Social Media Use By Jurors

There's an interesting article on Third Branch News - the U.S. Courts news website - on an update to the model jury instructions used by Federal judges to deter the use of social media by jurors during trial. 

A Judicial Conference Committee has updated the model set of jury instructions(pdf) federal judges use to deter jurors from using social media to research or communicate about cases on which they serve. The new guidelines provide detailed explanations of the consequences of social media use during a trial, along with recommendations for repeated reminders of the ban on social media usage.

September Nevada Legal Services Forms Completion Workshop

Nevada Legal Services will hold a free self-help forms completion clinic at the Supreme Court library on Tuesday, September 11th from 1:30 to 3:30.  General instruction regarding the completion of self-help forms will be provided and a Notary Public will be available. Register by calling 775-284-3491 x214. The Library is located at 201 S. Carson Street. Please use the Stewart Street entrance to the Supreme Court. This program will be repeated the second Tuesday of each month.

Nevada Legal Services holds the same forms completion workshop at the Carson City Library, usually on the fourth Thursday of the month from 1 to 3 p.m.  An educational clinic follows from 3:30 to 5 p.m.  Check the Events page for information on the educational clinic schedule.

Information about additional NLS clinics is available on its NLS News and Events page.

Westlaw Search Tip - Stop Words

You may be used to using the number sign (#) on Twitter as a hashtag.  Searching for #HR4636 from the example below will retrieve other tweets with #HR4646.

Check out THOMAS' Top Ten legislative items, compiled on 8/12/2012 thomas.loc.gov/home/topten/to… #HR4646 #HR1776#HR1627 #HR3012#HR4348
— THOMASdotgov (@THOMASdotgov) August 13, 2012

The number sign has a different function on Westlaw.  Use it to turn off auto-equivalents (1 or one), alternative spellings (color or colour) and plurals (join and joins) in your boolean search.  It also makes stop words searchable.  Stop words are common words like after, before, between and adding the number sign before the word forces Westlaw to include it in the search result. You can read more about stop words in the September/October 2010 issue of Westlaw Edge.

New Acquisitions

We wanted to highlight a new title recently added to the collection.

Limited scope legal services : unbundling and the self-help client / Stephanie L. Kimbro.   Published by the the ABA Law Practice Management Section and available from the ABA Bookstore.

In this rapidly changing economic and legal climate, lawyers are seeking new methods for delivering their services efficiently and effectively while attracting new types of clients. For many firms, limited scope representation--also known as à la carte or unbundled legal services--may be the solution. By providing representation for a clearly defined portion of the client's legal needs, such as preparing a legal document or making limited court appearances, lawyers can market their practice to an entirely new client base and give their firm a competitive advantage. The only book available on the topic, Limited Scope Legal Services provides lawyers of all types--from solo to big law--with practical, tested solutions for setting up unbundling practices in their firms. This book offers everything you need to get started with limited scope services, including:

•A step-by-step checklist for implementation
•Tips for unbundling in various practice areas
•An overview of ethics concerns and guidance for avoiding malpractice risk
•Best practices for billing and marketing
•Guidance about using technology to unbundle your services
•Case studies from a variety of firms
•Monitor your network with ease
•Sample limited scope agreements
•Advice about creating and building your brand

This book is available for check out.  Our loan period is two weeks and anyone with a valid Nevada library card, Nevada bar card or Nevada license or ID card may borrow library materials.