Introducing govinfo

In 2009, the Government Publishing Office (then called the Government Printing Office) migrated all of its Federal Government resources from GPO Access to FDsys.gov. Providing access to federal statutes, regulations, and executive branch documents, FDsys was a government information goldmine. However, opinions about the site were mixed. While one reviewer described it as, "...well organized, with good symmetry, plain layout, and design," others found it unattractive and difficult to navigate. In any case, the GPO is migrating once again to a new and improved, next generation website. It's called govInfo, and it debuted in beta mode just two years ago. It features all the content and coverage offered by FDsys but the layout and design are much improved. Best of all, the new site is built for responsive design and optimized for display on mobile devices.

govinfo is the new front door to accessing the same content that's been available on FDsys for the last 7 years, with a focus on "implementing feedback from users and improving overall search and access to electronic Federal Government information."  FDsys will retire and will be completely replaced by govinfo by the end of 2018. During the transition period, be sure to update your bookmarks and links to govinfo.gov.

If you'd like to find the same documents on govinfo that you used to access on FDsys, look for the comparison chart that's available on the govinfo About page. Video tutorials are also provided along with a Help guide that links to information about what kind of content is available on govinfo and how to find it.

Latest & Greatest – Veterans Benefits: A Legal Research Guide

By Lauren M. Collins

Published by William S. Hein & Co., Inc.

KF 7709 .C65 2017

Throughout the month of February, the Harris County Law Library is featuring legal research and writing resources. Today's blog post highlights a resource that doesn't show you how to perform legal research but rather helps you find specific sources to get you the answers you need. The 69th volume in a collection of research guides, Veterans Benefits: A Legal Research Guide provides researchers with a resource for locating benefits that available to veterans and their families. From the outset, author Lauren M. Collins stresses the need for a research strategy prior to embarking upon a search of this kind because of the difficulty involved with finding information regarding benefits. She notes that the most common resources available are secondary sources, specific federal statutes and laws, and relevant state laws and programs and provides some examples of each type of resource. She briefly explains the procedural steps for filing a claim for benefits and for filing an appeal should the request be denied. She also describes some benefits that are available for family members of veterans and some benefits that are provided by federal agencies other than the Department of Veterans Affairs and how to locate them. Ms. Collins also points out several internet resources, including government websites, websites maintained by advocacy groups, blogs, online training resources, and news alerts.

Although not meant to be a comprehensive guide, Veterans Benefits: A Legal Research Guide provides some of the tools necessary to locate the benefits that veterans need and deserve. Stop by the Harris County Law Library to have a look at this vital research tool.

O'Connor's Online Federal Resources

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The Harris County Law Library provides access to an excellent collection of online legal resources, including Westlaw, LexisAdvance, and HeinOnline. These databases, whose subscription fees can be too costly for solo and small firm attorneys to maintain, are available to use completely free of charge in the Law Library.

One of our databases that many attorneys and self-represented litigants are using with increasing frequency is O'Connor's Online. O'Connor's is an established and trusted name in legal publishing, particularly in Texas. The O'Connor's print publications are well-known as go-to resources for expert commentaries, legal forms, and for annotated codes and rules. The O'Connor's Online database provides the same quality of information, covering the same content that's published in the print volumes, all conveniently packaged in a searchable format.

O'Connor's Online is not new to the Law Library, but the addition of federal sources is a recent upgrade. Law Library patrons can now access federal commentaries, forms, statutes, rules, and charts using the multiple search tools built into the database. 

For a broad overview of all the available federal content, explore the master menu: Click on the Pretrial & Trial Procedure entry on the Browse menu. This will provide you with a complete listing (shown in the image above) of all the federal and Texas resources available in each content category. 

For a more specific search, enter keywords to perform a full content search of the entire database. Then, narrow your search results by selecting the appropriate jurisdiction from the Filters menu on the left. As an example, you may search for the keywords employment discrimination and then narrow your search results to federal sources. Filter your results once more to view only forms. One of the results in your list will be a general complaint for an ADA violation, Form 2B:16. O'Connor's Online is a terrific tool for accessing all the content that's familiar to users of the print titles and a user-friendly platform for newcomers.

Final tip: Once you've located the form you wish to use, you will have a few options -- download the form to a USB drive, email the document to yourself as an attachment, print the form at our Copy Center, or open it as an editable Word (or Word Perfect) document. There's no better -- or easier -- way to use the O'Connor's forms! 

If you need assistance using O'Connor's Online, the Law Library staff is always happy to help. Further information about navigating the O'Connor's database is available here:

• Navigating the homepage - video
• Navigating the interactive panels - video
• What kinds of searches can I perform?
• Using the persistent Table of Contents in your research

Legal Research & Writing Resource Month

February is Legal Research & Writing Resource Month at the Harris County Law Library. Whether you are an attorney drafting a motion or a self-represented litigant navigating the court system, writing is a necessary component of your legal work. Visit the Law Library all month long to find resources on display that you can use to improve and enhance your legal research and writing skills.

To improve your legal writing skills, look for the following: 

• The Redbook A Manual on Legal Style, 3rd ed. / by Bryan Garner, 2013
• Thinking like a Writer 2nd ed. / by Stephen V. Armstrong & Timothy P. Terrell, 2003
• Legal Writing to Win, Texas Bar CLE / by Chad Baruch, 2015

To improve your legal research skills, look for the following:

• Fundamentals of legal research / by Steven M. Barkan, Barbara A. Bintliff, Mary Whisner, 2015
• Legal research: how to find & understand the law / by Stephen Elias and the editors of Nolo
• Legal research in a nutshell / by the late Morris L. Cohen, Kent C. Olson
• Strategic legal research: Finding the information you need efficiently and cost-effectively / by Tobin A. Sparling

Latest & Greatest - Unbundled Legal Services: A Family Lawyer’s Guide

By Forrest S. Mosten and Elizabeth Potter Scully

Published by American Bar Association

KF 299 .D6 M67 2017

Using the prevalence and proliferation of self-representation as an impetus, authors Forrest S. Mosten and Elizabeth Potter Scully have embarked upon the advancement of a method of legal representation known as unbundled legal services, or as it also called, limited scope representation in their book, Unbundled Legal Services: A Family Lawyer’s Guide. Broken down into its simplest terms, unbundled legal services refers to the practice of offering various legal services and allowing the client to select the “discrete lawyering tasks” he/she wants the lawyer to perform. The authors have identified seven categories into which these tasks fall and have provided a framework through which such unbundled services can be delivered, thereby allowing a family lawyer with the flexibility to offer full service court representation or become a non-court family lawyer offering limited scope services. Each chapter focuses on the various roles that a family lawyer is typically called upon to assume and explains how such roles can be transformed into one unbundled service. For instance, in many cases, lawyers are, at the same time, dispute resolution managers, negotiators, document drafters, and litigators for their clients. However, according to the authors, each of these roles can be unbundled and offered to the client as separate tasks as opposed to the typical all-or-nothing approach that most full service representation presents. Thus, the client can hire the attorney for those tasks for which he or she might need the most assistance. At the end of most chapters, the authors have provided their readers with practice tips for putting the presented models into play. Also, the authors have set forth the ethical considerations involved with unbundling and possible malpractice “minefields.”

If the idea of the unbundled legal services approach is new to you or if you have not yet considered it as an option for your law practice, come to the Harris County Law Library and have a look at Unbundled Legal Services: A Family Lawyer’s Guide. Who knows? It might be the right plan for you.