Treatise Spotlight: The Complete Understanding Series

The Nevada Supreme Court Law Library subscribes to the Complete Understanding Series by LexisNexis. This series gives the reader an expansive and thorough high-quality, well-organized analysis and discussion on over 50 different law subjects. Whether it's Torts or you're struggling to understand Secured Transactions or Trusts and Estates or Evidence or Lawyers’ Ethics, etc. you'll find explanations from subject matter experts and well-known scholars and professors at some of the world's most prestigious institutions.

Titles in the Complete Understanding Series are ideally formatted to provide the reader with the essential foundation for a full and clear comprehension of the subject area, and are designed to provide an organized and accurate presentation of the material, including more in-depth treatments for particularly challenging areas. An index and glossary allow you to quickly find the material you need and look up key terms that are unique to a particular field.

To browse the books in the Law Library's collection type: http://lawlibrary.nevadajudiciary.us/

Click on Catalog and in the Quick library search box type: Understanding series.

The Library holds over 40 of the 50 titles.

Legal Drafting: A Beginner's Guide

There is an informative post on legal drafting on the Library of Congress' In Custodia Legis blog. 

Legal drafting is a very structured method of writing that can prove intimidating to the uninitiated. In this Beginner’s Guide, we will recommend some sources that will help you excel in the legal drafting process.

The Nevada Supreme Court Law Library subscribes to several of the form books listed, as well as to many others.  To browse the form books in the Law Library's collection, go to our online catalog and type:

forms (law) united states

into the Quick Library Search box and click on the Subject icon.  Or, you could just click on this link. 

For Nevada-specific forms, follow the instructions above but replace the words united states with nevada, or click here. 

Additionally, the Law Library subscribes to HeinOnline's Spinelli's Law Library Reference Shelf, which includes an extensive collection of Legal Dictionaries. 

Presumptive Maximum Amounts (PMA) of Child Support, Eff. 7/1/13-6/30-14

It is time for our annual post on Presumptive Maximum Amounts (PMA) of Child Support. The 2013-2014 schedule (PDF) has been posted on the court's website under Documents and Forms | Self-Help/Pro Se | Family Division Forms. Historical PMAs are also available on the court's website.

Treatise Spotlight: Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide

Title:  Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide

Author:  Alan N. Resnick

Last Update:  Release 92, April 2013

The Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide, written by over 40 prominent bankruptcy attorneys, is an authoritative strategic and procedural guidebook that combines legal analysis with practical procedural and strategic advice, practice aids such as checklists and forms, and the relevant rules and primary source material of all the local bankruptcy courts in a single all-inclusive guide. Each chapter begins with an overview, explaining the issues to be covered and how those issues affect bankruptcy practice. The discussion of each issue includes strategic and practical advice as well as practice aids and other timesaving features. Up-to-date coverage of developments in bankruptcy practice and procedure, including the landmark Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, insures that decisions are based on the cutting edge of the law.

The Practice Guide includes:

• Strategic guidance and practical advice
• Checklists for both debtor and creditor
• Practice-tested forms, including litigation forms, with cross-references to the Practice Guide, Bankruptcy Code, and Bankruptcy Rules
• Discussion of the Bankruptcy Rules and their impact
• The full text of local rules for all jurisdictions, including local bankruptcy forms and orders, organized by circuit in convenient, easy-to-use, soft-bound pamphlets

Description from publisher's website.

Treatise Spotlight: Age Discrimination

Title:  Age Discrimination, 2d
Author:  Howard C. Eglit
Last Update:  May 2013

Description:  Containing well-rounded views of age discrimination from perspectives of both employee and employer, this resource provides a complete, analytical explanation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).  Contents include ADEA information on topics such as who is protected and who must comply; prohibitions and requirements; statutory affirmative defenses; regulatory exemptions; waivers of liability; federal employees and job applicants; enforcement in nonfederal sectors; and remedies, fees, and costs.  Plus, numerous appendices provide access to ADEA statutes and EEOC policy statements.  Table of Cases and index for handy reference. 

Features:

• Explores perspectives of both employee and employer on age discrimination questions
• Provides complete, analytical explanation of ADEA
• Convenient appendices include ADEA statutes and EEOC policy statements
• Table of ADEA cases for handy reference

Description from publisher's website. 

Treatise Spotlight: California Marital Settlement and Other Family Law Agreements

Title: California Marital Settlement and Other Family Law Agreements
Author: Amyx, Carol; Blair, Sandra
Publisher: CEB
Edition: 3rd
Last Update: 4/2013

Description: Ensure that your drafting is easy and correct with this comprehensive guide that also covers premarital, marital, and nonmarital cohabitation agreements.

• Over 250 forms including child custody, visitation, child and spousal support, division of community assets and debts, and attorney fees and costs

• Key assets such as the family residence, retirement benefits, and closely held businesses

• Income tax matters

• Negotiating and implementing the agreement

• Using mediation and collaborative practice

• Includes both individual clauses and complete sample agreements

Description from publisher's website. 

ABA Journal Article: Are digitization and budget cuts compromising history?

There's an interesting piece on efforts to digitize and authenticate legal materials - including the Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act - in this month's issue of the ABA Journal: 

While librarians see an enormous upside in increasing public access to material that once was buried in less romantic storage facilities, they are concerned about the accuracy and preservation of legal information that is “born digital,” according to Michelle Wu, director of the Georgetown Law Library.

Wu says the concerns facing modern law libraries are incredibly complex, noting that it’s difficult to keep up with the sheer volume of legal information being generated. She worries about legal information being kept behind subscription walls, and wants to feel confident that libraries have the capacity to capture new information and ensure access to it in perpetuity.

“So much is now represented by what’s online,” Wu says. “The concern is that materials that are not online will disappear from history and won’t be part of our societal knowledge.”