UHLC Nota Bene

The O'Quinn Law Library collection now includes Taxation, Virtual Currency and Blockchain by Aleksandra Bal. Taxation, Virtual Currency and Blockchain is primarily a policy anaysis of the tax treatment of virtual currency transactions, but it also goes into some depth reviewing judicial decisions related to this topic.  Researchers looking for a bibliography of relevant cases and government papers might be interested in this book's review of the major publications addressing American and European law.  While primarity written for practitioners already familiar with the basic concepts, each chapter includes an introduction to the concepts that would make this book valuable to law students as well (even concepts like "income tax," not just concepts involving new technology). Taxation, Virtual Currency and Blockchain is is currently available on the New Books shelf at the far end of the law library reference desk.  This book's call number is K 4487.E43B35 2019...

Most of us think we know all there is to know about personal electronics. The brands and types of laptops, desktops, and tablets we prefer. But what if you are running your own small firm? I-pads for everyone? Are PCs still the best option? Should you find yourself in this position, the ABA’s Law Practice Division has you covered with their 2019 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guid e . This resource surprised me with its detailed specifications, complete product recommendations, and absolute price transparency. The chapters include everything from computers and operating systems to printers and smart phones, document management to cloud computing and everything in between. None of the chapters waste time with excessive theory and each gets directly to the most used systems as well as their pros and cons. They think through the average business life of hardware and the costs of updating software, allowing attorneys to budget their technology expenses over a period of years. ...

The ABA's Section of Family Law has recently published Electronic Evidence for Family Law Attorneys by Timothy J. Conlon and Anthony Hughes. This book, now available in the law library , begins with an introduction that discusses, among other things, what distinguishes family law from other areas of law with respect to electronic evidence. The chapter that covers integrating electronic evidence into one's practice focuses on several matters related to the attorney client relationship such as data security, e-mails, social media habits, and conducting a preliminary inventory of data assets. Deletion of electronic records, and gathering open source intelligence are also discussed. The authors also examine the preservation of webpages, text messages, e-mails, and social media and cloud services. The selection and the use of experts and obtaining access to electronic records are among the other topics explored.

The ABA's Cybersecurity Legal Task Force has recently published the second edition of The ABA Cybersecurity Handbook: A Resource for Attorneys, Law Firms, and Professionals . This book contains fifteen chapters, each authored by cyber legal experts and is co-edited by Jill D. Rhodes and Robert S. Litt . The authors cover cybersecurity risks, the legal obligations of attorneys to provide data security, and such obligations arising from ethics rules. There are chapters in Part III that discuss considerations for large firms, in-house, public interest, and government lawyers. Data practice training, creating a culture of awareness, and cyber insurance for firms are discussed in Part IV. The appendices contain selected statutes, regulations, and cases, lists of best practice guidelines issued by certain states and the federal government, lists of relevant cases, and relevant ethics opinions from the ABA and state bar associations, among other materials. This book is now available in ...

The ABA   has recently published Law Firm Cybersecurity by Daniel Garrie and Bill Spernow, which is now in the law library's collection ( KF318.G37 2017 ). This book begins with an overview of cybersecurity and the law firm, discussing issues such as law firm vulnerabilities to cyber breaches, ethical violations that could result, and the potential liability for clients because of the breaches. The second chapter provides "Ten Commandments of Cybersecurity" that law firms should implement immediately to prevent a cyber attack. There is a chapter that provides a detailed overview of cyber threats that exist and another chapter provides advice on password management, encryption, firewalls, and perimeter security control. Cryptography, the International Organization for Standardization 27000 series (which cover cybersecurity standards), and framework for improving critical cybersecurity infrastructure are among the other topics covered. 

The legal research company Casetext has announced that it has acquired $12 million in venture capital to expand on its CARA ("Case Analysis Research Assistant") AI software, a virtual research assistant currently capable of scanning a legal brief and retrieving cases relevant to but not cited in the brief. CARA is not alone in the world of legal AIs.  When it was created last year, it joined the ranks of AIs including ROSS , an IBM Watson-based legal research AI, DoNotPay , a website founded in 2015 to automate the preparation of parking ticket appeals, and an amateur AI judge capable of predicting European Court of Human Rights decisions with 79% accuracy.  

