Tech Tip: Google Cheat Sheet

This wonderful two-page Google Cheat Sheet (PDF) lists Google services, query structures, tools, advanced search structures, special web searches and background information on Google. Each of the sections is color coded based on skill level. [Note that this cheat sheet was last updated in October 2006, but much of the information remains relevant and useful.] -M

IBA Launches Media Law and Freedom of Expression Website

The International Bar Association’s Media Law Committee and Human Rights Institute today launched a new website for legal professionals that work to defend freedom of expression:

The goal of the site is to create a global community of media lawyers for mutual support and discussion. The website will act as a point of information sharing, capacity building and networking for those involved in media work all over the world. In particular, it will provide details of, and links to, local and global organisations working in the sector.

The website, which was developed in collaboration with Pro Bono Net,  is free to join and offers a variety of resources on media law and freedom of expression.  The full press release is available here.  -M

Legal Information Institute Launches Lawyer Directory Service

The Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell University School of Law just announced the launch of a new online lawyer directory in collaboration with Justia.com that allows lawyers to purchase a LII badge for their profile, with proceeds going to support the work of LII. More information about the Legal Information Institute is available here. -M

Blogroll, Please

As promised, we just published our first-ever technola blogroll. It’s broken up into 7 categories, each stocked with blogs that we read on a regular basis, which range from pure technology blogs to legal aid and poverty law blogs. We look forward to hearing from you about other interesting, topical blogs in the comments.  -M&K

Free Friday: 2008 Federal Court Access Article Available Online

Clearinghouse Review has just published their yearly review of Supreme Court decisions concerning access to the federal courts online, including links to statutory authority and caselaw cited in the footnotes of the article. For those of you that subscribe to Clearinghouse Review, a print version of this article will also be published in the January-February 2009 issue. -M

National Archive of Clinical Legal Education

Law School Clinics are an important partner in the delivery of legal services to the poor. Not only do they provide needed direct services to low-income individuals, they also offer meaningful opportunities for law students to engage in legal work and help to foster commitments by young lawyers to use their legal skills in the service of justice. Recently I came across an incredible resource on clinical legal education called the National Archive of Clinical Legal Education, which is housed at the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America. The site contains an extensive bibliography of articles and conference proceedings on clinical legal education, articles on the history of various clinics, and wonderful transcripts of oral histories by those involved in the development of clinical legal education, including Gary Bellow, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Philip Schrag. -M

Tour the Legal Web’s New Sites

A nice article in Law Technology News by Robert Ambrogi on new legal web sites, including Lexis Web, LitiReviews (legal and litigation software reviews) and Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress. -M

Jureeka! Legal Research Firefox Add-on

Over the last few weeks I’ve been experimenting with a great new Firefox add-on called Jureeka!, which looks for legal citations on web pages and automatically turns them into hyperlinks that lead to a free version of the cited source. Developed by Michael Poulshock, the Jureeka! add-on presents a toolbar that lets users search for materials by citation, a button that looks for HTML versions of PDF pages, and (most recently) a feature that lets users create tags for legal sources found on the web. While not without its stray links (i.e. it treats the word “undocumented” as a UN Document), it’s surprisingly accurate and very useful. You can download it directly from the Mozilla site here. -M