AALL Members are invited to join the Leadership Development Committee’s webinar entitled Anticipate as a Strategic Leader, on Thursday, May 28, 2015, at 11:00-11:45 am Central time. The webinar is presented without cost to members of AALL.
Guest speaker Franklin Shen, consultant with Decision Strategies International, will introduce participants to the six elements of strategic thinking, highlighting one of them: Anticipate: Focusing on the need for leaders to anticipate, be prepared for, and lead through change. Webinar participants will learn how to examine outside and inside forces and expand their own strategic thinking capability.
Moderated by Patrick Butler, Electronic Resources and Reference Librarian, University of Connecticut School of Law Library, this event is the precursor to the upcoming program entitled Thinking Ahead: Encouraging Strategic Thinking in the Library at the AALL Annual Meeting and Conference. Mark your calendar and join us for the webinar.
Register for Anticipate as a Strategic Leader at
http://www.aallnet.org/hc/Calendar/Events/Anticipate-as-a-Strategic-Leader.html
Registration deadline is May 25, 2015. Non-AALL Members can join the webinar for a fee of $60.00.
If you or your patrons use the Government Publishing Office’s Federal Digital System (FDsys), or if, as a law librarian, you care about permanent public access to digital government information (the law!), please read the message below and consider taking just a moment to send an email to your legislator via AALL’s Legislative Action Center. It’s easy to do and very important!
Continue reading 'Urgent: Legislative Branch Appropriations Markup Thursday! Please help fund GPO’s FDsys!'»
Last November, the Lane Powell library put on an evening showcase to highlight select electronic resources. Attorneys turned up for a wine and resource pairing, and learned new tools and search tips. Join us to learn how Philippe Cloutier and Laurel Evans developed and facilitated this event at their firm.
When: Wednesday, April 29th Noon – 1 pm
Where: Lane Powell, 1420 5th Ave #4200 Seattle, WA 98101 42nd Floor Conference room – behind the reception desk. Please have your ID with you.
Registration is now open for the AALL Government Relations Office next online advocacy training, “Progress Report: UELMA Advocacy in 2015 and Beyond” on May 13 at 12:00 pm ET. Register at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UELMAtraining.
This training is complimentary for AALL and chapter members.
“Progress Report: UELMA Advocacy in 2015 and Beyond”
Wednesday May 13, 2015
12:00 – 12:30 pm ET
Since its approval by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) in July 2011, the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (UELMA) has been introduced in 20 legislatures and become law in 12 states, thanks in large part to the dedicated advocacy of AALL members and chapters. Join AALL’s Government Relations Office as we assess progress made on UELMA and opportunities for the future. In this 30 minute presentation, we’ll cover both common advocacy challenges and strategies for success – from grabbing the attention of busy legislators and answering complex questions about technology and costs to identifying allies and building influential coalitions. You’ll learn more about the process of shepherding UELMA through the legislative process and identify opportunities for you to help enact UELMA in your state!
Registration is required and will close 24 hours in advance of the training. Participants will receive a confirmation email with link to the webinar software on May 12. Please email Elizabeth Holland at eholland@aall.org with any questions.
As part of National Library Week, the RIPS Teach-In Kit Committee is pleased to announce that the 2015 Teach-In Kit is now live. This year’s kit includes a number of legal research exercises, tutorials, and presentations on topics such as intellectual property, taxation, regulatory, and statutory research. The kit also includes a terms and connectors activity, a legal research handout geared toward visual learners, and an in-class exercise that pits indexes, keywords, and tables of contents against each other Thanks to all our contributors and to the members of our committee.
On May 27, 2015, LLOPS will be hosting AALL Executive Board Member, Donna Nixon from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Katherine R. Everett Law Library. Donna will be leading a discussion on the topic of training attorneys to perform legal research. Donna will lead a panel to discuss legal research training provided by law school vs. court librarians and law firm librarians. The meeting will be held at the William K. Nakamura US Courthouse. And, LLOPS will be providing free lunch (pizza and salads)!
We have two law firm librarians, Jessica King from Perkins Coie, and Sarah Andeen from Williams Kastner, who have agreed to sit on the panel.
We would love to have one or two court librarians join them. Please contact Brenna Louzin if you would like to join this panel.
