On Monday July 15th 2013 at the 106th American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Annual Meeting & Conference, Practising Law Institute announced its lucky sweepstakes winner, Ruck DeMinico of Merlin Law Group.
Tell us a little about yourself, your work, and what a typical day looks like for you:
I started off my legal career as a trial attorney and litigated for the first dozen years, trying a couple hundred jury trials. I had always been interested in librarianship and decided to go back to get my degree and work at what I really enjoyed. I don’t know that there is a typical day – unless controlled chaos can be considered typical. Being a sole librarian for a firm with offices on both coasts and in seven states, research questions can come in on any jurisdiction and, as in any private firm, they are all considered rush/priority by the sender and can come at any time of the day or night. I also handle the traditional library functions, vendor relations, DMS/KM, edit and maintain the firm blogs, create handout materials and PowerPoints for presentations by firm attorneys at seminars, and along with the Managing Attorney and COO am a member of the firm’s Management team.
Have you kayaked before? Where will you take your Discover PLUS branded Kayak:
I have, in the Miami/Everglades area. I love canoeing and spend as much free time as I can on the rivers here in Florida. I’m looking forward to exploring the mangroves around Tampa Bay with the kayak and may take fishing back up now that I can maneuver in the mangroves.
What do you like most about your job as Knowledge Manager of Merlin Law Group:
The constant change in what I’m doing. Every day is different, with new challenges.
As an attorney and law librarian, what do you think are the most challenging issues/trends shaping the legal industry today?:
I would say ESI/e-discovery, especially for smaller cases that may still have large amounts of electronic data to provide – where the use of vendors may be cost prohibitive.
Are you familiar with Discover PLUS, PLI’s eBook library? Did you receive a demo at PLI’s booth at the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Conference in Seattle:
I did see the demo at AALL. I like the ‘all-inclusive’ business model, rather than having to choose which individual books to purchase or subscribe to.
Discover PLUS provides complete online access to PLI’s Course Handbooks, Treatises, Answer Books, Legal Forms and Program Transcripts.