Thomson Reuters, Legal, and Xi’an Jiaotong University co-hosted the Legal Education and Legal Research International Roundtable Conference last week in Xi’an, the capital of thirteen ancient dynasties in Chinese history and the home of the Terracotta Warriors.
Terracotta Warriors
In the morning session, Dean Joan Howland of the University of Minnesota Law School delivered a keynote speech titled “Legal Education and the Legal Information System in the United States”. Dean Howland first gave an overview of the legal profession in the U.S., then commented on the similarities and differences among American law schools and summarized key features of legal education programs. She concluded the legal education discussion by analyzing the opportunities and challenges for law schools in the U.S.
In the second part of her keynote speech, Dean Howland gave an introduction to the development of the legal information system in the U.S. Special praises were given to John B. West’s contribution in legal publishing for West and the authoritativeness of Westlaw.
Dean Howland’s keynote speech was extremely well received and stimulated enthusiastic comments. After Dean Howland, Associate Dean August Reinisch of Vienna University Law School gave an introduction of legal education in Europe and then I gave a presentation on legal research methodology and how Thomson Reuters’ products and services help legal researchers worldwide perform their tasks better.
In the afternoon session, Dean Howland, Dr. Nicolas Perrone (LSE), and three Chinese law professors formed a panel, moderated by me, to discuss “Legal Education and Legal Research for the Next Generation: From a Comparative Perspective”. The panelists presented their individual expert views on comparative legal education and fully engaged the audience in discussion.
Associate Chief Justice Wang Songmin of Shaanxi Provincial Supreme Court, Assistant General Prosecutor Gong Fuwen of Shaanxi Province, Chairman Wang Jianhua of the Xi’an Jiaotong University Council, and more than thirty law professors, legal researchers, and graduate law students attended the conference.
Dean Shan Wenhua of Xi’an Jiaotong Law School and Stephen Yao, CEO, China, Thomson Reuters, Legal, co-chaired the conference.
The conference attracted great attention from Xi’an Jiaotong University and local legal community; the conference was reported by the University and local media. Xi’an Jiaotong University is a top-ranked comprehensive university and is a member of the C9 League, China’s counterpart of the Ivy League.
This is one of the key brand-building and academic relation events that Thomson Reuters organized for the academic and government sector in China. More are planned in coming days.
Chang Wang
Chief Research & Academic Officer, China
Thomson Reuters, Legal
Posted by Chang Wang in:
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As the 2010 ILTA Conference enters its third day, we wanted to bring you some interviews with several attendees about the importance of the annual conference and its impact.
We start with a video interview with one of the conference co-chairs, Meredith Williams, the director of knowledge management with Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz in Memphis, Tenn.
“From my own personal perspective this has been one of the most creative and professionally satisfying events of my life,” says Williams.
Hear more from Williams in this video clip:
Over the last two days we’ve also done several interviews with ILTA members and attendees about the conference. Each has given us different reasons for why they come to the conference so we encourage you to take some time to listen to each short audio comment below to get a sense for their varied responses.
Just click on each name, below, to play the audio:
V. Mary Abraham, Debevoise & Plimpton
Craig Ball, Craig D. Ball, P.C.
Gary Berger, Ogletree Deakins
Sean Brady, Vinson & Elkins (His views are his personal opinions, not of his firm)
Patrick DiDomenico, Gibbons
David Hobbie, Goodwin Procter
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
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The “Strategic Unity” theme of ILTA 2010 is all about uniting the business side with the practice side of the law. The theme is running strong through several of the meetings and an entire track of sessions that relate to the “Law 2020” initiative.
We talked with Randi Mayes, executive director of ILTA, about her thoughts on the conference so far:
Randi also oversees ILTA’s award-winning Peer to Peer publication and white papers.
Posted by Angie Butterbrodt in:
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An interesting and insightful CLE session sponsored by WestlawNext at the ABA Annual Meeting explored the legal issues associated with social media and the blogosphere.
Heather Armstrong, one of the most well-known professional bloggers, presented at the CLE, and discussed her experiences dealing with unauthorized use of blog material, defamation, cyber stalking and loss of employment for blog content. (We had a chance to talk with the “mommy blogger” after the session, which you can read more about here.)
From the counsel perspective, Marylee Abrams from Abrams and Schmidt LLC., and Kenneth Kunkle from Kunkle Law PLC, two social media experts, demonstrated how to efficiently obtain legal and factual information necessary for advising clients on issues such as employment law, social media policies, intellectual property and the FTC policy on blog disclosure.
