On The Road with Legal Talk Network: Covering the Clio Cloud Conference 2016

The good folks at Legal Tak Network have rebranded their "Special Reports" series. The new venture is called On The Road. This collection of broadcasts brings you live recordings of interviews and stories from the latest conferences, bar meetings, trade shows, and industry events, including many related to legal tech. The fourth-annual Clio Cloud Conference, held earlier this month,  was one such event, and by all accounts, it was a big success. Through interviews with conference presenters and attendees, the folks at On the Road shared an inside look at the content, insights, and trends that are shaping the legal tech landscape. All fifteen of these broadcasts are available on the Legal Talk Network website. 

Latest & Greatest – The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment: Trials, Presentation of Evidence, and Confrontation

By Paul Marcus, Joelle Anne Moreno, Tommy E. Miller, and David K. Duncan

Published by the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section (2016)

KF 4558 .M37 2016

Recognizing that the Sixth Amendment encompasses more than just an accused’s right to counsel, the authors, hailing from diverse professional backgrounds, analyze the other protections offered by the Constitution to a criminal accused in their new book, The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment: Trials, Presentation of Evidence, and Confrontation. Divided into seven chapters, the book focuses upon the following rights: the right to a speedy trial, the right to a public trial, the right to a jury trial, the place of prosecution, the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusations, the Confrontation Clause, and the Compulsory Process Clause. After discussing the historical foundations of these rights, the authors delve into the essence of each entitlement and address the scope and application of the right, the waiver of such right, and recent developments surrounding that right.

Comprehensive and well-researched, The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment: Trials, Presentation of Evidence, and Confrontation provides the reader with a clear understanding of the intricacies of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Whether you are a seasoned criminal defense attorney or just someone who is interested in learning more about the Sixth Amendment, The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment: Trials, Presentation of Evidence, and Confrontation is a great resource. Look for it in the Criminal Section of the Harris County Law Library.

American Bar Association Announces the Center for Innovation

The ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services conducted a two-year study to investigate the current state of legal practice and access to justice in the the United States. The recently-published report based on their investigation made many recommendations for advancing the ABA's initiatives in the coming years. Improving the delivery of legal services and facilitating broader engagement with the justice system are chief among them. Establishing a Center for Innovation is an important step in achieving these goals. 

Announced just weeks ago, the Center for Innovation will be housed at ABA headquarters in Chicago. The Center's first initiative -- to assist with a court-annexed online dispute resolution pilot project in New York -- is already in the works. Other projects that foster innovation in the delivery of legal services or lower the barriers to justice for disadvantaged groups will be developed over time. More broadly, the Center will serve as a home base for original and inventive ideas about how to approach and expand access to legal services. It will also be a resource for ABA members, where a fellowship program will facilitate collaboration with professionals in other fields. These opportunities for cross-pollination with adjacent industries, such as technology, design, and entrepreneurship, will allow ABA members to break new ground in the delivery of, and access to, legal services.

The legal field is rapidly changing. Keeping current in the age of artificial intelligence, big data, and technology assisted review is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity. With the Center for Innovation, the American Bar Association is boldly embracing this moment, forging new ways of practicing law and delivering legal services. This kind of progressive and optimistic approach to more effectively meeting the needs of those who engage with the legal system is consistent with our philosophy at the Harris County Law Library where open and equal access to justice for all is our goal. Like the ABA, we see innovation and information as the keys to achieving this goal.

Celebrating Citizenship, Immigrants, and the Constitution

Today, September 16th, marks the beginning of National Welcoming Week when we as a nation honor the contributions of immigrants and refugees, and we highlight efforts across the country to build stronger, more welcoming communities. Throughout the week, the White House will feature the voices of courageous and resilient individuals who have entered the United States in search of new beginnings, a nice complement to Constituition and Citizenship Day, which is celebrated annually on September 17th. This national day of observance, when we commemorate the formation and signing of our United States Constitution (1787), and recognize those who have attained the status of American citizenship, is a nearly 65-year tradition. Visit The Law Library of Congress website to learn more.

Power Up at the Library

Today is Power Up Day at the Library. This initiative of the Texas Library Association was developed to raise the profile of libraries as vital technology hubs within communities.

Libraries are often thought of as repositories for books, but advances in technology and the explosion of digital content has transformed the traditional library from a purely analog institution to an innovative center of activity and services where people, ideas, and technology intersect. At the Harris County Law Library, we bring these facets together in number of ways. In general, we offer access to legal materials, in both print and digital formats; we instruct users in the selection of appropriate tools for their legal needs; we suggest strategies for locating and evaluating legal information; and we refer patrons to resources in the community when appropriate. These are the traditional roles of libraries and librarians, but performing them in fulfillment of our mission achieves, we hope, a greater good, namely, access to justice.

We recognize that navigating the legal system is difficult and daunting, and that barriers to both access and engage with the system are great, especially for those of modest means. We are committed to reducing these barriers and to facilitating the best use of our library in any way we can. Not only do we provide access to legal information resources, i.e., the substance of the law, we also guide our patrons in the use of those resources as a means to an important personal end. 

Any individual with a legal issue to resolve must learn how to access the materials in our collection and how to use them in the context of the legal system, but neither of these tasks can be accomplished without also knowing how to use technology. For many people, opportunities to use and feel comfortable with technology are limited, yet increasingly, digital literacy is a prerequisite to engaging with the legal system. Without some degree of tech proficiency, one challenge -- learning how to file a petition in civil court -- becomes two. This double deficit created by the digital divide and the justice gap is our focus. Providing basic technology skills training is one way to reduce it, and this is just one example of how we Power Up at the Harris County Law Library, bringing people, resources, and technology together to facilitate access to justice. It's what we do.