey: Media Libel Law 2009-10 (1 vol., $225); Outsourcing Agreements - A Practical Guide (1 vol., £95.00); International Succession (1 vol., £145.00); The Law of Investment Treaties (1 vol., £95.00); The vanishing American lawyer (1 vol., $75)   (http://www.us.oup.com/);

 

From Edward Elgar: The Law And Governance Of Water Resources  (1 vol., $165); Climate Law And Developing Countries (1 vol., $200) (www.e-elgar.com)

 

From Thomson West: New York trial objections, 2009-2010 edition by Rochester attorney Michael Rosenhouse. The volume is a basic guide to trial objections and objections during pre-trial depositions (1 vol., $50) http://west.thomson.com/

 

MARKETING TIPS: Social Networking for the Legal Profession: This report”provides best practice examples, and clear strategies for adopting and exploiting social networking for business, both internally and externally for operations, communication, and business development strategies. The report takes into account the risk issues surrounding the use of social networking in a legal context and explains the challenges you must overcome to make implementation of a social networking strategy a success”.($495) http://www.mpmagazine.com/Publication.asp?pubid=9909C410-4AB4-42FC-8D38-5ED5F2ACFB55

 

CD/CALR:  New on Fastcase: Business Intelligence and People Finder Now Available on Fastcase through a partnership with ReferenceLegal, the leading provider of business and consumer intelligence to the legal profession. ReferenceLegal's database contains information on more than 14 million U.S. businesses, 210 million U.S. residents, and 855,000 U.S. health care providers. See http://www.fastcase.com/

 

From CCH: Drafting Delaware LLC Agreements: Forms and Practice Manual, is now part of the CCH Business Organizations Law Integrated Library.  http://www.aspenpublishers.com