News Release From OhioLINK

June 21, 2006
Seven Millionth Article Added to EJC

The seven millionth journal article was recently added to OhioLINK’s award-winning Electronic Journal Center. The EJC provides students, faculty and staff at participating OhioLINK institutions with instantaneous online access to more than 6,900 journal titles from 90+ publishers.

OhioLINK users downloaded 4.81 million articles from the EJC annually. A total of 21.9 million articles have been downloaded from the EJC since its inception in April 1998. More EJC stats may be found on the EJC Fast Facts page.

Tip: Try OhioLINK’s E-Journal Finder to see if OhioLINK offers a particular journal online. The OhioLINK E-Journal Finder searches the EJC and several other databases to help find desired journals. If you don’t find the journal in question using the E-Journal Finder, check with your librarian as there may be other means of accessing the journal online.

New LEXIS Developments

Our LEXIS representative tells me of two new developments. Many of the BNA reporters are now back on LEXIS. So in addition to our direct online subscriptions to BNA, this is now an alternative source. Also LEXIS is now curing a major disadvantage that it had over Westlaw and is making unpublished federal district court opinions available 24 to 48 hours after their release. Previously LEXIS sometimes had long lag times, while Westlaw had prompt availability of district court opinions.

Library's Website Now Features Legal News Feed

New on the LaValley Library's website: a news feed of current legal news from Jurist (at the bottom of the page). Click on a scrolling headline that interests you and you will link to the full news story. Also, there is now an easier link to the LaValley Law Library at the very top of the College of Law's home page.

Prof. Geoff Rapp Publishes Article On Injunctions In Sports Contracts

Geoff Rapp has recently published Affirmative Injunctions In Athletic Employment Contracts: Rethinking The Place of the Lumley Rule In American Sports Law, in 16 Marquette Sports Law Review 261 (2006).

Press Release On Susan Martyn's New Book

June 21, 2006 Wednesday 2:33 PM GMT

LexisNexis Publishes Consumer Guidebook on Working with Lawyers; Text Provides Information on Managing Attorney/Client Expectations

DATELINE: DAYTON, Ohio June 21, 2006
Studies show that 70 percent of Americans will hire a lawyer in their lifetime and of those who do, two out of every five find the process intimidating. Why is hiring a lawyer so much more uncomfortable than hiring a plumber or a doctor? To help consumers navigate the often unclear relationship between lawyer and client, LexisNexis has published its first consumer book, "Your Lawyer: A User's Guide."

The book, available in bookstores and online, provides consumers with the requisite information on the ethical obligations of lawyers and also lends insight on what not to expect and what happens if something goes wrong.

Written by lawyers Lawrence J. Fox of Drinker Biddle & Reath in Philadelphia and Susan Martyn, professor of law at University of Toledo College of Law in Ohio, the authors shed light on a topic that is often overlooked - what duties lawyers owe their clients."

A truly meaningful level of communication between lawyers and clients is rare," said Lawrence Fox, a 35-year veteran lawyer. "While many consumers know something of what to expect from their lawyers, in this busy world, it isn't often that complete and comfortable communication is achieved. 'Your Lawyer' offers an accessible bridge between counselors and clients, leveling the playing field and improving relationships."

Inside the book is a straightforward narrative with humorous illustrations in an easy-to-read, Q&A style. It includes definitions, sidebars, suggested questions, and more. Designed not only to be educational, the guidebook is intended to uphold and promote a higher level of ethical conduct among lawyers."

A lawyer owes four fiduciary duties to every client -- what we call the four C's: communication, competence, confidentiality and conflict resolution," said Susan Martyn, co-author of the book, who has worked in the legal profession and academia for nearly 30 years. "This book should be regarded as a tool to promote client-lawyer collaboration."

The soft-cover book is priced at $12 and is available at bookstores nationwide and online, including Amazon.com and via the LexisNexis bookstore at www.lexisnexis.com/yourlawyer/.

"Law & Sexuality" Seeks Articles

Tulane Law School's journal, Law & Sexuality: A Review of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Legal Issues is looking for timely theoretical or practical articles to be published in Spring 2007. Law & Sexuality is the first and only student-edited law review in the country devoted solely to covering legal issues of interest to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Articles can focus on a wide variety of subjects including constitutional, employment, family, health, insurance, immigration and military law.

Submissions should be e-mailed to lbecnel@law.tulane.edu and will be accepted through August 31, 2006.

New Toledo Legal News Website

The Toledo Legal News has rolled out a new website that is an excellent source for legal news, links to local courts, sheriffs sales with photos and maps of houses, and other useful information.

New Resource On "Fair Use" Under Copyright Law

A new website, The Fair Use Network, is an excellent source for information on copyright issues for authors, or for teachers and scholars concerned about using other authors' material.

Starting Law Firm Salaries Again On The Rise

The National Law Journal reports:

The associate salary war has spread from the coasts to the middle of the United States, with law firms boosting starting pay to stay competitive in a legal market where demand is mounting and the supply of top-notch first-years is waning.

Although law firms in the nation's middle regions are not matching the $135,000-plus salaries at the big shops on the East and West coasts, many are raising their beginning salaries in an effort not only to contend with other local firms but also to stake their turf where national firms have upped the ante.

Prof. Geoff Rapp Publishes New Article

An new article by UT Law Professor Geoff Rapp has just appeared in the Summer 2006 issue of Northern Illinois University Law Review. The article is titled Doctors, Duties, Death and Data: A Critical Review of the Empirical Literature on Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform. It is part of a symposium issue on "Medical Malpractice: Emerging Issues & the Effects of Tort Reform".

The Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2005 is out. The upshot is a 2.5% increase in violent crime over last year. Of course, this will vary greatly by geographic region and type of crime.

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/2005preliminary/index.htm

Previous years reports are here:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm

New Federal Law & Law Review Search Tool

vLex.us is an interesting new web site that offers a clean simple interface to search U.S. Code, CFR, the Constitution, Supreme Court cases, federal circuit court cases and open access law journals. One problem with the site is that there is no indication how current its version of U.S. code is-- so beware of that. But for a quick search, it is worth trying out. The site says that soon it will launch another service that will offer thousands of full text documents digitized from law books, journals and reviews from different countries. However, since the site is based in Spain, it is not clear whether this new service will be an English language one. It already offers a Spanish language site.