Articles Posted in Lawyers and Law Librarians, News Humor Etc.

Feedspot has recently updated their listing of 50 Best Law Librarian blogs and websites (updated January 18, 2024). According to Feedspot, the law librarian blogs and websites included in this listing were selected “from thousands of blogs on the web and are ranked by traffic, social media followers and freshness”.

The Criminal Law Library Blog is proud to have been included in this list. As publisher, I  would like to take this opportunity to thank all who have contributed articles to this blog throughout  the years (since 2007) and especially Justia for their continuing support.

 

The current edition of Sci Tech e-Merging News published by the Science and Technology Section of the American Bar Association,  contains announcements of upcoming events and updated research discussing issues of special interest to both members of the legal profession and others outside the legal profession who face similar concerns. These events include the following:

Open-Source Software Security: Areas of Long-Term Focus and Prioritization

Thursday, January 18, 2024 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET

Following the release to the public of Chat GPT by Open AI on November 30, 2022, there has been much discussion, both pro and con, about the future impact of AI on humanity. I have written the following poem, to both inject some comic relief into the present discourse and to illustrate through poetry how a future robot endowed with artificial intelligence might interact with local human towns people in a humorous and friendly manner.

AN AI ROBOT COMES TO TOWN

In a town alive with human chatter,

“Google launched its most ambitious AI model called Gemini on Wednesday [December 6, 2023], which is described as Google’s “largest and most capable AI model.” The company announced a “Gemini era” where the model will be used widely in companies and consumer devices like Google Pixel phones. Unlike existing AI models that focus on one type of input like text or images, Gemini is “multimodal” and can accept different types of media like text, images, audio and video as inputs. Google’s AI chatbot Bard has been upgraded with Gemini, and Google plans to add Gemini to widely used products like Search, Chrome and its cloud services”

Benzinga News, December 7,

INTRODUCTION

In a previous posting on this blog, Reflections of a Retired Law Librarian: From Mimeograph to Generative AI, I urged professional organizations, including the American Bar Association (ABA) and the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), to appoint committees or commissions at the highest level to  facilitate the development and implementation of standards sufficient to address the real ethical and safety concerns related  to the increasingly rapid adaption of AI, including  Generative AI, as a technology of choice in the workplace.

It is gratifying to learn from recent announcements from the American Bar Association that it has already been taking steps to address the legal challenges of Ai faced by the legal community. As Mary L. Smith, President of the American Bar Association, has said: “As a national voice for the legal profession, the ABA must play a  leadership role in helping to identify for the legal community the benefits and risks of continually changing AI and machine learning systems and capabilities.”

Measures already taken by ABA include Resolution 112 adopted in August, 2019, Resolution 604 adopted in February, 2023, various articles and podcasts published by its various Sections, including the ABA Business Law Section and the Sci Tech Lawyer published by the ABA Science and Technology Section.

Being a retired law librarian of a certain age, I am now often asked to reflect upon my 50 years serving in various capacities as a law librarian. I have noticed that most questions asked can be grouped into discrete categories. For example, people want to know what lessons I have learned along the way as a law librarian, what I found most rewarding being a law librarian, what changes in law librarianship I have observed since I started approximately 50 years ago, and who have been my mentors or people who have greatly influenced me along the way. In this posting, I offer responses to these questions based on my current views.

What are some of the lessons you have learned as a professional in your field and in life?

I have come to appreciate the importance of understanding that change as it relates to all aspects of work and life is constant. And in order to be truly successful and to avoid stagnation, we must learn to become highly adaptable and flexible. Of utmost importance is the need to maintain enduring and useful connections with others.

We recently received an announcement from the American Bar Association regarding a collaborative effort to mobilize  lawyers to work with and assist poll workers during  the upcoming 2022 election. The ABA announcement reads in part:

”  The American Bar Association is collaborating with the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) and the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) to once again issue a call aimed at mobilizing lawyers to assist as poll workers for the upcoming 2022 election. The Poll Worker, Esq. Initiative encourages lawyers, law students and other legal professionals to assist in upcoming elections by serving as poll workers… ”

Reading this announcement prompted us to search  for some other examples of lawyers organizing, assisting and advising poll workers involved in the upcoming midterm elections. On a more general level we have also identified sources which should provide lawyers and others with useful information related to working at the polls.

March 27, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ — Marquis Who’s Who, the world’s premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present David Badertscher with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Mr. Badertscher celebrates many years’ experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who’s Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

As a historian, former educator and retired principal law librarian for the New York Supreme Court Library, Mr. Badertscher understands the importance of keeping accurate and detailed records. Whether cataloguing materials or conducting research, he maintained a commitment to professional excellence that lasted the duration of his career. After earning a Bachelor of Science from Indiana State University in 1957, he went on to teach at Rockville High School in Indiana, Medinah Elementary School in Illinois and Beachwood High School in Ohio. He then began working in the Chicago Public Library system before becoming an assistant reference and circulation librarian at the University of Chicago Law School, where he laid the groundwork for the next portion of his professional life. He also obtained a MS from Indiana State University in Social Science and later an MALS in library and information science from Rosary College, now Dominican University.

In 1973, Mr. Badertscher left the Midwest for Washington, DC, where he served as Executive Law Librarian of Georgetown University Law Center until 1978. He briefly served as library director for the firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP before becoming a Principal Law Librarian of the State of New York Unified Court System a position he held from 1980 until 2012. While there, he also taught at Baruch College and for ten years was a member of the Board of Trustees of the New York Metropolitan Reference and Research Library Agency, now the Metropolitan New York Library Council where he served as chairman of the Board Personnel Committee. It was during his time working with the court system that he helped to introduce computer-assisted legal research in the trial courts, implemented a new method for handling transcripts, and developed blogging research services for the courts. These contributions, in addition to the experience he gained alongside a number of high-caliber professionals at the University of Chicago, have been the highlights of Mr. Badertscher’s impressive career.

Judge Wesley E. Brown, is a spry, active 103 year old Federal District Court judge in Kansas. He still hears a full complement of criminal cases, but warns lawyers preparing for lengthly court cases that “he may not live to see cases to completion….” adding “At this age I’m not even buying green bananas.”

For more, see the September 16 New York times article: At 103, a Judge Has One Caveat, No Lengthly Trials by A. G. Sulzberger
For more information about Judge Brown go to Wesley E. Brown Inn of Court. This source includes both biographical information and a videw, made when Judge Brown was just 22 years old!

In an earlier posting on November 5 , 2009 we reported that on November 3, 1909 the criminal court building in Manhattan (bounded by Centre, Lafayette, Franklin, and White Streets) was declared unsafe for human occupancy and everyone in the building at the time was ordered to leave immediately. When the last man was out a squad of thirty policemen took charge of the building, roping it off on all sides and remaining on guard outside the building to forbid anyone to enter or even pass through any of the flanking streets”.

On March 2, 2010 for very different reasons the present criminal court building in Manhattan was evacuated due to smoke and water damage caused by an electrical fire in the basement.. When the last people were out, policemen, firemen and court officers took charge of the building and for a time did not permit anyone to enter the building except for business related to coping with the emergency situation..

As noted earlier there were many differences in the two events. By most accounts the old criminal courts building was in very poor condition by 1909. The present Criminal Courts buiilding is perfectly safe and in good condition with lingering smoke and other residual damage from the fire causing the building to remain closed until March 8.

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