Rare Find: Signed copy of Wigmore's Panorama of the World's Legal Systems

The Harris County Law Library has been collecting legal publications for more than 100 years and our historical collection is home to many rare and unique works. Once in a while, we find something so singular that we have to share our find. Earlier this month, a library staff member opened a book cover and discovered the signature of one of the most recognizable names in legal bibliography - John Henry Wigmore.

Wigmore was a well-respected law librarian, professor of law, and dean of Northwestern School of Law in the early 20th century who is remembered as one of the legal community's most respected scholars for his work Wigmore on Evidence. Even today, the preeminent treatise on evidence - The New Wigmore - drops the subject in its title in favor of the original author whose name is synonymous with the topic. Find more on this extraordinary scholar in the Fall 2013 issue of LH&RB on the American Association of Law Libraries website.

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The signed book is a 1936 copy of Panorama of the World's Legal Systems. The work first appeared as a 3-volume set that provided a unique comparison of various legal systems, complete with photographs, illustrations, and maps. In 1936, West publishing released the library edition to make the content more widely available. As the "intent was to popularize the study of comparative law," making the format more accessible helped Wigmore's ideas about foreign legal systems travel well beyond academia. The Law Library's copy found its way onto the shelves of a local practicing attorney who represented Texas oil companies in the early 20th century and was donated along with other volumes at the end of his practice.

Latest & Greatest: Litigation with the Federal Government

By Gregory C. Sisk

Published by West Academic Publishing

KF 9065 .L472 2016

It is relatively common knowledge in the legal community that the Federal Government is a party to every federal criminal case. Yet few are aware that the Government is a party in nearly 20 percent of all civil cases filed in the federal courts. In these matters come the special rules surrounding sovereign immunity and the waiver of that immunity. In his book, Litigation with the Federal Government, author Gregory C. Sisk seeks to explain the concept of sovereign immunity and provide a summary of the various statutory waivers of sovereign immunity, both specific and general. He discusses, in some detail, the requirements needed to bring suit under the Federal Torts Claim Act and both the standards for and exceptions to liability under the statute. Other statutes include Suits in Admiralty Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Social Security Act, to name a few. Sisk also devotes some discussion to claims against federal officers and employees, including those seeking money damages and those looking to compel the officer or employee to perform a specific duty. The author also addresses the notion of equitable estoppel in the instance when the Federal Government is bound by the unauthorized representations by its employees. Lastly, the author discusses the Federal Government’s power to sue as a plaintiff.

Note that this book is part of the Hornbook Series, a set of one-volume treatises designed as study aids that simplify a legal topic by providing a summary or overview of the topic. They are good resources for those who want to understand more about a legal subject without having to sort through complex cases as well as for those who are representing themselves.

Latest & Greatest – Davis’s Texas Estate Planning Forms 2017

By Mickey R. Davis

Published by O’Connor’s

KFT 1340 .A65 D38

The Harris County Law Library is pleased to have a new addition to its collection of books from that trusted and reliable publisher, O’Connor’s: Davis’s Texas Estate Planning Forms 2017. This new resource, designed to assist in the drafting of wills and the providing of estate planning services to clients, contains a myriad of forms that can be adapted to fit your client’s situation. There is an entire chapter devoted to advanced directives and powers of attorney and an extensive sampling of various types of wills based upon marital status and the need for tax planning. You can also find provisions and clauses for specific testamentary gifts, administrative issues, and the payment of expenses and debts. There are also examples of simple wills that are good for those whose estates are a bit simpler and require little or no additional estate planning. Moreover, there is a chapter dedicated to trusts, including irrevocable gift trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, and charitable trusts . Like the library’s other Texas resources from O’Connor’s, the forms contained in this book can be found on O’Connor’s Online here at the law library.

Legislative Histories of Cybersecurity Laws Enacted by the 113th and 114th Congresses

January is Data Privacy and Information Security Law Month at the Harris County Law Library. All month long, we are promoting the data privacy resources in our collection to raise awareness of the need for data security in the practice of law. We are also featuring relevant electronic sources, including the Cybersecurity Law Institute at Georgetown University, and the Cybersecurity Law Report, both of which are freely available on the Internet.

The Law Library's subscription databases provide access to even more good resources, including legislative histories of key cybersecurity laws. HeinOnline has just added several new cybersecurity law resources to its U.S. Federal Legislative History Library. The new collection, Legislative Histories of Cybersecurity Laws Enacted by the 113th and 114th Congresses (William H. Manz, ed.) (2016)  is a compilation of eight laws enacted in 2014 and 2015 including: 

• Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act
• Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014
• National Cybersecurity Protection Act of 2014
• Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014

Four additional Acts grouped into the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 are also part of the compilation. The legislative histories include the text and chronology of the Acts, bill versions, related bills, committee reports, congressional debates and hearings, GAO reports, and presidential materials. 

To access these legislative histories and a world of other content, visit the Law Library or access HeinOnline on your mobile device.

Data Privacy and Information Security Law Exhibit

National Data Privacy Day, observed annually on January 28th, commemorates the 1981 signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. The Law Library is recognizing this event all month long with an exhibit, Data Privacy and Information Security Law, which will be on display in the Law Library lobby until January 31st.

Among the items featured in the exhibit are books from the Law Library's collection:

• Locked Down: Practical Information Security for Lawyers and Encryption Made Simple for Lawyers address the need for attorneys to protect their clients' data from security breaches, especially in the age of cloud storage, ransomware, and widespread information-sharing across potentially unsecured networks.

• Wiretapping & Eavesdropping: Surveillance in the Internet Age, a 4-volume loose leaf service, includes chapters on computer evidence, Internet technology, and the Fourth Amendment. Relevant federal and state laws regarding digital communications and surveillance in the information age are also discussed. The Wiretap Act (18 USC §2510) and the Stored Communications Act (18 USCA § 2701-2712) are just two examples, both of which were cited in a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case, Robert C. Konop v. Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. (302 F. 3d 868), which is also highlighted in the Law Library's exhibit.