PLI is exhibiting at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting, which takes place in New York from today through Sunday. Make sure to stop by our booth, #201, to see our new Discover PLUS app and get a fun, app-related giveaway! Never seen Discover PLUS, our online research database? Not to worry! We’ll be available for demos.
We look forward to seeing you there!
PLI was pleased to exhibit at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting. This year’s meeting was in Washington, DC, where attendees and exhibitors alike enjoyed weather that was downright balmy compared to the blizzard that raged during the conference last year. Many thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth! We really enjoyed meeting everyone and hearing about your experiences with PLI and PLI Discover PLUS.
We raffled a Brookstone Pocket Projector and I’m pleased to announce that Professor Norman Garland of Southwestern Law School was the lucky winner. Congratulations, Professor Garland! We hope you find the mobile projector a welcome addition to your teaching tool bag.
Read on to learn more about Professor Garland, his thoughts on PLI and on the AALS Annual Meeting, and how he plans on using the pocket projector he won in the raffle:
Describe your role at Southwestern Law School. What do you teach?
I am a professor. I teach evidence, constitutional criminal procedure and sometimes trial advocacy and advanced criminal procedure (bail to jail). I am an avid user of technology in the classroom and out. One of my latest activities is to teach evidence as a blended (or hybrid) course, meaning partially on-line and based on flipping the classroom. I have done that 4 times and now am in the process of developing a similar class for constitutional criminal procedure.
What are your plans for the pocket projector?
All of our classrooms are equipped with the latest technological equipment, but I look forward to using the projector for travel, at meetings and conferences, and perhaps in tighter rooms in the law school. Other than that, personal use might include projecting films and such when travelling, especially in hotel rooms.
What did you think of this year’s AALS meeting? Please share one takeaway from the conference.
As usual, I did enjoy the AALS meeting this year. I love DC. I lived in DC for four years back in the day (1964-68). I have been attending AALS meetings since 1968 (having missed only a year or two here and there). This is the first time I have won anything from any of the booths, so that is a major highlight. Also, I was sitting in the hallway waiting for a friend after a session and Justice Scalia walked by. I did not recognize him quickly enough to greet him before he ambled by and, by then, his security team surrounded him so I would have not been able to approach him anyway. Unfortunately, I did not attend the session he was participating in, but I heard he was quite entertaining as usual.
Our latest edition of the Library Ledger is now available on the blog! Read up on PLI Discover PLUS news with this most current edition which provides you with updates on the new titles on Discover PLUS; utilizing your ‘Viewing History’ on Discover PLUS; search tips on locating archived titles; and a letter from PLI’s Library Relations Manager Katie Hut. Read all of our newsletters on the Library Ledger page.
On Monday, January 7, 2014, Practising Law Institute announced our lucky AALS 2014 Answer Book raffle winner, Professor Bill MacDonald of Whittier Law School. Read on to learn more about Professor MacDonald, his thoughts on PLI and on the AALS Annual Meeting, and how he plans on using the eighteen PLI Answer Books he won in the raffle.
Describe your role at Whittier Law School
I am Director of Academic Support. I work mostly with our first- and second-year law students to help them develop facility and confidence in the skills they need to perform well in their classes here. I teach workshops and classes and I meet with students one-on-one to address specific concerns. What I love about this job is the fact that so many students at so many stages of their development as lawyers recognize the value of taking a “big picture” view of their experiences here at Whittier Law, and come to my office seeking guidance and resources not just to help them understand the substantive law, but also to help them develop as learners and students.
Do you use PLI publications? If so, which ones? What do you use them for?
When I was a tax practitioner, I used PLI books on tax planning by Louis Freeman and accessed some of PLI’s online webcasts and learning content. I thought these were great resources.
What are your plans for the Answer Books?
This is my first year as Director of Academic Support, and while we have quite a few PLI books in our main law library, one of my goals is to enhance the holdings of our Academic Support Program library, which many students turn to, on their own or in consultation with me, to help them get a better handle on what they are studying. Your Answer Books are a perfect fit and I am delighted to be able to share them with my students.
What did you think of this year’s AALS meeting? Please share one takeaway from the conference.
I thought this year’s AALS meeting was quite worthwhile – stimulating, informative, and enjoyable. My biggest takeaway was that student services, law school administration, and substantive professors seem to be increasingly interested in working together to enhance law students’ experiences and opportunities from every angle – something that was very gratifying to observe, since that is the stance I’ve taken since arriving at Whittier Law, and it is one to which my colleagues here seem equally committed.
And finally, how did the snow storm affect your travel plans?
Fortunately, I traveled to NY by train from DC, and suffered no ill effects from the storm. In fact, as a native New Englander now living in Southern California, I considered it a blessing that I got to see a few inches of snow before I was forced to return to the endless summer of Surf City.
