Latest & Greatest – Cross Examination: A Primer for the Family Lawyer

By Stephen Gassman

Published by the American Bar Association. Section of Family Law.

KF 8920 .G37 2017

Have a look in any law library catalog, and you’re bound to find dozens of references to books written by legal practitioners on the subject of cross examination. Cross examination is an art form and a skill that is highly-prized among litigators but one that is difficult to master. It is said that “practice makes perfect”; however, it is still worthwhile to know some techniques, rules, and even the “do this, but don’t do this” sort of guidelines to help lead the way. There is no magical shortcut to conducting a successful cross examination, but good old-fashioned trial and error and Stephen Gassman’s book, Cross Examination: A Primer for the Family Lawyer just might do the trick.

Beginning with what he terms as the “Commandments of Cross Examination,” Gassman launches into a discussion of the basic principles of conducting of what hopefully will become a successful cross examination. Providing simple suggestions such as "be brief" and "use repetition," the author outlines various guidelines to help you avoid some of the common pitfalls that could ruin what otherwise might have been a winning cross examination. There are situations, though, where it is advisable to not conduct a cross examination of a witness, and Gassman addresses some of those for you.

Other principles that the author enlightens his readers about are those of primacy and recency, both of which deal with timing, and the concept of looping, a tool used for emphasis. He also highlights some cross examination techniques like the use of trilogies, hints about body language, handling the witness with an inability to recollect, and overcoming the hearsay objection. Gassman also provides guidance on impeachment, preparing a witness for cross examination, and conducting cross examination of expert witnesses, including those used in child custody cases.

If you are seeking ways to improve your cross examination skills or are looking for help conducting that first cross examination, have a look at Cross Examination: A Primer for the Family Lawyer.

Latest & Greatest – Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

By Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik

Published by Dey St., an Imprint of William Morrow Publishers

KF 8745 .G56 C37 2015

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the oft-described unstoppable, passionate, and fiery United States Supreme Court justice, has become something of a cult figure among law students. Empowered by her rage at civil rights violations and the lack of gender equality, these students created a new persona for her, the Notorious R.B.G., and showed their appreciation of her by posting tributes on social media. From this media storm comes Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a new book by the law student who created the Notorious R.B.G. Tumblr and the journalist who interviewed Justice Ginsburg for MSNBC. An illuminating, yet humorous, look into the life, losses, and successes of this diminutive and, at times, underestimated jurist, Notorious RBG captures the essence of this remarkable woman who became only the second woman to serve on our nation’s highest court.

Always a champion of women’s rights and gender equality, Ruth Bader Ginsburg knew first-hand the difficulties that women faced in the workplace and in institutions of higher learning and the pressures associated with gender inequality. She was one of nine women in her class at Harvard Law School and had difficulty getting a job, even though she graduated at the top of her class from Columbia Law School. She was the first woman to teach full-time at Rutgers School of Law and later became Columbia’s first tenured female professor. While at Columbia, she even helped file a class action lawsuit against the university and continued to volunteer her time with the ACLU.

If it is true that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword, then the legal writings of Ruth Bader Ginsburg can truly cut to the heart of an issue. Known for her dissents, Justice Ginsburg has always remained steadfast to her beliefs and her desire to correct injustices. Notorious RBG also features excerpts and analyses of some of Justice Ginsburg’s most significant briefs, opinions, and dissents:

• Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971) (a gender discrimination case in which a mother was not entitled to possessions owned by deceased son) ;
• Struck v. Secretary of Defense, 460 F 2d 1372 (1971) (case in which an air force nurse refused to get abortion as required by Air Force regulations) ;
• United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996) (case involving the refusal of Virginia Military Institute to admit women);
• Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124 (2007) (case that upheld partial-birth abortion ban);
• Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company 550 U.S. 618 (2014) (an employment discrimination case based on gender) ; and
• Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013) (case dealing with the Voting Rights Act).

 The authors also look into her sixty-year relationship with her beloved husband Marty, who passed away in 2010, her unlikely friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia, her ideological opposite, her perfectionism when drafting opinions, her workouts with her personal trainer, and, of course, those lacy jabots she wears on the bench.

There is so much more to Ruth Bader Ginsburg than meets the eye. Learn about her in Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and find out why she is such an Internet sensation.

By the way, in case you didn't know, today (March 15) is RBG's 85 birthday. How fitting that it comes during National Women's History Month.

Court News: March Madness Research Guide, Promoting Successful Brackets for All

March Madness has struck, and the Harris County Law Library has a cure. If you are a Houston Bar Association member who is participating in the Bracket Challenge, or just a college basketball fan in need of some guidance in completing your bracket, the Harris County Law Library can help! We have assembled a March Madness Research Guide with information and links to insider data from sports experts at ESPN, SB Nation, Sports Illustrated, FoxSports, the Bleacher Report, and more. Get the inside scoop from experienced basketball pros, such as statisticians, researchers, and correspondents, as well as former players who know the game from the inside out. On the line-up are:

Chris Dobbertean: College basketball contributor and resident bracketologist at SBNation and editor of Blogging the Bracket

Reid Gettys: Part-time NCAA basketball analyst for ESPN, lead attorney for ExxonMobil, and part of the "Phi Slama Jama" era of the early 1980s, who participated in three Final Fours and had two national championship appearances. Follow him on Twitter @reidgettys.

