Extension of Library Hours During Spring Exams

The Law Library hours during the Exam Period will be extended to 2:00 a.m. This extension was done in response to student requests for longer study hours during exams. The Law Library is happy to accommodate such requests. The Circulation Desk will be staffed during this time.

Please be aware of the special access and use requirements during this period, which include needing your JagTag to enter the building after 9:00 p.m. and getting a hang-tag from the Circulation Desk, for the door of any library study rooms you are using. Abiding by these requirements is part of the Law School’s building security policy and is helpful for the security guards who are on duty during the evening hours.

Reading Room Closure/Construction Notice

The Law Library’s Reading Room will be closed the week of Spring Break (March 12-16), in order for repairs to be completed on the ceiling panels. Large scaffolding units and protective coverings for the furniture will be installed early in the week, so the room will be unusable. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience during this time.

Indianapolis Business Journal

The Law Library recently added a print subscription to the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ). This publication is kept in the Library Commons area, on the browsing rack with the other newspapers.

One of the IBJ’s most useful features is its Top 25 Lists which are presented biweekly throughout the year. Each Top 25 List highlights a particular industry or service business and ranks the top 25 businesses of that type in the Indianapolis area. The charted demographics in each list include such entries as contact information, number of personnel, current projects, approximate annual revenue, services, and corporate officers. In December of each year, the Top 25 Lists for that year are compiled and re-published in a separate resource called The Book of Business Lists.

The IBJ is a valuable resource for tracking the activities of individual businesses and law firms within the Indianapolis area. It can be particularly useful in conducting research on individual law firms, as students begin to consider summer clerking opportunities or interview for employment after graduation.

Clearing the First Hurdles:
How the library can help you apply to the bar and pass the MPRE

As if taking the bar exam were not intimidating enough, first you have to apply for admission to the bar. The rules and process for applying vary from state to state. If you are planning to practice in Indiana, you can find Indiana Rules for Admission to the Bar and Discipline of Attorneys online at the Board of Law Examiners website: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/ble/2335.htm (last visited February 9, 2012). The rules are also printed in the Indiana Rules of Court, Volume 1 – State (2012), p. 313. Copies are located on reserve at the Circulation Desk as well as on the shelves in the Library Commons and with both annotated versions of the Indiana Code in the Library Commons on the 1st Floor of the Library.

Both the website and the Indiana Rules of Court include the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct and the Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct as well.

Applying to practice in another state? Not sure where to apply and want to compare? We have the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements, KF 302 .A15 C66, on the shelves in the Library Commons.

The March 17th MPRE is quickly approaching. The MPRE tests your knowledge of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. According to the MPRE’s website, the exam can also base questions on “controlling constitutional decisions and generally accepted principles established in leading federal and state cases and in procedural and evidentiary rules.” Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mpre/ (last visited February 9, 2012).

Are you looking for extra guidance in understanding the rules and leading cases? The library has many resources that can help. By far, the best all-around online source is the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct. The service includes:

• Easy access to the rules themselves;
• Practice guides organized by subject area that include current rules, past rules and other background information, state-specific modifications, analysis, and notes of relevant opinions;
• Indexes to current reports of ethics opinions and past decisions;
• Full-text searching of ABA and state ethics opinions; and
• Links to the states’ Rules of Professional Conduct as well as analyses of how states have varied from the Model Rules.

This service is easy to navigate and has so much to offer. It is accessible through the law library website:

1. On the left-hand side, click on Electronic Resources.
2. Click on either of the Database List options.
3. Choose ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct.
4. To access the rules themselves, go to the right-hand side of the screen and click on ABA Model Rules and Standards in the box labeled Ethics Rules.
5. Click on the plus next to ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct to expand the list of rules OR click on the title and then choose Split Screen to see the list of rules and the text at the same time.
6. The Code of Judicial Conduct is available as well, also via the ABA Model Rules and Standards link.

We also have great resources in print. My favorite for MPRE prep is Questions & Answers: Professional Responsibility; Multiple Choice and Short Answer Questions and Answers, Patrick Emery Longan, KF 306 .L66 2007 (Library Commons, 1st Floor). As the title suggests, this is a collection of practice MPRE-type questions with answers.

