Captain Copyright - A Canadian Creation. So I'm thinking about whether it is legal and/or advisable to sell my old 1L outlines to the hoard of current 1Ls that would undoubtedly pay dollars for a customized outline.  There was a service called TakeNote @ Cornell that produced custom class notes on red paper, designed to foil would-be photocopiers.  (They hired TAs to take notes during that class that you undoubtedly skipped because of your subscription to Takenote Example of Intro to Wines TakeNote). So I ask - Would be infringing upon a professor's copyright? The concept of copyrighting a lecture (technically, a live performance) was briefly addressed in my copyright class.  Additionally, an excellent law review titled "Note: 'Profiting At My Expense': An Analysis of the Commercialization of Professors' Lecture Notes" by Ashley T. Barnett - 9 J. Intell. Prop. L. 137 (Fall 2001) discusses the issue of commercial note-taking services, advocating that additional protections should be adopted. Does federal copyright law prevent a commercial note service from copying a lecture delivered by a professor? The answer is: it depends. The legality of buying and selling lecture notes or of posting lecture notes on the Internet seems to be a gray area of the ...

Students Rejoice in ... The new building will indeed be awesome.

I would be interested to know how many times a certain R.E.M. song has been referenced within the last week. As a rational consumer of goods (law firms) who is in the process of making an important choice (2L summer employment), I've been reading a lot about how the recent bailouts of Fannie/Freddie and AIG, and failures of Bear Sterns and Lehman Bros. (hereinafter "1929" or "the crisis") will change the legal landscape.  Recognizing that my future as a litigation associate will be significantly impacted by this crisis, even if I don't specialize in financial services, is an important first step. I believe that law students should be aware of the business world to be better able to serve their clients, and see two major consequences of the current financial crisis: (1) Firms will change their employment practices, and (2) Clients will demand more of their firms. The Shrinking Legal Employment Market My advice for 1Ls - study harder, for 2Ls - job search smarter (diversify), for 3Ls - pray.  There's no doubt that the top large law firms will be directly affected by these business failures. Above the Law conducted a survey of associates in major markets to gauge their reactions.  It's a ...

Document reviewers celebrated on Monday when the House passed S. 2450, a bill designed to add Federal Rule of Evidence 502 - "Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product; Limitations on Waiver."  The main point, as described in this point of law article, is that since the production of privileged documents during discovery acts as a waiver to that privilege, firms are spending a significant amount of time on privilege review to ensure that documents don't slip through and destroy their case.  FRE 502 would remove this barrier, serving both judicial economy and junior associates' sanity. (b) Inadvertent Disclosure- When made in a Federal proceeding or to a Federal office or agency, the disclosure does not operate as a waiver in a Federal or State proceeding if: (1) the disclosure is inadvertent; (2) the holder of the privilege or protection took reasonable steps to prevent disclosure; and (3) the holder promptly took reasonable steps to rectify the error, including (if applicable) following Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). And Josh - Happy Large Hadron Collider Day - I know you've been waiting for this for a long time.

I had no idea what to expect from law school classes. I knew that they would be taught using the socratic method, but I didn't know how I was going to extract information while other students were on call. As a result, I essentially transcribed the entire professor/student dialogue during my first torts class. While this was insanely stupid for a lot of reasons, reading it may give you a good idea of what kind of questions you can expect to be asked. Click here for my notes from the first day of class. Now I'm going to tell you why these notes are bad. 1.) If I did want to take anything substantive out of these notes, I'd have to go back through the conversation and pick out the important parts. It would have been just as easy to do it the first time, while it was being said. 2.) As you can see, I prepped that brief with a lot of useless information. If you insist on writing real briefs (rather than book briefing as I've discussed in previous posts) try to keep facts to a minimum. My fear was that I would be called to state the facts and forget some ...

I'm usually fairly good about following law school etiquette. I try to limit the number of comments I make in classes, I don't talk about grades to people outside my study group, etc. These are things that are obvious. So I'm in Chicago right now for the Loyola Patent Law Job Fair, and tonight, those of us that are being interviewed by Howrey were invited to a reception. It was a good time -- there were a lot of tech geeks, and lots of talking about law schools and 1L life, and the like. When the conversation moved to the job fair, I was curious how other people were preparing for interviews. Specifically, I wanted to know how people with 10 or more interviews were preparing (because dear god, that is a lot of information to have to know). The first two people I asked told me, and then later I asked the same question to another guy, who uncomfortably said, "Yeah, I don't really want to talk about that." And then it occured to me. I should have just asked his class rank while I was at it. Maybe what his worst grade was, and in what class. My argument (though ...

Today's rant involves lessons that I've learned during my internship with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.  Of course, everything related to pending cases and Chambers discussion is confidential.  We'll start with the baby steps. Five Introductory Concepts Where's my jurisdiction? What's my standard of review? Who has the burden of proof on each issue? Follow the Local Rules. What's your best binding precedent? Yeah, I know--they're basic concepts.  But these five questions frame the basis of everything that you must argue in your brief.  If jurisdiction is in question, it must be addressed forthrightly.  If your opponent has a burden or deferential standard to overcome, emphasize their failure. Law is a profession with a particularized way of doing business, and you lose credibility (or worse) if you don't follow the Federal Rules, the Circuit Rules, and the Local Rules.  So know them.  Many Circuits have Local Rules which provide that prior panel decisions cannot be overturned except by the Court sitting en banc, or absent specific situations (e.g., when the Supreme Court has recently issued a contradictory ruling).  So don't cite "persuasive" authority by another circuit unless there is a dearth of case law on the subject.  Even if it is directly on point, begin with your ...

Yeah, I know it's a bold statement, but I swear by this program.  Microsoft OneNote allows students to organize multiple notebooks, sections, and subsections in one application, with instant, database-style save capability so you'll never lose your notes.  You can create tables and charts, take notes in easily formatted bullet or numbered outlines, drag and drop pdfs and then take notes over them, highlight on-screen over pdf text, or take class notes in color.  You can export OneNote files into PDF or Word formats, or hit Cntl+E and OneNote will automatically add that section to your email client as an attachment. I've thrown together some screenshots below, click on the image to expand.  Microsoft offers a 60 day free trial here or PSU students can spend $80 and get the full 2007 Microsoft Enterprise Package which features a poorly redesigned version of Microsoft Word (that other kids will be using).  The computer store will probably have a student software discount at your school. I make the "Get As in Law School" boast because OneNote organizes your notes, saves time, and allows for easy file transfers.  You'll be thanking the search function when your prof asks you what case that you've studied this ...