Abrams, a lawyer who represents employers with labor relations and employment law issues, talked with us about the necessity of social media policies in this video clip:
We also talked with Kunkle, a lawyer who advises creative-based clients on matters of copyright, trademark and other general business issues, who told us in this short video clip about the importance of understanding social media.
Posted by Anne Lawver in:
Company Current | Education | Events |
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At the ABA Annual Meeting, a forward-looking CLE about the impact of technology and globalization on ethics for the 21st century lawyer featured a panel discussion moderated by Judith A. Miller, which you can read more about here. One of the panelists, Stephanie Kimbro, presented on the emergence of virtual law practices and the ethical issues inherent with the technology.
Kimbro practices law online from her home in North Carolina through her Web-based virtual law office Kimbro Legal Services. She is also the co-founder of Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC, which creates and supports virtual law practices for solo and small practitioners.
Kimbro predicts that firms will need some form of virtualization to remain competitive in the next five to 10 years, as it ultimately benefits clients. In this video clip, she talks about running a virtual law practice and how they are convenient for clients.
Of course, Web security and client confidentiality are issues that arise from hosting a virtual law practice. In this short video clip, Kimbro talks about these issues and the ethics of virtual law practice.
Posted by Anne Lawver in:
Company Current | Education |
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It’s that time of year, college campuses around the world are welcoming new and returning students. Anxiety is high for many, especially among the law school crowd.
Even the professors.
Michael Hunter Schwartz at Washburn University School of Law offers some advice for his fellow law profs in two posts on the Westlaw Insider blog. The posts are titled “Back to School – Part 1,” and “Easy Ways to Make a Difference With Your Students (Back to School – Part 2)”.
Like any profession, a law professor needs to be prepared and Hunter Schwartz says that’s a key:
Know your stuff and be organized. Students will forgive a lot if they perceive that you know your subject, have taken the time to provide structure to the class, are working as hard as they are, and care as much as they do.
He also suggests professors should always be mindful of the importance of setting high expectations for their law students:
Relentlessly communicate high expectations, both in terms of what you ask of them and in terms of your belief that your students can meet your expectations. The research in this area is rock solid; students live up or down to our expectations of them.
Again, you can read the full posts from Michael Hunter Schwartz on the Westlaw Insider blog. They are titled “Back to School – Part 1,” and “Easy Ways to Make a Difference With Your Students (Back to School – Part 2)”.
Michael Hunter Schwartz is Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Development at Washburn University School of Law. He also is co-director at the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning (http://lawteaching.org) which offers law review articles, books, videotapes, and both a teaching article of the month and a teaching idea of the month.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
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The concept of book rentals has been a tradition on college campuses for many years in the United States. Whether it was a weathered biology textbook or a well-used copy of a classic novel, I remember making the trips to the campus bookstore to get what I needed for my undergraduate classes – for a better price than buying new.
As you may have heard, Thomson Reuters is now bringing the book rental concept to law schools with the West and Foundation Press casebook rental program.
And, not only is a print version of a casebook involved, each rental of a hard copy comes with an eBook that students can access immediately.
Casebooks available for rental are indicated on their product pages on the West website.
Books are shipped for free and law students only pay for the time they need to use the books, up to eight monthly payments (at that time the book is theirs to keep).
Students also can mark up and highlight a rental casebook as much as they need to before they return it, again with free shipping.
For more details, check out this page about the casebook rental program and a section for frequently asked questions.
In addition to the rental program, Thomson Reuters also has announced the West Study Aids Subscription.
It has an online library of more than 300 study aids from West, Foundation Press and Gilbert.
The subscription features case briefs, outlines, overviews and exam preparation materials.
Some of those include Gilbert Law Summaries, Legalines, Nutshell Series, Acing Series and Sum & Substance Quick Reviews.
The study aids are available through the Student Commons tab on http://lawschool.westlaw.com and students can highlight the study aids online, and even take notes next to the text.
Subscriptions are offered for periods of three, six or 12 months.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
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The blogosphere. It’s a relatively new realm of interaction, where being brutally honest and practicing our freedom of speech is commonplace. But this new-found outlet also comes with legal ramifications, as Heather Armstrong, one of the most famous professional bloggers, has learned.