Joe Lunardi: College basketball analyst for ESPN who is best known for creating Bracketology. He correctly predicted all 65 teams to appear in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and all 68 teams for the 2013 tournament. Wow!

Jerry Palm: Resident Sports Geek at CBS Sports and a pioneer in predicting the March Madness bracket and in understanding the tournament selection process. Follow him online at CBS Sports, NCAA Basketball.

John Rothstein: College Basketball Insider for CBS Sports and host of the College Hoops Today podcast, as well as a driving force behind Bleacher Report. Get the app here for Apple and Android.

Check out what these and other NCAA basketball experts have to offer in helping you build your bracket. Click on the image above to view the Harris County Law Library Research Guide for even more tips from the pros. Good luck, bracket hopefuls. May the best bracket win!

Latest & Greatest – NewSpace Commercialisation and the Law

Edited by Md Tanveer Ahmad & Jinyuan Su

Published by McGill Centre for Research in Air and Space Law

KZD 1141 .M36 2017

A collection of papers presented at the 3rd Manfred Lachs International Conference on NewSpace Commercialisation and the Law held in Montreal, Canada, NewSpace Commercialisation and the Law presents a snapshot of the current status and future of global space exploration as well as the issues and challenges facing space law, policies, and regulations. The term "NewSpace" refers to the movement associated with entrepreneurial endeavors surrounding commercial human space flight and the development of technologies to assist governmental and private space activities. This book aims to address emerging issues and problems that confront both commercial and governmental space programs. Written by scientists, legal experts, and academics, the papers presented in this book cover such diverse topics as space governance, legal aspects of private space stations, satellite miniaturization, avoiding harmful contamination in the exploration and use of outer space, active debris removal, and commercial satellites for military purposes.

The reality of space exploration and the technologies associated with it are no longer merely something you read about in a science fiction novel. The future is here, and the future is now. Read about it in NewSpace Commercialisation and the Law.

Latest & Greatest – The Invention of Legal Research

By Joseph L. Gerken

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

KF 240 .G47 2016

Have you ever wondered about the evolution of legal research and how the seed for finding the law germinated and bloomed into the system that we now employ to find relevant case law and statutes? Author Joseph L. Gerken did, and the result of his curiosity is The Invention of Legal Research. Noting that no new legal research methods were developed or conceived until computer-assisted research appeared in the 1980s, the author focuses his examination upon what it was about the so-called “golden decades” from 1870 to 1890 that revolutionized the way legal research was performed and the methods by which cases were located. He begins his analysis with a discussion of some of the early pioneers in legal publishing: Francis Hopkinson, the editor of Judgments in the Admiralty of Pennsylvania; Ephraim Kirby, the editor of Reports of Cases Adjudged in the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut; James Kent, author of Commentaries on American Law, and the seven nominative Supreme Court reporters. Of course, no discussion of legal publishing visionaries would be a complete without a mention of John West and his contribution to the formation of legal research with his National Reporter System. Gerken remarks that West’s system rose to prominence and dominated the world of case reporters because he fashioned a true nationally-focused reporter system.

This increase in the number of reporters inevitably led to the creation of the case digest and the legal citator. Digests are almost synonymous with Benjamin Vaughn Abbott and his brother Austin, who developed a system based on the holdings of the cases, rather than the cases themselves, as well as a classification scheme based on legal topics. Frank Shepard is credited with developing his eponymous citator, a work known for its accuracy, reliability, and currency. In a later chapter, the author examines the causal relationship between case reporting and case finding and the advent of the doctrine of stare decisis. Gerken attributes the stress on the precedential value of cases for the shift in the primary purpose of legal research.

Gerken also delves into the history of statutory law in the 19th century and how the notion of codification was at the forefront during this era. Two men of note in this regard are Jeremy Bentham, the inventor of the term “codification” and a staunch advocate for the adoption of an encompassing code for statutes emanating from the federal government and from individual states, and William Sampson, who kept the issue of and need for codification at the center of the legal world. Both of these men (although more so Sampson) are credited with influencing the drive to create the first American legal code, the New York Revised Statutes. The author presents a lengthy discussion of the New York Revised Statutes of 1829, historically significant for its organization of disparate laws into one place. he also speaks of the Field Code and its adoption and the first codification of federal statutes, which eventually were published as the United States Statutes at Large.

Gerken rounds out his book with a discussion of law reviews and how they influenced the law. From the earliest law journals written by lawyers and other legal professionals to the modern-day law reviews edited and published by students, Gerken examines how these periodicals “contributed to the development of legal doctrine” and defines how these journals fit into the grand scheme of legal research.

Lastly, Gerken explores the parallels between law and librarianship in the late 19th century and how both developed into sciences.

For the legal researcher, the law librarian, the legal scholar, or anyone who has in interest in the development of the methods by which legal research is carried out, The Invention of Legal Research provides a glimpse into those “Golden Decades” from 1870 to 1890 when modern-day legal research had its heyday and became “the way” of finding the law.