The Moot Court Board would like to wish good luck to the Sports Law Moot Court Team.  The team consists of Whitney True and Jennifer Ward and is being coached by Professor Anita Moorman.  The team will be traveling to New Orleans, LA, to compete at Tulane Law School.  Best of luck!

University of Louisville classes and offices are closed Tuesday, February 9.

When created correctly, an outline will become your primary, and possibly only, study aid for exams.  While law students create outlines in order to have an aid from which to study, it is through the process of creating an outline that you actually learn the law.  Because outlining is a process that continues throughout the semester, you need to begin now.  Why?  If you wait to work on your outlines until the end of the semester, it is unlikely that you will have enough time to complete them prior to exams.  Listen to your professors and to your colleagues that received A's and B's last semester - start your outlines early! 

Here are some things to keep in mind as you work on your outlines for each course.

• View your outline as your master document for studying.  Your notes and briefs go “on the shelf” once you have outlined a section.  Your casebook is no longer your focus for completed sections.
• Make sure your outline takes a “top down” approach.  The outline should encompass the overview of the course rather than “everything said or read” during the semester.  Main essentials include:  rules, definitions of elements, hypos of when the rule/element is met and not met, policy, arguments that can be used, and/or reasoning that courts use. 
• Cases are usually mere vehicles for information unless they are “big” cases.  Cases generally convey the main essentials that you need for your outline and are not the focus. 
• Condense before you outline.  If you include “everything said or read” in your outline, you will need to condense in stages to get to the main essentials that you actually need for the exam.  If you condense before you outline a section, you will save time later.
• Use visuals when possible.  If you learn visually, then avoid a thousand words when appropriate and use a diagram, table, flowchart, or other visual presentation for the same information. 
• Review your outline regularly.  You want to be learning your outline as well as writing it.  The world’s best outline will not help you if you do not have time to learn it before the exam.
• Condense your outline to one piece of paper as a checklist.  A checklist includes only the topics and sub-topics.  Use acronyms tied to funny stories to help you remember the checklist.  Write the checklist on scrap paper once the exam begins.  For an open-book exam, the checklist should start your outline.
  
  

Congratulations to the Saul Lefkowitz Trademark Moot Court Competition team for winning the South region on Saturday!  The team consists of Mari-Elise Gates, Marilyn Osborn, and Justin Capps and is coached by Adjunct Professor Jack Wheat.  A team consisting of Jessica Richards and Marty Pohl also faired very well.

The region included teams from Duke, Emory, Alabama, Houston, and Vanderbilt among others.  The win was Louisville Law's first ever trademark regional championship.  The team swept all the awards at the competition, taking best brief and best oral advocacy team.

The team now advances to the national finals in Washington, D.C., on March 20.  Arguments will take place at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr., Judge Denise Clayton, and Judge Joan A. “Toni” Stringer will speak at the next program in our Diversity Forum Series on Tuesday, February 9. Marque Carey will moderate the forum, which will focus on the benefits of diversity in the judiciary and what's being done to encourage diversity on the bench.

• Why did it make a difference that these women were on the bench?
• What were/are the obstacles for African American women on the Jefferson County bench?
• What has changed during their tenure?
• What lessons can they impart to students who aspire to a career on the bench?  

This forum will also address "Pipeline Programs", like the Central High School Law Magnet Program, and their effect on creating chances for interested "diverse" students to excel academically and eventually go on to law school.

Lunch will be provided for all attendees, beginning at 11:30 AM outside of room 275. The program will begin at 12 noon.

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and the University of Pennsylvania Law School's American Constitution Society student chapter is accepting student works for the fifth annual National Student Writing Competition for law students nationwide. The student authors of the top three papers will receive special recognition at the ACS National Convention in the summer of 2010 and a cash prize for their work. The winner will awarded $3,000. Each of the two runners-up will receive $1,000.

The American Constitution Society welcomes all papers furthering and promoting a progressive vision of the Constitution, law, and public policy. Entrants are encouraged to view this topic broadly, and we welcome submissions on a variety of substantive areas. Examples of possible topics include:

• access to the courts
• civil liberties
• consumer rights
• criminal justice
• disability rights
• freedom of speech
• GLBT rights
• human rights
• immigration
• labor law
• voting and the political process
• privacy
• protection of health, safety, and the environment
• racial equality
• religion
• separation of powers and federalism
• women's reproductive rights and reproductive freedom

Papers will be judged on the quality of their analysis and writing. The judging committee will include federal judges and leading academics. The top paper will also receive an offer of publication in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 19, 2010.

Student printing in the Law Library will not be available Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010.  Beginning Friday night, the I.T. staff will replace the hard drives in the server that manages student printing.  This process is expected to also take up all of Saturday.  The computer labs will be open as usual, and Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis printing will not be affected.

This weekend, Lauren Bean and Rexéna Napier will be competing in the National Animal Law Moot Court Competition at Harvard. Ebert Haegele will be competing in the Closing Argument Competition. Best of luck to the competitors!

The Student Bar Foundation is hosting its 13th Annual Charity Auction and Trivia Night on March 24. Tickets will be available in the Resource Center across from room 275 beginning Monday. The cost is $15 for students and $40 for everyone else.

Students interested in SBF Fellowships or interested in helping with the SBF Fundraiser need to attend the informational meeting on Monday, February 8th at 12:15 pm in room 071 or speak with either Jayci Roney or Samantha Thomas-Bush. Brownies and cupcakes will be served.

 

 

 

 

We are having a bar night this Friday, Febrary 5th at the Tequila Factory to raise money for Haiti Earthquake Relief

WHAT: Haiti Earthquake Relief Fundraiser at The Tequila Factory

WHEN: Friday, Feb. 5th from 10:30 pm- 4 am

WHERE: Tequila Factory- located at 917 Baxter Avenue, in the same block as Molly Malones and other Baxter Ave/Bardstown Rd. Bars

There is a $5.00 cover, which goes directly to the Haiti Earthquake Relief efforts lead by the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund! Also...if you stop by the Tequila Factory for dinner from 8 - 10 PM, 10% of your bill will be donated to the fundraiser!

For information about the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Please come join us for a night out on the town, whether you are just finishing block exams, rotations or just want to come out for a fun time that benefits a good cause!

For more information, please contact Meg Stewart.

The Tequila Factory will donate 10% of proceeds from dinner to this cause. Come out to celebrate the end of rotations/tests, or just come hang out while also supporting a great cause!