1

H A R VAR D LA W SC H O O L L I B R A R Y

LEGAL RESEARCH COMPETITION Put Your Research Skills to the Test

January 12th - 26th

1. You are Bluebooking a journal article on the impact of the sweltering heat on the founding fathers in

drafting the declaration of independence and are having trouble finding sources from the American colonial period.

a. List three ways you can get help from an HLS research librarian (for some

ideas: http://asklib.law.harvard.edu/). [3 points]

b. Identify a database where you could find historical newspapers from the colonial period . [2 points]

2. As part of preparation for a class-action lawsuit about lamps that prevent seasonal affective

disorder, your managing attorney mentions a 1916 decision from the First District Appellate Court of Illinois, which will be helpful in your research because it provides a definitive definition for the duration of winter.

a. Provide a citation to this case. [2 points]

b. What months does the court state constitute winter months?[2 points]

c. The court uses two bases of reasoning for this definition. Name them. [2 points]

d. Using the West Key Number assigned to the relevant Headnote in this case, find another

relevant case from a different state. Provide the key number and the citation to the second case. [2 points]

3. In order to ward off the winter chill in New England, you decide to take a trip to Australia! Use

WestlawNext to find a January 5, 2015 news article from the Cairns Post or an article from the Daily Telegraph. What is the scorching high temperature expected in Sydney by January 9th? Provide the WestlawNext citation for the article you found ( [year] WLNR [document number] ). [2 points]

2

4. You're working with a professor on an environmental law history project. She has asked you to find the earliest mentions of the terms global warming and climate change (in the environmental context) in law review articles. a. What source(s) might you use to search? [2 points]

b. Please give 1-2 citations to early articles with each term. [2 points]

c. Your professor also wants to look for local resources on the topic. What Massachusetts specific

sources are available on Lexis Advance for Environmental Law? [2 points]

5. Over the break, you’ve been working on your hobbies. You’ve been spending your spare time

developing a method to divert hurricanes away from populated areas. You start wondering whether

your idea might be patentable. You haven’t taken any intellectual property classes, so you’ll need to

do some background research.

a. You decide that you want to start with a quick summary of patent law. You used the book

Understanding Civil Procedure to study for exams. Does HLSL have anything from the

Understanding… series on patent law? If yes, where can you find it? [2 points]

b. A fellow weather control enthusiast remembers seeing a brief article from early 2014 about a

decision denying a patent for a method of controlling hurricanes. Your friend doesn’t remember

where she saw the article, but does remember that it was in a legal current awareness/news

source. Identify the article and the decision. [2 points]

Bonus: What movie is referenced in the article? Does HLSL own a copy? [2 points]

c. The patent in the case was denied for “lack of enablement.” You’d like to read a more in-depth

discussion of enablement. Identify a major online treatise on Patent Law. Copy and paste the

definition of enablement from the source. [2 points]

d. Search for patents. Identify the earliest issued US patent that you can find for a process or

device to control storms such as typhoons or hurricanes. [2 points]

6. You’ve been asked to find a pair of 19th century English cases: 1 F & F 162 and 1 F & F 165.

a. What do these citations stand for? What resource did you use to find this information? [2 points]

b. Have these cases been reprinted? Where? [2 points]

c. Find the cases. Name the parties and briefly describe the facts of the cases. [2 points]

d. Find a contemporary newspaper account of the underlying incident. [2 points]

3

7. You are a legal intern working for the Global Defense Council (GDC) in Washington, DC. Your boss,

Sydney Ellen Wade, has just struck a bargain with the President to help pass an energy bill requiring a 20 percent reduction of the emission of greenhouse gas over the next ten years. If the GDC can secure 24 Senate votes for the bill, the White House will deliver the remaining votes needed to pass the bill. Although your boss is good at thinking on her feet, she needs some background information about legislative and regulatory attempts to curb greenhouse gas emissions before she meets with Senate leadership.

a. Find two HLS Library Research Guides that would be helpful on this topic. [2 points]

b. Ms. Wade mentions that the EPA recently published a report about greenhouse gas emissions.

