Author Archives: Library Relations

PLI’s ART LAW in the “Wall Street Journal”

Check out this nice mention of PLI’s treatise, Art Law, in the “Wall Street Journal” here.  According to the article, courts are increasingly tasked with the burden of defining artistic ownership and meaning, thanks in large part to the “remarkable escalation of the public’s interest in art”, which in turn has led to ever increaseing financial implications.  And, as we all know, where there’s money, there’s litigation.

Long considered the gold standard in legal and tax guidance for visual art professionals and their attorneys, Art Law is now even more valuable to anyone involved in this complex, interconnected industry.

Interested in learning more about art law? Contact PLI’s Library Relations team by calling 877-900-5291 or emailing libraryrelations@pli.edu for more information or to place an order.

PLI Cordially Invites You to Attend our Discovering Discover PLUS Breakfast at AALL this Year

Be among the first to learn about our new eBook library! We will provide a live demo of Discover PLUS at the breakfast.  What is Discover PLUS, you may ask?  It’s is PLI’s new eBook library compiled from our renowned authoritative treatises, answer books, course handbooks, program transcripts, and legal forms. The database also features new ways to manage your research and a customer feedback-driven user-interface.

Want to learn more? Join us for breakfast on Monday, July 23rd from 7:00 – 8:15 AM at the Sheraton.  Please email libraryrelations@pli.edu to let us know you want to attend and we’ll include the Sheraton room number in your confirmation.

We look forward to seeing you in Boston!

Course Handbooks Published in May 2012

Listed below are the PLI Course Handbooks that were published during the month of May 2012:

Corporate Law and Practice Series

Intellectual Property Series

Litigation and Administrative Practice Series

New York Practice Skills

If you have any questions or would like to order a title, please contact the Library Relations Help Desk at libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877-900-5291.

May 2012 Treatise Updates

In May 2012, the following PLI treatises were updated:

If you are on standing order for any of the above titles, these releases have already been shipped. If you would like to place an order, please write libraryrelations@pli.edu.

Interview with our 2011 Caption the Cartoon Contest Winner: Sherry VonBehren from Drake University Law Library

Last year, PLI asked you to caption a cartoon featuring a PLI treatise and be entered to win an iPad.  Ms. Sherry VonBehren of Drake University Law Library was our winner (click here to see her caption) and below, Sherry answers some questions about libraries, librarians, and how technology is changing our field.

 

Tell us a little about yourself:

I’ve been working at the Drake LawSchool Library since August of 1985. When I started, my daughters were nine and twelve years old (almost). Now the older daughter works in the financial industry and has a Masters degree from Drake while the other is a registered nurse.

I’ve done many jobs at the Law Library, from labeling new books, filing cards into the obsolete card catalog, and making thousands of pages of photocopies of court cases to using a computer program to interlibrary loan items around the country, providing legal material from our electronic databases, and preparing library displays on such varied topics as the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa, visits from Chief Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, and U.S. soldiers getting their wrongful WWII era convictions overturned just a few years ago.

What is a typical day like for you? :

First, I process the library’sinterlibrary loan and document delivery requests. I may need to put out anothercollection of “new books” or add recent faculty publications or student publications and awards to the large display cases.

I’m always developing new displays for the law library. The displays draw attention to library resources, give information on a law school subject, give tips on how to manage final exams stress, highlight law school lectures by visiting legal experts, law school symposiums, other law school activities, etc.

Why did you choose this career? :

I’ve loved libraries since I was achild. I had enjoyed my volunteer work at a public library and I liked the idea of doing the detailed work that keeps a library functioning. I had no idea of learning about legal resources when I started at the Law Library, it happened as my responsibilities changed over the years.

How do you feel technology has changed the field of law and/or librarianship? :

Technology has certainly changed how legal professionals do their research. Having legal resources available electronically has changed how fast legal sources can be found and has added tremendously to the number and variety of resources we can now access. Libraries must keep up with ever changing methods of finding answers to legal questions.

Helping law students, law faculty, attorneys and members of the public use electronic legal sources requires the skill to use electronic databases and especially the ability to advise patrons on how to conduct efficient, cost effective, and successful legal research.

What do you like most about your job? :

Most of all, I like being able to help people. I feel that providing the legal materials they need is an important job.

