Required Research Skills for New Lawyers
The American Association of Law Libraries recently reported vital legal research skills for new attorneys. The below tables are from the following article: Meyer, Patrick. "Law Firm Legal Research Requirements for New Attorneys". Law Library Journal. Vol. 101:3 [2009-17]. <http://www.aallnet.org/products/pub_llj_v101n03/2009-17.pdf>
Most Important Research Tasks (Regardless of Format)
| Task | Firm Size: 26-50 | Firm Size: 51-100 | Firm Size: 101-200 | Firm Size: over 200 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost effective research | 91.3% | 86.7% | 92.5% | 75.6% | 84.8% |
| Case law/digest research | 82.6% | 84.4% | 87.5% | 73.3% | 82.3% |
| Secondary source research | 73.9% | 73.3% | 77.5% | 57.8% | 70.3% |
| Citator services | 47.8% | 57.8% | 70% | 51.1% | 57% |
| Document retrieval by citation | 60.9% | 57.8% | 65% | 40% | 54.4% |
| Legislative code research | 56.5% | 53.3% | 55% | 46.7% | 53.2% |
| Administrative code research | 26.1% | 33.3% | 35% | 33.3% | 33.5% |
| Legislative history research | 13% | 11.1% | 10% | 26.7% | 16.5% |
What Print-Based Sources Must New Attorneys Know how to Perform
| Source | Firm Size: 26-50 | Firm Size 51-100 | Firm Size: 101-200 | Firm Size: over 200 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Secondary sources | 52.2% | 53.5% | 52.5% | 50.0% | 52.6% |
| Your state's secondary sources | 43.5% | 58.1% | 55.0% | 45.2% | 51.3% |
| U.S. Code | 56.5% | 65.1% | 77.5% | 57.1% | 65.1% |
| Your state's legislative code | 69.6% | 69.8% | 80.0% | 54.8% | 67.8% |
| Your state's digest | 52.2% | 55.8% | 55.0% | 31.0% | 47.4% |
| Your state's administrative code | 48.8% | 46.5% | 47.5% | 42.9% | 46.1% |
| C.F.R. | 34.8% | 51.2% | 50.0% | 45.2% | 47.4% |
| Your state's reporters | 65.2% | 51.2% | 50.0% | 38.1% | 49.3% |
| Federal digests | 43.5% | 43.5% | 50% | 34.8% | 44.7% |
| Federal reporters | 56.5% | 53.5% | 62.5% | 45.2% | 53.9% |
| your state's administrative law decisions | 13% | 21.7% | 16.7% | 15.2% | 18.4% |
| Federal Administrative law decisions | 13% | 19.6% | 11.9% | 10.9% | 15.1% |
| Regional reporters | 17.4% | 10.9% | 9.5% | 13% | 12.5% |
What Research Tasks Should Usually Be Conducted in Books?
| Task | Firm Size: 26-50 | Firm Size: 51-100 | Firm Size: 101-200 | Firm Size: over 200 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secondary source research | 81.8% | 83.7% | 97.3% | 81.4% | 85.8% |
| Legislative code research | 50.0% | 62.8% | 64.9% | 51.2% | 58.1% |
| Legislative history research | 40.9% | 39.5% | 43.2% | 55.8% | 45.9% |
| Administrative code research | 22.7% | 41.9% | 37.8% | 30.2% | 34.5% |
| Cost-effective research | 22.7% | 30.2% | 40.5% | 27.9% | 30.4% |
| Case law/digest research | 13.6% | 25.6% | 10.8% | 16.3% | 16.9% |
| Document retrieval by citation | 0% | 4.7% | 0% | 0% | 2% |
| Shepard's | 0% | 2.3% | 0% | 0% | .68% |
DCLI G-20 Summit Schedule
DCLI will close at 12 Noon on Wednesday, September 23, and reopen at 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 26.
Wednesday, September 23 |
8 a.m. - 12 p.m. (Noon) |
Thursday, September 24 |
CLOSED |
Friday, September 25 |
CLOSED |
Saturday, September 26 |
RESUME REGULAR HOURS |
Please visit the following link for a complete list of DCLI hours.
Important MAC OS, Snow Leopard Information
We have recently been informed that students with the newest version of the MAC OS, Snow Leopard, have been unable to connect to the Duquesne Wireless Network. Once we were informed of this, CTS was contacted and they informed us of the following.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard has been causing issues not just for connecting to DuqNet but other problems as well have occurred. Currently we are not supporting this operating system due to many holes in the system and upgrade. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Those students that have not upgraded to Snow Leopard should hold off until these issues have been resolved with our wireless network. If you have already upgraded, you may need to downgrade back to your previous OS in order to be able to connect to the network. We will keep you posted with any updates.
Mr. Rao Completes 40 Years in Library Profession
Mr. Dittakavi Rao, Associate Director of the Law Library, recently completed 40 years of service in the library profession. He is the author and co-author of many legal research publications, Instructor of Legal Research and Computer Assisted Legal Research paralegal courses, CLE instructor, and creator of the PA Legal Research web site. The PA Legal Research site may be found at the following address:
<http://www.pennsylvanialegalresearch.com/>
Mr. Rao was also elected one of the most Outstanding Law Librarians in the U.S. by Alert Publications in 1988 and received the Duquesne University President's Award for Staff Excellence in 1994. Congratulations, Mr. Rao!
Practicum Programs Receive Continued Funding
The Securities Arbitration Practicum received a continuation grant award from the Pennsylvania Securities Commission in the amount of $50,000 for 2009-10. When added to the grants received from the Commission over the past five years, the Securities Arbitration Practicum has now received $250,000 from the Commission to fund efforts in assisting small investors of modest means with claims against securities firms and broker/dealers in the securities industry.
Additionally, the Department of the Treasury has again awarded the Low-Income Tax Practicum a continuation grant in the amount of $72,038 for 2009 bringing the total grants to date from the Department of the Treasury to the Low Income Tax Practicum to over $720,000. These grants, obtained and administered by Practicum Director Alice L. Stewart, allow the School of Law to not only provide assistance to low income individuals, families, and, broadly speaking, the working poor in our region, but allows us to educate our students in significant pro bono cases.
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