Perma.cc solves the problem of link rot for law schools, courts, and universities.  Link rot occurs when the hyperlinks cited in scholarly papers and court opinions no longer lead to the webpages they’re meant to reference. Perma.cc creates a permanent, archived version of a website and assigns a permanent URL to that version. The archived version of the cited content will then be permanently available—even if the website modifies, moves, or deletes the page’s originally cited content. Perma.cc was developed by the Harvard Library Innovation Lab, and its founding supporters included more than sixty law-school libraries, along with the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society, the Internet Archive, the Legal Information Preservation Alliance, and the Digital Public Library of America.   Here at the University of Houston Law Center, our law review and journals have been creating Perma links since the summer of 2016, and all are very satisfied with the user experienc...

Looking for a new way to stay up to date on emerging legal issues?  You might try the Talks on Law app, which provides access to video interviews with prominent attorneys and law professors, who discuss a variety of legal topics in an easy to understand format.  The app is the companion to the Talks on Law website , which provides access to 30 minute talks as well as short 5 minute briefs on topics such as bioethics, constitutional law, criminal law, and election law.  For instance, there are talks regarding abandoned DNA , government surveillance , regulating guns , and gerrymandering .  All of the talks are free for anyone to view, but for a fee you can also earn CLE credit for the videos (currently available in New York, California, Illinois, and Arizona). The app is free to download and available for iOS devices.  To learn more about the app, visit the app store or the Talks on Law website . 

The ABA's Solo, Small Firm, and Practice division has recently published, Technology Tips for Lawyers and Other Business Professionals by Jeffrey Allen and UHLC alumna, Ashley Hallene . The authors provide concise practical advice on a variety of technology topics useful to attorneys. The book covers matters related to hardware and equipment such as using a tablet in court and portable hard drives. Software topics as well as advice related to travel are also covered. Security and ethics issues such as password protection and encryption are discussed.  The Miscellaneous tips section focuses on topics such as blogging, Google search tips, storing data in the cloud, creating an inexpensive electronic signature, and electronic business cards. The library has just acquired this book and it can be found on the new titles shelf under the call number, KF320.A9A 429 2016 .

HeinOnline just announced that they have created a new app for Android devices.   This is in addition to the existing app they have for iOS devices.   The app allows users to download the PDF versions of the resources that HeinOnline has become known for such as law journal articles and federal legislative and administrative materials.   With the app, you can retrieve documents by citation, search the document collections by keyword, or browse collections to get the specific resources you need.   While both apps are free to download, please keep in mind that the HeinOnline content is only available to subscribers.   The law library provides a subscription to HeinOnline for UHLC students, faculty, and staff, and many other libraries provide it for their patrons as well.   For more information or to download the apps, see the Google Play website or the iTunes App Store website.  

Last week, Robert Ambrogi of the Law Sites blog noted that the number of startups providing legal services has grown dramatically over the last few years. Using data from Angel List, a site that tracks start-ups, he found that in 2014 the site listed 412 legal startups. Now, only two years later, that number has grown nearly threefold to 1094. Technology continues to have disruptive effects on numerous industries, and many have long seen the legal services market as one ripe for disruption.  The American Bar Association has taken notice of the rapid rise in non-traditional legal service providers, and may in the future seek to regulate these legal service providers and the services they may offer. A recent discussion paper produced by the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services asks for comment on whether the ABA should encourage states to develop new regulatory structures for these non-traditional (and currently unregulated) legal service providers. According to the r...

