Looking Back - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

February 2, 1848 – On this day, representatives from the United States and Mexico, including Nicholas Philip Trist, on behalf of President Polk, signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, officially bringing an end to the Mexican-American War. Named for the Mexican city in which the peace agreement was signed, the treaty established the Rio Grande as the southern boundary of the United States and required Mexico to relinquish and surrender all claims to Texas. The treaty also compelled Mexico to cede Arizona, New Mexico and California and parts of Colorado, Utah and Nevada to the United States. In exchange, the United States agreed to pay $15 million for damage caused to Mexican property during the war and agreed to protect the civil rights of Mexican nationals living within its borders.

If you would like to read more about the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and view some copies of the manuscripts, visit the Library of Congress’ online collection.

First page of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

From the Nicholas Philip Trist Papers, 1795-1873,  Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

The Elusive Section Symbol

Ah, the elusive section symbol. Whether you’re a litigator who uses it in case captions or you do transactional work and often cite to statutory law, this symbol is a mainstay of your legal writing. But you may notice it’s not standard on your QWERTY keyboard. Here are two methods for getting the section symbol where it needs to go when using Word.

Method 1 – The quick way

The fastest method to insert a section symbol is to use the default hotkey sequence.

  • Step 1: place the cursor where you want to insert the symbol.
  • Step 2: press and hold the “Alt” key.
  • Step 3: press and release the “2” key in the number pad.
  • Step 4: press and release the “1” key in the number pad.

A section symbol should now appear where you placed the cursor and you can release the “Alt” key. From here, you can copy and paste or simply follow the steps above to place the symbol where you need it.

Method 2 – The slow way

Why would you want to go the slow way? Well, this is the way to insert any available symbol into a Word document and to discover new hotkeys…so…there’s that…

  • Step 1: place the cursor where you want to insert the symbol.
  • Step 2: click the “Insert” tab (note: this should be at the top of the window depending on your version of Word).
  • Step 3: click the “Symbol” option and select “More Symbols.”
  • Step 4: scroll to find the section symbol (hint: it’s usually near the top) and click it.

Tip: when you select a symbol, a “Shortcut key” appears near the bottom of the window. If you press and hold the “Alt” button and then type the sequence of numbers appearing in the “Shortcut key” section using the number pad, you can insert the corresponding symbol into your Word document. While it would be silly to memorize them all, you may find it useful to remember the shortcut for commonly-used symbols.

  • Step 5: click the “Insert” button in the symbol window. 

Latest and Greatest - The Cybersleuth's Guide to the Internet

The Cybersleuth’s Guide to the Internet

Carole A. Levitt & Mark E. Rosch

Internet for Lawyers

KFT 242 .A1 L478 2015

Do you feel you need the investigative skills of Sherlock Holmes to find free legal resources and information on the Web? If so, then The Cybersleuth’s Guide to the Internet by Carole A. Levitt and Mark E. Rosch is just the book for you. From the mechanics of Web searching for “newbies” to sophisticated search techniques for more savvy Web users, this book will help you locate public records, assets, vital records, criminal records, and older versions of Web pages. The authors also explain the importance and ethical concerns of searching social network sites, a practice that is becoming more common, especially in family law matters. Other sites for investigative and legal research include: search engines, court dockets, telephone directories, political campaign contribution sites, and case law databases. For those of you willing (and able) to spend the money, there are some pay investigative research databases the authors discuss and recommend.

Happy sleuthing!

Tools for Calculating Child Support

Determining the amount of child support in a divorce decree or modification order can be complicated. For assistance, try these resources:

Monthly Child Support Calculator from the Texas Attorney General

This structured form from Texas’s top attorney is a convenient guide to calculating the monthly obligation. However, per the footnote, it cannot be used by those whose “monthly net resources exceed $8,550.”

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/cs/calculator/

Interactive Child Support Calculator from TexasLawHelp.org

This interactive form walks you through the process of calculating the child support obligation with interview questions and delivers a printable document showing the statutory calculation at the end. Although more time consuming at 15-20 minutes, it is very useful for self-represented litigants and others not familiar with the calculation process.

http://texaslawhelp.org/resource/texaslawhelp-child-support-calculator

Always Check the Statute

Ultimately, the tools listed above are useful, but the statute is controlling. Visit the Texas state legislature’s website for the current law concerning child support obligations.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/FA/htm/FA.154.htm#154.00

Latest and Greatest - How to Manage Your Law Office

How to Manage Your Law Office

Mary Ann Altman & Robert I. Weil

Matthew Bender

KF 318 .A758

As part of Law Practice Management Month, the Harris County Law Library has been offering tips and recommending resources to help solo and small-firm lawyers better manage their practice. Another resource that we have here at the library is How to Manage Your Law Office. Whether you are a solo practitioner, a lawyer in a corporate law department, or an attorney in a governmental law office, this two-volume set is an indispensable tool in opening your office and keeping it running smoothly.

After discussing the organizational structure of the various types of law offices, the authors dive into the issues that affect the day-to-day management of the firm, such as legal fees, accounting basics, the roles of nonlawyer staff members, law office technology, and related ethical considerations and risks. The remainder of the book is devoted to strategic planning and marketing, the hiring of new associates and support staff, and law office design, all matters that can shape the success of your law practice.