Provide a citation to this report including an internet link. [2 points]

c. Your colleagues are working on several proposed regulations currently open for public comment that deal with greenhouse gas emissions. Provide a citation to one such regulation. [2 points]

d. You know that the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works has a Subcommittee for Clean Air and Nuclear Safety. Provide a citation to a relevant hearing by that committee (recent or historical). [2 points]

e. Since this is a heavily-researched topic, Ms. Wade would also like to review any compiled legislative histories. Find a legislative history for the Clean Air Act (or any subsequent amendments) and provide a citation. [2 points]

f. Many states have enacted statutes to help reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions. Use the 50 State Statutory Surveys on WestlawNext to find a survey that addresses these issues. How many states currently have such laws? [2 points]

g. Ms. Wade wants to make sure she also has her federal bases covered. What Federal Statute addresses a Global Climate Change Program? [2 points]

8. You are looking for information about how modern governments act in response to issues related to

climate and energy. When you started this research, you came across this NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/world/europe/germanys-effort-at-clean-energy-proves-complex.html. Now you want to find out more about what is happening with this issue in Germany. Assume, for this exercise, that you don’t read German (even if you do).

a. Is there a special German name for the idea of changing energy sources from coal and nuclear to

renewable? If so, what is it, and what it its approximate English translation. [2 points]

b. Now that you know the German name for this, find two English-language articles, published in 2012 or later, that discuss any aspect of this issue. One article should come from a reputable news publication and the other from an academic journal that is not related to law. Write a one- to two-sentence summary of the main point of each article you find. [2 points]

4

c. Now, use Westlaw to find a law review article on this topic. Provide a summary of this article in 3-4 sentences (copying and pasting an abstract is fine if there is one). [2 points]

d. Search in HOLLIS+ for any English-language books or book chapters on this topic in any of the Harvard Libraries. List one of them below – include the title, the call number and location of the book, and a link to the HOLLIS+ record. [2 points]

e. What is the English-language name of Germany’s federal agency that deals with environmental issues? Provide the link to its English-language website. Who is Germany’s federal environment minister? [2 points]

Go to the English-language website of the agency referred to in part (e) above. Using the information there, answer the questions below.

f. Are any legal provisions listed in the section that discusses nuclear safety? What is the English-

language name of the German federal statute that regulates nuclear energy? When was it promulgated, and, according to the site, when was it last amended? What does it regulate, and how? What is the effect of the most recent amendment? [3 points]

g. In the area of the site that provides access to legislation, is there a statute related to renewable energy sources? When was it promulgated and, according to this site, when was it last amended? According to the language of the act, what are “renewable energy sources”? [3 points]

9. Using Bloomberg BNA Law Reports, identify the country that is considering providing credits to business and homeowners for surplus power generated by rooftop solar panels. How much money will the government raise for this venture? [2 points]

10. Is there a statutory provision in California that allows the state to borrow money to purchase electricity? If so, what is the statutory citation, when was the statute enacted, and what is the maximum amount of debt in dollars that is allowed? [3 points]

11. In 2009 an earthquake in the Abruzzo region of Italy caused over 300 deaths and over 1,000 injuries. In the aftermath, six scientists and a government official were tried for making statements that reassured the populace and, many argued, caused greater casualties when those who trusted thes e predictions did not evacuate. [Note: for these questions you may need to cite a combination of government and news sources].

a. What was the initial outcome of this case? [2 points]

b. Where was the case appealed? What is the website of the court that heard the appeals? [2 points]

c. Can the case be further appealed? [2 points]

5

12. Weather and other natural disasters can pose risks to companies in a wide variety of industries. As such, these companies must include risk factors warning their investors about these risks in certain of their filings with the SEC.

a. What are two resources that can be used to find such filings? [2 points]

b. What is an example of a company that has included such a risk factor in one of their filings? Provide a link to the filing. [2 points]

13. You own a two-family home in Cambridge. As you shovel your sidewalk and walkways, you start

chatting with your neighbors, who’ve owned the building next door for forty years. Your mention

your concern about keeping up with snow removal and making sure that no one slips on the snow

and ice on your property. Your neighbors tell you not to worry. Under the “Massachusetts rule” you

can’t be liable for someone slipping and falling if it’s the result of a natural accumulation of snow.

You’re not sure that this is correct, so you decide to look into it.

a. In Massachusetts, for purposes of determining the landlord’s liability when someone slips and

falls on ice or snow, is it important to determine whether or not the accumulation was natural?

Has this always been the rule? [2 points]

b. What is the leading modern case on this topic? [2 points]

c. Keycite /Shepardize/BCite the case and list all Massachusetts citing cases with negative

treatment of the case (yellow or red flags) [2 points]