One of the hottest topics in legal information today is the use of data analytics, or harnessing large amounts of data to create assessments and make predictions. Legal research vendors are now offering their own, specialized tools that subscribers can use to take advantage of the copious amounts of data already present within the system’s databases. One of these vendors, Bloomberg Law, has introduced a feature they call  Law Firm Representation Analytics . This tool uses Bloomberg Law’s popular and expansive database of court dockets to show users the top law firms representing a particular company in federal litigation.  To use the tool, simply search for the company’s name using the “Go” bar at the upper-right hand side of any Bloomberg Law page.  Once the company’s name appears on the list of Suggested Companies, select it. The federal litigation analytics will display on the company’s page, along with other information about the company and its performance ...

Looking for information regarding Texas courts and judges?   Try the new app from Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP that provides contact information and more for Texas courts.   The app, Texas openCourts , provides information regarding both Texas state and federal courts.   It has phone numbers and addresses for the court as well as a map feature to help you get to each building.   In addition, it contains short biographical information regarding the judges such as employment history and education information.   For federal district court judges, it also links directly the local rules for each judge.   This app is free and available for iOS and Android devices.   For more information or to download the app, visit the iTunes App Store , Google Play , or Amazon .  

 These days more and more attorneys are using technology in the courtroom and some apps have been created to help them with organizing information and presenting it at trial.   The following apps have been created specifically to help attorneys with trial presentations: TrialDirector – This free app is currently available for the iPad.   Users can import PDF documents, images, and videos through Dropbox, iTunes, and other programs, markup and annotate documents, and present and annotate two exhibits side-by-side.   More features are available for those who subscribe to the desktop TrialDirector software.   ExhibitView – This iPad app costs $89.99 and allows users to import PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and image documents through iTunes or Dropbox.   Audio and video files are also supported.   You can also markup and annotate files as well as print documents. Those who subscribe to the PC version of ExhibitView can also create presentations on th...

 FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler recently announced that the agency will introduce a video access platform to allow speech- and hearing-impaired people to communicate with federal agencies using American Sign Language (ASL). Users will be able to download open source applications to their smartphones or computers that will allow video calling to agency representatives fluent in ASL. The beta version of the program will be introduced later this year, with a final release scheduled for spring of 2016. The open source accessibility platform will also allow other public institutions and private businesses to offer similar services in the future. To read more about the platform, see this announcement on the FCC website.  

Those who haven't purchased the new edition of Black's Law Dictionary may wish to consider using the mobile app version. The 10th edition of Black's Dictionary was released as an app in April and is available for Apple devices. The app provides, among other things, access to over 50,000 definitions, 1000 abbreviations and acronyms, and audio pronunciations for more than 7000 terms. The ability to track viewed definitions and  a "Did You Mean" tool (that assists the user in finding the correct term), are just of the new features that were not available on the 9th edition of the mobile app. The app is $54.99 and is available on the App store .  See iPhoneJD's review for more details.

Attorneys at Bracewell & Giuliani LLP have created an app providing helpful information on shale gas and hydraulic fracturing.   It aggregates news from a variety of news sources as well as energy law specific publications such as the Energy Law Blog and FuelFix.   Users can also select from approximately 50 countries to view news and a list of active oil and gas companies in that nation.   The app also provides an interactive map of the United States, showing the location of a number of shale plays as well as news from each state.   Finally, the app also provides a glossary of shale gas terms and a timeline showing the history of hydraulic fracturing. The app is free and available for both Apple and Android devices.    

Looking for a way to stay up to date on legal news and practice tips during your commute? Or maybe during your morning walk?   If so, you should check out the Legal Talk Network app, which provides access to podcasts of legal talk shows.   Currently the app has podcasts from over 20 different legal talk shows on variety of topics.   For instance, the popular Lawyer 2 Lawyer podcast discusses current legal news, the Kennedy-Mighell Report covers legal tech issues, New Solo provides resources for these types of attorneys, and ABA Journal: Modern Law Library features top legal authors.   With the app you can access recent episodes as well as the episode archives. This app is free to download and the podcasts are free as well.   Currently, it is available for both Apple and Android devices.   To learn more about the app and the Legal Talk Network, visit their website .