PLI’s team of library relations managers is available to answer any questions you may have about the electronic availability of titles on PLI PLUS, the online research database of PLI Press. Schedule a one-on-one session with a PLI librarian today!
Browse PLI Press now!
PLI’s team of library relations managers is available to answer any questions you may have about the electronic availability of titles on PLI PLUS, the online research database of PLI Press. Schedule a one-on-one session with a PLI librarian today!
As information professionals living in the information age, librarians are more vital than ever. We are proud to work with so many amazing librarians and knowledge workers to provide attorneys, students, and legal professionals access to expert-authored legal analysis and practice-oriented content.
“Amusing” is perhaps not the first word to come to mind when describing the content you find in a legal research database. But every once in a while, you’ll come across a chapter on PLI PLUS that causes pure delight. In honor of the theme of this year’s National Library Week — “There’s More to the Story” — we’ve scoured our database to present a handful of fun, offbeat, zany, or just plain fascinating tidbits from the depths of PLI PLUS.
Anyone who practices intellectual property law surely has heard of the monkey selfie and the infamous whiskey-branded dog chew toy. Equally endearing (and hilarious) are the descriptions of feline exercise in this chapter from 2020’s Patent Fundamentals Bootcamp course handbook:
Chapter 16. Examiner Interview Script for Method of Exercising a Cat
Snippet: This method recites method of inducing aerobic exercise in an unrestrained cat; and directing an intense coherent beam of laser light … in a vicinity of the cat. Redirecting the light to induce the cat to chase it. We are not inducing humans to chase the spot from the laser pointer.
For a dose of celebrity drama, check out this chapter from the 2016 course handbook Fundamentals of Taking and Defending Depositions, which features a transcript from a deposition in which Lady Gaga testifies against her ex-best friend/former assistant:
Chapter 5. S.J. Germanotta, Deposition Transcript, Case 1:11-cv-09128-PGG (January 30, 2013)
Snippet: Because she slept in Egyptian cotton sheets every night, in five-star hotels, on private planes, eating caviar, partying with Terry Richardson all night, wearing my clothes, asking YSL to send her free shoes without my permission, using my YSL discount without my permission.
In this lively transcript from last year’s Advertising Law Institute, you’ll find a hysterical sequel to a classic children’s book, in which the main character is all grown up and a lawyer:
The Advertising Lawyer and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Snippet: In high school and in college, he thought he was a real bad dude. And he started smoking and maybe hanging around with a rough crowd. But I have good news for you. He turned things around, and he eventually went to law school.
The artist Banksy makes an appearance alongside a succinct history of graffiti and a fascinating discussion of Street Art and the law in this chapter from the popular PLI treatise Art Law: The Guide for Collectors, Investors, Dealers & Artists (Fifth Edition):
Snippet: Although, from the 1960s on, a number of these artists of the street sought to initiate political change and enhance community awareness of particular issues through their art, the public largely viewed the early graffiti artists as vandals and few supported their work.
The treatise Trial Evidence Brought to Life: Illustrations from Famous Trials, Film and Fiction is chock full of pop culture. We’re particularly fond of the chapter that recalls Marissa Tomei’s superb performance as an expert witness in the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny:
Chapter 14. Expert Testimony and Lay Opinion Testimony
Snippet: Well, my father was a mechanic, his father was a mechanic, my mother’s father was a mechanic, my three brothers are mechanics, four uncles on my father’s side are mechanics.
Finally, as members of the law librarian community, this chapter from 1997’s Managing the Law Library course handbook is especially dear to our hearts. Some might call it outdated, but we see it as an amusing reminder of how far our profession has come in the last several decades. It also illustrates how librarians are always looking ahead — because there’s more to the story!
Chapter 3. THE CD DEBATE: WILL THEY BE PART OF THE FUTURE
Snippet: Will publishers replace CDs altogether by licensing contents on the Internet for access and downloading?
Happy National Library Week from our library team to yours. We are proud to work with so many amazing librarians and information professionals to provide attorneys, students, and legal professionals access to expert-authored legal analysis and practice-oriented content.
It’s our favorite time of the year—National Library Week! We use this week to celebrate libraries and the people who work in them. As the team of librarians behind PLI PLUS, we are enormously proud to be apart of this innovative profession and grateful to get to interact regularly with our brilliant and dedicated counterparts at law firms, law schools, courts, and other organizations.
In celebration of National Library Week, we’ve cleared our schedules and made ourselves available all week to answer any questions you may have about the electronic availability of titles on PLI PLUS, the online research database of PLI Press. Schedule a one-on-one session with a PLI librarian today!
Browse PLI Press.
It’s National Library Week, and we at PLI are especially proud to celebrate this year. Access to information is never more important than amid a global health crisis. Over the past several weeks, we’ve been in awe of the ways libraries of all types and sizes are rising to the meet the demands of this challenging period despite being forced to close physical locations. We are particularly impressed by those law librarians who—if our inboxes serve as indication—are hard at work managing resources and providing remote access during these uncertain times.