Armstrong is the most popular “mommyblogger” in the world, with more than 1.5 million followers on her blog and Twitter, and named one of the 30 most influential women in the media by Forbes magazine. Time magazine has listed her website, dooce.com, as one of the best 25 blogs in the world.
Armstrong will discuss her experiences with unauthorized use of material from her blog, instances of defamation and cyber stalking, and loss of employment for blog content at the CLE program, “Legal Issues Resulting from the Social Media Explosion,”this Friday at the American Bar Association Annual Meeting.
Marylee Abrams and Kenneth Kunkle, two social media legal experts, will also give their perspective on the legal issues associated with social media and blogging. Both are attorneys practicing in Minnesota; the former represents employers with labor relations and employment law issues, and the latter focuses on copyright, trademark and general business issues for creative-based clients.
Another free CLE program, “Legal Research Made Easy With WestlawNext,” will also take place at the ABA conference. The program will follow a fictional client through the course of the legal research process, demonstrating how to make legal research more efficient.
Both CLEs are offered free – compliments of WestlawNext – and will be held at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco.
Legal Issues Resulting from the Social Media Explosion
Friday, Aug. 6
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Lunch
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. – CLE
Rooms 3001 – 3005
Legal Research Made Easy with WestlawNext
Friday, Aug. 6
3:45 – 5:15 p.m.
Room 2005
Posted by Anne Lawver in:
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We’ve got some news to share about the CLE Mobile app from West LegalEdcenter.
It has received the “Association for Continuing Legal Education’s (ACLEA) Best” Award for Outstanding Achievement in Technology.
The app, available as a free download for iPhone® and iPod touch®, offers attorneys mobile access to continuing legal education (CLE) courses.
“ACLEA’s Best” Awards recognize the contributions of its professional member organizations in the fields of programs, publications, public interest, technology and marketing.
West LegalEdcenter recently upgraded its CLE Mobile app based on recent user feedback. CLE Mobile Version 2 includes the ability to search, purchase and delete programs directly from the app itself – features most often requested by CLE Mobile users.
Launched in December 2009, CLE Mobile allows users to access more than 3,000 CLE courses wherever they are and whenever it is most convenient. Users also have access to one free program when they download the app.
All state-required regulatory safeguards are incorporated in the Mobile environment, so CLE Mobile users may submit completed courses for online state mandatory CLE credit. The app also allows users to manage their westlegaledcenter.com profile, including licensing states and registration numbers.
Additionally, CLE Mobile gives law firms the ability to make their own CLE and training content mobile with West LegalEdcenter’s in-house training. This option allows law firms to better meet their attorneys’ needs by making their own programming even more flexible and accessible.
CLE Mobile is available on the App Store or through westlegaledcenter.com/mobile.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
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The Obama administration’s healthcare reform law in the United States represents the industry’s most sweeping change in nearly half a century. West LegalEdcenter and the American Health Lawyers Association are now providing continuing legal education programming (CLE) on health law and more specifically, on healthcare reform legislation and its implications for various sectors of the healthcare community.
Programs available here include:
*“The Impact of Healthcare Reform Legislation on Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP,” with Dennis Barry, Charlie Luband and Holley Thames Lutz
*“Fraud and Abuse in Healthcare Reform: Will You Know It When They See It?” with John Brennan, Bob Homchick and Vicki Robinson
*“The Practical Impact of Payment System Reform on the Marketplace,” with Glen Reed, Tim Blanchard, Larry Foust, Katherine Hayes and Jamie Katz
*“Delivery System Reform: New Care Delivery, Quality, Efficiency, and Health Personnel Initiatives,” with Beth Schermer, Amy Hall, Doug Hastings and John Hensing
Programs are available at a reduced rate for AHLA members.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
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The U.S. Constitution is one of the most powerful and impactful documents in existence. It literally touches every American’s life, and has since its creation in 1787. Recently, I had the opportunity to view the document first-hand as part of a new exhibit, “We the People: The First Official Printing of the U.S. Constitution,” sponsored [...]
Earlier this week, we released our 2011 Annual Report in an interactive format available online at thomsonreuters.com. Along with information on the company’s financial performance as well as business unit overviews, this year’s annual report contains a variety of dynamic content including interviews with our new business leaders as well as stories of how we [...]
We’ve got a great episode for you this month, kicking off with our “Chaos in the Courts” segment that, believe it or not, is yet another story about the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas. Since our March podcast, another person has fallen victim to the establishment’s trademark bypass burger.
Then in our “On the Blawgs” [...]
