I returned the massive statute book for Corporate law. I thought, “It’s online. I’m never carrying that book anywhere…so why waste $30?”
Well, after I got my $30 back, I realized that I don’t know how to find any of the statutes online. Great.
After some tech support time I figured out how to pull up DGCL (Delaware General Corporation Law) and RMBCA (Revised Model Business Corporation Act) on Westlaw: Continue reading “FYI – for those in corporations” »
A Minnesota Court of Appeals has cited a youtube video in an unpublished opinion.
The case is about a 14-year-old gymnast who tried this:
The girl (of course) landed on her head, was injured, and sued.
Now, it’s hard to explain the complicated vault, so this is what the court did:
Goetz began participating in gymnastics programs when she was five or six years old, and it appears from the record that she is a fairly skilled gymnast. She attempted the difficult Tsukahara vault for the first time in the autumn of 2001. When performing a Tsukahara vault, a gymnast runs along a long mat, jumps off a springboard, does a half twist, pushes off a pommel horse with her hands while upside down, does one and a half flips, and lands on her feet facing the horse.1
[....]
1 The school district cited a video of Mitsuo Tsukahara performing his namesake vault at the 1976 Olympics. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TmYqSOYZr0 (last visited Dec. 16, 2008). Goetz did not object to the citation. We found the video to be helpful.
I think this is brilliant. It would be terribly convenient for courts to create a youtube channel that contains videos of pertinent material, including depositions (instead of transcribing them in opinions)…
…heck, or even Westlaw – “Defendant robbed a bank…see the video here.”
… “Defendant cussed out judge and was thrown in jail for contempt of court…see video here.”
Sure, it might put TruTV out of business, but I still think it’s the business.
LexisNexis is pretty much a big deal.*
Lexis has a very liberal point system. You get points for researching, tutorials, and 400 points-a-pop for those goofy searches that the Lexis rep emails.
Lexis will give you a $5 Starbucks gift card for 400 points, and a $10 gift card for 715 points.
I’ve received five $10 gift cards so far.
That’s right. $50 in coffee. Thank you mam.
Today I’m studying for my contracts final at Starbucks, courtesy of Lexis. I hand the gift card to the chipper Barista and she asks, “Haveya registered your card yet?”
Me: (mumbling) “no… I haven’t… it’s only for $10 so…”
Barista: “Well! If ya register it you get free refills dontcha know! That’ll be 54 cents, oh, wait! Someone registered it for you. Your refills are free! Here-ya-go dontcha know!”
Holler Lexis. Holler.
Despite Lexis’s bribes, I still do most of my research on Westlaw because I’ve learned Westlaw’s shorthand for restatements… for example, “Rest 2d Contr 90” will pull up “Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 90: Promise Reasonably Inducing Action Or Forbearance.” I’m sure Lexis has a similar shorthand… I just haven’t bothered to learn it yet.
Westlaw also has a point system, but doesn’t offer gift cards. And uh, everything I’ve seen on Westlaw Rewards costs about 10,000 more points than I have. Maybe I’ll get a highlighter someday…
* No, I’m not a student rep, nor am I being paid for this.
Update **********
Apparently the coffee is so delicious that I feel the need to pour it all over myself. Wee! ITS SO WARM! (but not scalding) I’m not getting up for a while…
Update #2 **********
The fun continues on facebook…
