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Law students often write lengthy papers and exams answers believing more is better. But readers, including both law professors and judges, take brevity seriously. See for example the case of Mylward v. Weldon, 21 ER 136 (1596), where the Chancery Court of England punished an aspiring lawyer and ordered that a pleading 120 pages long be removed from the file because it was about eight times longer than it needed. He ordered the pleader be taken to the Fleet prison and that on the next Saturday the Warden of the Fleet bring the pleader into Westminster Hall at 10 a.m. and then and there cut a hole in the midst of the pleading and place it over the pleader’s head so that it would hang over his shoulders with the written side outwards. The Warden had to lead the pleader around Westminster Hall while the three courts were sitting and display him “bare headed and bare faced” and then be returned to the Fleet prison until he had paid a £10 fine – a huge sum in those days. The complete text is available in a facsimile at this link. This tale of the bareheaded lawyer gives legal writers a vivid image of what not to do. The Second Circuit, citing the case in Varda, Inc. v. Insurance Co. of North America, 45 F.3d 634 (2d Cir. 1995), stated that the plaintiff's brief "stirs nostalgia for the rigors of the common law."
The Brooklyn Law School Library has in its reserve collection Thinking Like A Writer: A Lawyer's Guide To Effective Writing And Editing by Stephen V. Armstrong and Timothy P. Terrell (Call #KF250 .A76 2009) which consists of six parts including Chapter 10 - Words: Precision and Brevity. The book has exercises, examples, and writing do's and don'ts, and gives step-by-step instruction on the specialized techniques to draft clear and persuasive legal documents.
"Cloud computing" which Webopedia defines as a "type of computing that is comparable to grid computing, relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications. The goal of cloud computing is to apply traditional supercomputing power (normally used by military and research facilities) to perform tens of trillions of computations per second." Cloud computing makes it possible to store data and software platforms and services to be stored offsite in the "cloud". There are a number of risks to storing sensitve information in the cloud. An article on Politico reports on the growing international concern with U.S.-based cloud computing services due to privacy fears.
Two recent papers on the impact of the USA Patriot on US cloud computing providers act are worth reading.
- Law Enforcement and Cloud Computing, an article Law firm in discusses two perspectives:“From an EU perspective, concerns have recently been voiced about the access to data by US law enforcement agencies under the USA PATRIOT Act. However, EU law enforcement agencies also have broad powers to access information placed in the cloud.From a cloud user’s perspective, this essentially means that sound information management practice, not the USA Patriot Act or similar laws in other countries, should govern decisions regarding what data is appropriate for what range of storage sites, including use of cloud services.”
- UK Cloud Computing Interception – nothing new, an article that discusses UK situation. "Some UK cloud-computing customers are concerned that they should not entrust US cloud-providers with their data for fear of US law enforcement interception. If interception is so much of a concern they should not only avoid US cloud providers but also should avoid using the UK’s telephone, the Internet, and the postal system. The interception of communications, whether stored in the 21st Century cloud or sealed in 16th Century scrolls, and whether here in the UK or in the US, is nothing new. All communications data, where justified, may be intercepted by the State’s watchful and proportional eye.”
For more on the Patriot Act, see How Patriotic is the Patriot Act?: Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism by Amitai Etzioni (Call #KF4850 .E88 2004 ) in the Brooklyn Law School Library collection. This brief guide deals with an important issue -- the balance between personal freedom and collective security in the age of terrorism. It presents principled analyses and suggestions for change and is thoroughly documented.
Brooklyn Law School Library has these study tools and services to assist students prepare for exams.
Extended Hours
The Law Library will open for extended hours during the reading and exam periods.
Reading/Examination Period: December 8 – 23, 2011
Seven days a week: 8:00am–2:00am
December 23 close at 10:00pm
Study Rooms
The Library uses an online study room reservation system during the reading and exam period. Beginning on Thursday, December 8 at 12:01am you may make a reservation for a group study room for that day and for two days ahead. A link to the Study Room Reservation System will be found on the Library web page under “Related Links” at that time.
Study rooms are for the use of groups of two or more people and cannot be reserved for one individual. Students are only permitted four hours of study room space per day. Instructions for making reservations are:
1. Select the time duration for your reservation: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours or 4 hours.
2. Select the study room number. Click the “Study Room” link at the top of the page for descriptions of the study rooms.
3. Select the number of people in your group.
4. Choose the date for your reservation.
5. Choose the time your reservation will begin by clicking an open slot on the grid.
6. New users will need to register as “New User.” You will create your own username and password. Returning users will need to enter their username and password.
