Recent Blog Posts

This Year's Orientation Book: "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Thursday, August 24, 2017 - 9:45pm

Author: 

Anne Rajotte , Reference Librarian, UConn Law

This year, all incoming students read Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, a memoir recounting the author’s legal career representing death row inmates, juveniles sentenced to life imprisonment, people with mental illness, and others. In telling the stories of individuals’ interactions with the criminal justice system, Stevenson exposes the ongoing problems of racism, inadequate legal representation, and mass incarceration.

Stevenson’s recent project is creating the country’s first memorial to the victims of lynching, to be constructed in Montgomery, Alabama. His organization, the Equal Justice Initiative, has spent years researching reports of lynchings, and have been able to document over 4,000 between 1877 and 1950. He connects the current racial disparities in capital punishment with lynchings that occurred into the twentieth century. He is not alone in this view; a recent book, Courting Death: the Supreme Court and Capital Punishment (available in the library), makes the same connection.

Under Construction: A Brief History of Construction Law in the U.S.

Friday, June 23, 2017 - 12:00pm

Author: 

Justin Rogowski , Access Services Assistant, UConn Law

In conjunction with this summer’s construction of the Law School’s Campus Center within the library, we thought it appropriate to continue the theme with a display on Construction Law and its history.

A combination of contract law, commercial law, employment law, and tort, Construction Law is a branch of law that deals with matters relating to building, construction, engineering, and related fields. While the field was not officially recognized as an individual area of legal practice until the 1970s, Construction Law’s origins can be traced to the dawn of civilization. The earliest known written laws concerning construction trace back to Hammurabi’s Code, which dictates punitive measures towards builders whose actions cause damages to others. [1] Examples include:

229 “If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.”

233 “If a builder builds a house for someone, even though he has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from his own means.”

Staff Spotlight - Josh LaPorte

Wednesday, June 14, 2017 - 9:45am

Author: 

Rebecca Bearden , Technical Services Librarian, UConn Law
Joshua LaPorte , Circulation Desk Supervisor / Library Assistant, UConn Law

Josh LaPorte is the Circulation Supervisor for Access Services in the law library. He started working at the Law Library part-time in 2005, and became a full-time employee in 2006. His duties include managing the library’s circulation desk, supervising Access Services student staff, managing the stacks, and taking care of lots of other odds and ends for the library and law school.

How does your work fit into the core functions of the library/law school?

Our circulation desk also serves as an information/reception desk for the entire Law School campus. We are often the first point of contact for people visiting the campus, and need to keep ourselves aware of everything that happens at the Law School. We also serve as an important resource for members of the public who find themselves facing legal problems.

Using Library Resources Over the Summer

Thursday, May 18, 2017 - 9:30am

Author: 

Anne Rajotte , Reference Librarian, UConn Law

Finals are wrapping up and the weather is finally warming up – summer is here. No matter what you are doing this summer, the library is here to help you.

We have shortened hours, but are still available by phone, email, or chat to answer research questions.

We also have online research guides if you don’t know where to begin with your research project. They cover a variety of subjects, including free and low cost resources, Connecticut law, legislative histories, lists of major treatises, and many more. Keep reading for information about access to Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg, and other electronic resources:

10 Blogs Law Students Should Follow

Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 10:00am

Author: 

Elena Fernandez , Access Services Assistant, UConn Law

The best advice often comes from those that have been in our shoes at one point or another. Part of what makes blogs so incredibly informative is the fact that they are written by average, everyday people that just want to share their experiences with others. There are a number of Law Blogs (or “Blawgs”) that range from informative to humorous and sometimes even both. Here’s a list of 10 Blawgs that are definitely worth checking out.

  1. SCOTUS Blog – This blog covers topics about the Supreme Court in an unbiased manner.

  2. Legal Underground – Even though this blog is no longer being updated, it still has thousands of posts archived, some written by law students and others by practicing lawyers in the field.