The Ross-Blakley Law Library subscribes to two tax law databases that are specifically designed for tax attorneys to do their work.  A full overview of our tax law resources can be found in our Tax Law Libguide.

VitalLaw (Formerly CCH Cheetah) by Wolters Kluwer

History

VitalLaw is a tool used by law firms and in-house counsel focused on tax, accounting, and regulatory compliance.  The service (in recent history) started as Intelliconnect.  After years of providing this singular platform, Wolters Kluwer discovered that accountants (at the Big 3 like PWC and Deloitte) were using the service in a very different…
Continue Reading Database Spotlight: Tax Law-Specific Databases

The Ross-Blakley Law Library subscribes to many different resources that provide users with access to court dockets.  Westlaw has dockets available and Lexis provides CourtLink, but the most complete docket coverage is provided by Bloomberg Law.

Why Bloomberg?

Both Lexis and Westlaw academic account users are limited in the way that they can access docket information.  Law school users only have access to pleadings and filings that have been pulled into the system by other users. You may not request new documents.

That’s where Bloomberg Law (“BLaw”) comes in: as an ASU academic account user, you have the…
Continue Reading Using Bloomberg Law to Get Access to Dockets: Complaints, Pleadings, Orders, and More

Being a member of the Arizona State University community confers many benefits.  One of them is the vast quantity of paywalled databases and subscriptions you receive as part of your membership.

Whether you are doing historical research or simply looking to stay informed, here is a list of the many, phenomenal resources that are available with your ASURITE credentials.

Remember that nearly all of these services allow you to subscribe so that you can have topic-specific results delivered directly to your email inbox.  The law library has created a YouTube playlist to show you how to set up alerts on…
Continue Reading All the News You Can Read at ASU Law

You may have seen this logo when you logged into Supreme Court Insight or even when you’re doing interdisciplinary research on medical abstracts in MEDLINE. You will know you’re in a ProQuest database because you will see some variation of this at the top of the page:

Below I’m going to highlight some unique features that work across all ProQuest databases so that you can use them effectively, whether you’re researching American Indians and the American West, Sports Medicine, or Historical Black Newspapers.

The first tip is that some ProQuest databases are interoperable. For example, if you…
Continue Reading Database Spotlight: ProQuest Databases

Westlaw is providing an exciting update to your law school account on Wednesday, 01/11/23: Westlaw Precision.

Westlaw Precision is an update to Westlaw Edge.  Your account will automatically convert to this update and you do not need to do anything.  The update will include a new interface and new features.  The underlying content of the subscription (secondary sources, primary law, news) will remain the same.

Brief History of Updates

Westlaw’s research database has experienced several updates in the last 20 years:

• Westlaw
• Westlaw Next (2010)
• Westlaw Edge (2018)
• Westlaw Precision (2023)

With each update comes a new interface and…
Continue Reading Introducing Westlaw Precision to ASU Law

The basic curriculum of law school tends to stay out of the courtroom, with analysis of appellate opinions largely supplanting study of the day to day activities of trial courts. But what happens even at the trial level can have profound impacts on society, with famous criminal cases capturing the public imagination. Judges can also influence society for the worse, as countless examples throughout history prove. These two volumes lift the veil on legal processes and demonstrate law’s long lasting impact.

Advanced Introduction to Landmark Criminal Cases, George P. Fletcher, 2021

Trials give rise to hot debates about law…
Continue Reading Courtroom Drama: New Books Detail Famed Criminal Cases and “Bad” Decisions

It may take more than a polished cover letter and impressive resume to land the job of your dreams. Employers look at more than just grades—they are looking at the whole person including professional demeanor, communication skills, extracurriculars, and more.

How do prospective attorneys break through and demonstrate that they belong in the legal profession? West Academic provides numerous law employment aids that help demystify the hiring process and light the way to a successful interview and career.

The Ross-Blakley Law Library provides unlimited access to all of the titles, and our new chart helps job seekers identify the titles…
Continue Reading Legal Employment and Professional Development Guide Helps You Land Dream Job

The ASU Ross-Blakley Law Library is seeking a Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law 2L, 3L, or LLM student to provide faculty research assistance and reference services at the third floor library reference desk.

Rate of pay: $20/hourWork hours: Flexible; 4-15 hours per week (scheduled 9am-4pm, Monday-Thursday)Please apply online by 3:00pm on 10/10/22 using the instructions below:

Go to https://students.asu.edu/employment/searchClick on the “Search On-Campus Jobs” boxType 84423BR in the search bar and click “Search”Click on the job title link to open the job posting and follow the instructions to submit an applicationPlease reach out to Tara Mospan at [email protected]…
Continue Reading Library Reference Assistant – student position opening

The Ross-Blakley Law Library’s Criminal Law and International and Foreign Law research guides have a new criminal element: The International Criminal Law page. Both guides have been enhanced by this new addition that helps introduce and explain a very different form of criminal law.

The International Criminal Law page includes information on both international crimes, a list of specific offenses such as crimes against humanity and aggression that are prosecuted at the international level, and transnational crimes, which involve more generalized criminal activity that spans two or more countries’ boundaries.

The guide includes more than a dozen books published within…
Continue Reading International Criminal Law Research Guide Shines Searchlight on Regional and Global Prosecutions

We are highlighting two of the latest additions to the law library that both concern skills and strategies of legal advocacy. Both provide key information to budding attorneys that is not usually at the forefront of the law school curriculum.

The Fine Art of Trial Advocacy: A Young Lawyer’s Resource for Success, Paul Mark Sandler, 2021

This book helps make the arduous the lonely journey of developing the skills to make a persuasive argument in a courtroom more manageable, introducing key concepts with solid examples to help budding orators unleash their potential. Much of tapping into that future glory…
Continue Reading Brainy Strategies: New Library Books Help New Attorneys Plot Plans for Trial, Get into Heads of Opposing Parties

Have you ever noticed small bells, envelopes, or concentric semicircular lines when performing legal research? Those symbols can help you make sure that you’re up to date, and our library guide, Keeping Current, makes it even easier to navigate the many ways databases and websites help you track developments.

The law is not a static creature, quietly collecting dust like an ancient tome on a shelf. It’s a hyperdynamic beast constantly reinventing itself as judges rule, lawmakers legislate, and scholars publish.

The Keeping Current guide provides instructions, including video tutorials, on how to make sure the law is not…
Continue Reading Icons of Currency