I also like developing informational displays. I’m very fortunate that I have a good amount of freedom to be creative and develop the displays in the manner I think will work to further the mission of the Law Library and the entire Law School.

How do you think the field of librarianship is changing? How is it staying the same? :

As ways of accessing legal materials have changed due to our use of computers, so have the options on how librarians must be able to connect with library users and the research skills they must learn. Those research skills must also be continually updated.

Librarianship is a helping profession. Most library workers are very service oriented. Our sincere desire to help people has stayed the same.

Do you use your iPad for anything work related, if so, for what? :

I have not used the iPad at work yet, but other people at the law school do use iPads at work and love them. Several people were quite excited about my winning the iPad.

Thank you again for such a wonderful gift. I was certainly surprised and excited to get it as well as very appreciative.

Wish you’d won an iPad?  You’re in luck! We’ll be having another caption the cartoon contest this year so stay tuned for the details on how to submit your caption via the website or stop by our booth at SLA (# 153) or AALL (# 323)!

Parts I and II of our CI Library One-Hour Briefings are Now Archived

Did you miss the PLI/LLAGNY library one-hour briefings on competitive intelligence?  Not to worry!  You can still hear Jennifer Alexander (Business Analysis Manager, McKenna Long & Aldridge   LLP) and Margaret Hennessey (Business Intelligence Analyst, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP) discuss CI and how law librarians can make inroads in this important and growing area by accessing the archived versions of the program here (Part 1) and here (Part II).

New Treatise! Corporate Political Activities Deskbook

Corporate Political Activities Deskbook provides a thorough grounding in the current state of the law on federal and state campaign finance, pay-to-play, lobbying, and gift compliance.  A practical manual for in-house attorneys advising corporations about involvement in the political process, this new deskbook draws on the extensive practice and regulatory experience of Skadden, Arps authors Ken Gross, Ki Hong and Lawrence Noble.

After describing the impact of the seminal 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizen’s United in expanding permitted corporate speech in the political realm, the Corporate Political Activities Deskbook walks the reader through the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) requirements in such areas as:

  • Permitted and prohibited corporate  activity in both the financial and in-kind areas
  • Who makes up the “restricted class” that may be approached for contributions to a corporate PAC
  • What federal dollar limits exist on financial and in-kind contributions to candidates
  • The difference between an “independent” and “coordinated” activity in support of a candidate
  • The specific FEC reporting requirements, including a line-by-line discussion of FEC Form 1, FEC Form 3L and others

Other chapters of the Corporate Political Activities Deskbook address federal lobbying and gift rules; the Foreign Agents Registration Act; and practice and appearances before the FEC.   An additional chapter addresses state campaign finance, lobbying, gift, placement agent rules and pay-to-play rules, including the national rules affecting those that do business with state or local government entities, such as MSRB Rule G-37 and SEC Rule 206(4)-5.

The deskbook appendices include helpful model documents, such as sample PAC bylaws, a PAC contribution card, and resolution establishing a PAC.  In addition, summary charts  of the 50 state contribution and lobbying laws are included. Rather than the extensive analytical approach of a treatise, the Corporate Political Activities Deskbook emphasizes the rules and provides practical examples of best practices and “do’s and don’ts.”  In many cases, the suggestions go beyond the black letter requirements to incorporate advice about practices that will help the reader utilize the available avenues of interacting with the government while avoiding negative press, public as well as legal regulatory attention.

If you have any questions or would like to order this title, please contact the Library Relations Help Desk at libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877-900-5291.

Congratulations Graduates!

New York in May means plenty of local schools hosting commencement ceremonies for their graduates.  And with graduations come graduation speeches.  Check out Brooklyn Law School’s list of commencement speakers for our area law schools.  PLI Library Relations congratulates all graduates.  Onward and upward!

Course Handbooks Published in April 2012

Listed below are the PLI Course Handbooks that were published during the month of April 2012:

Commercial Law and Practice Series

Corporate Law and Practice Series

Intellectual Property Series

Litigation and Administrative Practice Series

New York Practice Skills

Tax Law and Estate Planning

If you have any questions or would like to order a title, please contact the Library Relations Help Desk at libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877-900-5291.

April 2012 Treatise Updates

In April 2012, PLI published new editions of the following treatises:

In addition, the following PLI treatises were updated:

If you are on standing order for any of the above titles, these releases have already been shipped. If you would like to place an order, please write libraryrelations@pli.edu.