Here is a list of other items we have in print. These books offer more detailed analysis and commentary on the rules and other related ethical issues.

1. Professional Responsibility Standards, Rules, & Statutes, John S. Dzienkowski, KF 305 .A29 S45 2011/2012 (Library Commons, 1st Floor).
2. Professional Responsibility: Examples & Explanations, W. Bradley Wendel, KF 306 .W46 (2011) (Library Commons, 1st Floor).
3. Mastering Professional Responsibility, Grace M. Giesel, KF 306 .G547 (2009) (Library Commons, 1st Floor).
4. Legal Ethics in a Nutshell, Ronald D. Rotunda and Michael I. Krauss, KF 306 .Z9 R668 (2006) (Library Commons, 1st Floor).
5. Understanding Lawyers’ Ethics, Monroe Freedman and Abbe Smith, KF 306 .F76 (2010) (Library Commons, 1st Floor).
6. Law in Motion: Professional Responsibility, Michael McCord, KF 306 .M39 (2010) (3rd Floor).
7. The Law and Ethics of Law Practice, Margaret Raymond, KF 306 .R39 (2009) (3rd Floor).
8. Professional Responsibility: Problems of Practice and the Profession, Nathan M. Crystal, KF 306 .C79 (2008) (3rd Floor).
9. Professional Responsibility: Problems and Materials, Thomas D. Morgan, KF 306 .M668 (2008) (3rd Floor).

Stop by the reference desk or contact a reference librarian if you need help locating any of these resources.

Use ProQuest Congressional for Legislative Research

If you are conducting United States legislative history research in the Law Library, try using the ProQuest Congressional database. ProQuest provides links to legislative history documents going all the way back to the first legislative session of the United States Congress (1789-1791). Documents can be searched by keyword, document type, and document number.

Your access point to this resource is through the Law Library’s home page, under Electronic Resources in the left-side menu, select Databases by Category.

Clicking on either of the links in this list will provide an alphabetical list of titles from which to choose.

ProQuest Congressional’s opening screen will afford several searching options, depending on the resources that are sought or the document citations that a researcher already has in hand. If the researcher knows the specific topic of legislation for which they are searching, then the “Basic Search” option will allow keyword searching, along with the option of restricting by date and/or by Congress number.

If the researcher knows the document type and number, without knowing any other information, then the “Search By Number” option would be the best choice.

There is also an “Advanced Search” option, which allows the researcher to further streamline their search parameters by including additional sets of terms, selection of specific document types, and restriction by date or congressional session number. Using this search method will be the most efficient, since it will return results that only fit within the parameters included. However, limiting the search in this way may also exclude some documents, especially if the legislation in question was under consideration in consecutive legislative sessions

Researchers should also note the “Help Toolbox” that appears at the bottom of each of the search screens. The links noted here provide access to specific tutorial information. These tutorials can be helpful in crafting effective search parameters, understanding the legislative process, and in knowing the correct way to cite ProQuest sources.

As with all the research sources in the Law Library, please check with a reference librarian if you have any questions.

Librarian and Staff News

Catherine Lemmer, Head of Information Services, has had two book reviews published recently. Her review of Law 101: Everything you need to know about American Law, 3rd ed., by Jay M. Feinman, was published in Int'l. J. Legal Info. Summer 2011 39:264-266. Her review of The Challenge of Library Management: Leading with Emotional Engagement, by Wyoma vanDuinkerken and Pixey Anne Mosley, was published in Coll. res. libr. January 2012 73:97-99.

Susan deMaine has joined the staff of the Law Library as a Visiting Librarian. Before coming to IUPUI, she clerked for the late Honorable David A. Nelson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She also spent several years working with nonprofit corporations specializing in education.

Professor deMaine received her J.D., as well as her master’s degree in library and information science, from the University of Kentucky. At UK, Professor deMaine served as the Special Projects Editor of the Kentucky Law Review. She was also awarded the Bert T. Combs scholarship and, upon graduation, the Faculty Cup for Outstanding Contributions to the Law School. Professor deMaine has published and/or presented research in both the legal and library science fields.