7. Click “Finalize Room Reservation” link.
8. Print your room reservation to present at the circulation desk.
9. At the time of your reservation go to the circulation desk to obtain the key to the room. During this period all study rooms are kept locked.
10. Online study room reservations for the exam period end Friday, December 23.
Online Study Aids
The CALI website has a Lessons by Casebook chart which may make finals prep a little easier.
Law School Past Exams
Past exams are available to students as a teaching aid. You can access them from the law school portal page: Brooklyn Law School Portal > Academics > Exams & Grading > Final Exams > Exams on File.
Good luck on your exams from the BLS Law Library.
Congratulations to Michael A. Sabino, Brooklyn Law School Class of 2012, for winning the Winter 2011 Student Legal Writing Contest sponsored by the National Law Review for his article Football and Antitrust Law: American Needle v. NFL and Its Meaning for Combinations in Restraint of Trade and the Rule of Reason in the 21st Century. Michael is an intern for the Hon. Leonard Wexler, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York. He served as an intern with the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Organized Crime Strike Force; Hon. Leonard B. Austin, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York State Courts; District Attorneys of New York, Queens, and Nassau Counties. Michale has also published other articles this year. See From Chiarella to Cuban: The Continuing Evolution of The Law of Insider Trading, 16 Fordham J. Corp. & Fin. L. 101 (March 2011) and Shale-Gas Case Ringing Alarms in State-Level Mineral-Rights Law, 28 Natural Gas & Electricity 5 (December 2011).
Episode 072 – Conversation with Prof. Steven Dean.mp3
This podcast features Brooklyn Law School Professor Steven A. Dean discussing his recent article, Tax Deregulation, 86 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 387 (May 2011). The article defines what tax deregulation is as it has emerged as an important feature of the tax policy landscape. It has done so even as scholars have failed to grapple with its normative significance. Prof. Dean discusses his proposal using examples from the current election campaign to illustrate the differences between tax simplification and tax deregulation. In the article, he concludes deregulatory provisions that aim to produce micro-compliance spirals offer the most promising risk-reward profiles, but even they may cause more harm than good.
Prof. Dean has expertise in Tax Law and Policy, International Tax, Tax Havens and Tax Simplification. He has written extensively on these topics with a list of his publications available here.
Brooklyn Law School Library's most recent New Book List has the 2d edition of The Geography of Love: Same-Sex Marriage & Relationship Recognition in America (The Story in Maps) by Peter Nicolas and Mike Strong (Call #KF539 .N52 2011a). This 40 page volume depicts the history and current state of marriage and relationship recognition rights for same-sex couples in the United States in charts and in maps with endnotes citing to relevant cases and statutes. Not included in this list is the recent Order by a Livingston County Supreme Court allowing a suit challenging New York's landmark marriage equality law to proceed based on claims of violations of NY's open meeting law. Beginning with a detailed history of efforts to achieve marriage rights and other forms of relationship recognition (such as domestic partnerships and civil unions) for gay and lesbian Americans, from the first lawsuit filed in 1970 in Minnesota to the Illinois civil union law that goes into effect in June 2011, it goes on to provide detailed information on relationship recognition in the United States, including which states permit same-sex couples to marry or to enter into other types of legal unions; the rules for entering into or terminating such relationships; a comparison of the rights that each state provides to same-sex couples; the extent to which same-sex relationships entered into in one state are recognized by other states; and which cities and counties have domestic partnership registries and equal benefits ordinances. It also looks at efforts to ban same-sex marriage at the ballot box, including selected vote details by state and county; a closer look at where support for such efforts was weakest and strongest; and a comparison of the processes for amending state constitutions across the US. 
The BLS Library also recently added to its collection Inside the Castle: Law and the Family in 20th Century America by Joanna L. Grossman and Lawrence M. Friedman (Call #KF505 .G765 2011). This comprehensive social history of twentieth-century family law in the United States tells the story of the institution of family, exploring the ways in which law tried to penetrate and control this realm of personal life. Chapters include: Tying the knot: marriage and promises to marry -- Marriage and the state -- Marriage, law, and society: a tangled web -- Common-law marriage -- The end of heart balm -- Anything goes: love and romance in a permissive age -- The rise of sexual freedom -- Cohabitation -- Same-sex relationships -- When the music stops: dissolving a marriage and the aftermath -- Untying the knot: divorce and annulment -- Dollars and sense: the economic consequences of divorce -- Collateral damage: the children of divorce -- The old and the new generation -- The extended family: elder law and the law of inheritance.