The Public Law Library of King County is pleased to announce that Marc Lampson has joined the Public Law Library to serve as the library’s first Public Services Attorney. The newly created position is an innovative response to the ever growing phenomenon of people representing themselves in legal proceedings. Recent statistics from the King County Superior Court show that in 63% of general civil cases at least one party was not represented by a lawyer. In domestic or family law cases, the percentage climbed to 80%. In 91% of the landlord/tenant or eviction cases, only the landlord was represented by a lawyer. In 50% of family law cases, neither side was represented. This trend is typical throughout the United States, and law librarians have found that these unrepresented litigants frequently come to the law library for help.
As a result, a few law libraries in other states have developed self-help centers to provide their patrons with not only research assistance, but legal assistance as well. Similarly, Marc’s work at the law library will include both traditional library reference duties as well as providing limited legal assistance to those patrons who are representing themselves in legal proceedings in King County. His work will eventually entail establishing a self-help center in the library to provide direct legal assistance for patrons and to coordinate further legal assistance through referrals, clinics, workshops, and innovative online methods for the delivery of legal services.
Marc has long been involved in Washington’s access to justice community. He served as the director of the Unemployment Law Project for the past eight years and during that time served on many committees of the Access to Justice Board. He has previously worked as an attorney for the Washington Appellate Defender Association and the Institutions Project at Evergreen Legal Services. He received his Master of Library and Information Science degree, with a specialization in law librarianship, from the University of Washington’s Information School in 1999 and his law degree from Antioch School of Law in 1984.
The Washington State Bar Association seeks members of the public to serve on three boards and one council for terms beginning October 1, 2015. Serving on a WSBA board or council is an excellent opportunity to get an insider’s view on how the practice of law is regulated in Washington State. Applications are being accepted through May 1.
This year the WSBA will appoint (or, in some cases, recommend to the state Supreme Court) Community Representatives to the following boards:
The Character and Fitness Board deals with matters of character and fitness bearing on qualifications of applicants for admission to practice law in Washington. The Board conducts hearings on the admission of any applicant referred to it for hearing, considers petitions for reinstatement after disbarment, and makes recommendations to the Board of Governors and Supreme Court regarding admission and reinstatement. Hearings generally are held every month. Appointment is for a three-year term.
The Council on Public Defense addresses concerns about the quality of indigent defense services in Washington State. Appointment is for a two-year term.
The Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection Board compensates clients who have suffered a direct financial loss caused by the dishonest conduct of a lawyer in connection with the practice of law. The Fund is funded by an annual assessment of members of the WSBA by order of the Washington State Supreme Court. Appointment is for a three-year term.
The Limited License Legal Technician Board authorizes non-attorneys who meet certain educational requirements to advise and assist clients on specific areas of law. Licensing of LLLTs will begin soon. Appointment is for a three-year term.
If you would like to be considered for any of these openings, please complete the application by following the instructions posted here: http://tinyurl.com/WSBACommMem. Previous applicants should re-apply as applications expire after one year.
For further information about each board, contact the staff liaison listed on the web page linked to above. If you have questions about the application process, email barleaders@wsba.org or call Pam Inglesby at 206-727-8226.

Register Today for the 2015 Annual Meeting
Registration is open for the 108th Annual Meeting & Conference in Philadelphia. Join us July 18-21 for four full days of exciting learning opportunities, from the keynote address by Terry Gross to the dozens of “must-have” programs on timely topics that AALL members have identified as vital to their professional education. Check out all the sessions, and start making plans to join us.
Save the Date: AALL Business Skills Clinic to be Held October 16-17
Save the date for the AALL Business Skills Clinic, a two-day intensive experience designed to give you skills in strategic planning, managerial finance, human resources, negotiations, and marketing/communications. The program will be held October 16-17 at the Hyatt Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel in Chicago. Contact Katie Brown, Chair of the Business Skills Education Task Force or Celeste Smith, AALL’s director of education, for more information.

The session proposals are in and it looks like we’re going to have a great conference in Denver. We’re just missing one ingredient – YOU! Here’s two ways you can make CALIcon15 great:
1) Look at the proposed sessions and if you see something you like, vote for it! That helps us decide the final schedule. The voting link appears at the bottom of a session description next to the social media share button. Speaking of which, feel free to share your sessions on social media and hustle for votes. Please note: CALI cannot condone or endorse bribery.
2) Attend! The sessions are only a part of the value of CALIcon. Past attendees report that they enjoy the “HallwayCon” and interaction with other attendees almost as much as the sessions themselves. Besides, it’s silly to give a presentation to an empty room.
To register, please visit the CALIcon Registration page and follow the instructions. If you attended last year, you can use the same username/password that you used then. However, if you did not attend last year, you’ll need to create a new account, even if you have attended CALIcon in the past.