1L Advanced Westlaw & Lexis Training

The Advanced Westlaw training classes for 1L students will be the week of January 24 - 28, 2011 and the Advanced Lexis training classes will be the week of January 31 - February 4, 2011. Sign up online at each vendor's website (Lexis registration opens next week). You will need to bring your passwords and laptops to class. Each class is approximately 50 minutes long. Attendance will be taken and shared with your Lawyering Process professor.

These classes build on the skills that you learned last semester and will help make you a more efficient, cost effective online researcher. The Westminster Law Library subscribes to both Westlaw & Lexis and provides free access to law students throughout their time at the University of Denver. Knowing how to use both of these databases effectively not only saves you time in doing legal research, but it can make you more marketable as a law clerk.

If you miss these training sessions, please stop by the vendor tables outside of the Library on the second floor of the SCOL to make an individual appointment with a student rep. After your training, the student rep will notify your LP professor of your attendance.

CO Supreme Court - Oral Arguments,1/20/11

Colorado Supreme Court Oral Arguments
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 8:30am - 11:30am
Location: Room 165

The Sturm College of Law is honored to host the Colorado Supreme Court for oral arguments on two cases. The first case (09SA133: Burlington Ditch v. City of Englewood) will begin at 8:30am. The second (09SC615: People v. Hernandez) will begin at 10:30am. Both cases will be heard in room 165, with live streaming in room 155. Between cases, students will be able to ask questions of the attorneys. At the completion of the arguments, students will be able to talk with the Colorado Supreme Court Justices. The hearings are open to the public and Lot L will be accessible for parking.

Case briefs are in the Westminster Law Library and posted here:

Burlington Ditch v. Englewood

Burlington Ditch v. Englewood Brief

People v. Hernandez Opening Brief

E-Journal Finder

Looking for a specific law review or journal?

Instead of memorizing which titles are in which databases (Lexis and Westlaw do not have every law review!) use the library's E-journal Finder. You can browse by title for all law journals, or all journals, or search for a title. The results will show you which databases include that title and what years are included.

Some of the databases that include law journals are: LexisNexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline, LegalTrac, LexisNexis Academic, and Legal Periodicals Full Text. LexisNexis, Westlaw, and HeinOnline allow full-text searching. LegalTrac is an indexing service and does not contain the full-text of all the articles, so try a broader subject search to locate relevant articles, then use the e-journal finder and Westminster's catalog to find the issue containing the article.

Note: The E-journal Finder will not include titles that Westminster owns in print so you will also want to check the library catalog as well.

Law students also have access to online and print journals through DU's Penrose Library. So check out Penrose's E-journal Finder as well.

You've tried both Westminster and Penrose and neither library has access to the journal you need. Now what? Zimmerman's Research Guide on finding law review articles is a great place to start. Then, see if the article is posted online on the individual journal's website – try this list of U.S. Law Reviews from the Internet Legal research Group to save some Google searching. Also, UNC's e-journal finder is a browsable listing of U.S. and Foreign law related journals (select 'law' as the subject to get started). If you have a cite, use Washington and Lee's Journal Finder to find where that article may be available (in a paid database, free website, etc.). And, finally, don't forget Google Scholar.

Written by Andrew J. Tig Wartluft, Law Librarian Fellow

Elder Law

Interested in elder law? The University of Denver Sturm College of Law offers a plethora of resources for elder law issues. Additionally, the University of Denver Sturm College of Law Elder Law Society is committed to working with DU Law students to promote interest in and awareness of this vital area of law.

Elder law includes statutes, regulations and decisions that impact the lives of older Americans and their families. Elder law encompasses a wide variety of legal issues including some assistance benefits, taxation, conservatorship, access to the appropriate type of medical and personal care, and general estate planning. Estate planning can include wills, trusts, planning for incapacity with medical directives, advanced directives, nursing home care and even hospice and respite care. Elder law even covers some aspects of criminal law, including elder abuse, financial abuse of elders, fraud and other consumer protection issues, and nursing home abuse. Come visit the Westminster Law Library to uncover the elder law legal resources available to you.

Written by Diane Bauersfeld, Law Librarian Fellow

CO Government Research Guide

The Westminster Law Library is pleased to announce the release of a new online research guide on the Structure of Colorado Government. This research guide is part of a special series created for the public and Colorado librarians, so it has a different look and feel than our other guides created for law students and lawyers.

Interim Hours

The Westminster Law Library will have special hours over the week until classes start. Please be sure to check this site for any updates.

Thursday, 6-Jan
8:00 am to 6:00 pm

Friday, 7-Jan
8:00 am to 6:00 pm

Saturday, 8-Jan
8:00 am to 6:00 pm

Sunday, 9-Jan
8:00 am to 6:00 pm

Monday, 10-Jan
Resume Normal Hours

Reference Desk Hours
Monday, 3-Jan to Friday, 7-Jan 9am-6pm

Child Custody & Parenting Research Guide

The Westminster Law Library is pleased to announce the release of a new online research guide on Child Custody & Parenting. This guide is part of a special series of legal research guides designed for the public as part of the Colorado Law Project, so you will notice that it looks a little different than our other guides.