Wisconsin State Law Library

What's New – Connie Von Der Heide

WSLL Winter Holiday Open House

We cordially invite you to stop by the State Law Library Reading Room on Wednesday, Dec. 19th between 3:00 and 4:30 p.m. to enjoy some tasty treats and celebrate the season with us. Happy Holidays!

Thanks for Donating Toys for Tots

A big Thank You to everyone who brought new, unwrapped Toys for Tots to WSLL's donation box! This was our first time serving as a dropoff site, and we're pleased to report that it was a success.

WSLL Staff Attend Veterans Law Center Opening

Julie Tessmer, State Law Librarian and Legalman Senior Chief Petty Officer - U.S. Navy Reserve, & Pete Boll, Acquisitions Librarian and Lieutenant, Supply Corps - U.S. Navy Reserve, attended the November 8th opening of the new Dane County Veterans Law Center at the City-County Building in downtown Madison. The Center is a free walk-in clinic providing civil legal services to low-income veterans and their families. For more information about the clinic including locations and hours, see this Veterans Law Center webpage.

Librarians Speak Out

Julie Tessmer, State Law Librarian, and Connie Von Der Heide, Director of Reference & Outreach Services, attended the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference in Lake Geneva November 7-9. During a meeting of the 9th Judicial District, Connie presented information about State Law Library Services for judges and court staff and demonstrated online legal research tools available on and through the WSLL website. She was also available throughout the conference to answer questions and provide one-on-one demos of online legal research tools for the 325 attendees.

Web Services Librarian Carol Hassler's article, "Changing Your Domain Name in 25 Nail-Biting Steps," was published in the November issue of Computers in Libraries. Carol describes all the steps that were necessary to change the State Law Library's web domain name from wsll.state.wi.us to wilawlibrary.gov and provides advice and tips she learned by going through the process. Congratulations, Carol!

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This Just In… – Pete Boll

Updated! Sinclair on Federal Civil Practice, 5th edition, 2012 supplement, by Kent Sinclair.
Practicing Law Institute, 2012.
WSLL Call Number KF 8840 .S555

Recently updated for 2012, this concise two volume treatise on federal civil practice is designed to provide quick and authoritative answers to questions arising in federal civil litigation. The chapters are arranged in the same general order as trial events occur, beginning with the layout of the court system, followed by jurisdiction and venue principles, and then the sequence of litigation - from pleading to discovery, trial, and then appeal. A compendium of recent cases is also provided for each volume. Cases are organized by federal circuit to facilitate locating the controlling case for the issue at hand within a particular jurisdiction. The compendium along with the text sections provide speedy access to the rules and statutes that govern each stage and major issue in federal litigation, and to the case-law application of those principles in each geographical area of the country.

New Edition! Wisconsin Guide to Citation, 7th edition.
State Bar of Wisconsin, 2012.
WSLL Call Number KFW 2475 .W57 2012

Updated for the first time since the 2005 sixth edition, this guide is a practical resource showing the proper formats for citing primary and secondary authorities commonly referred to in documents submitted to Wisconsin courts and administrative agencies. New to this edition are sections discussing general rules of citation including an introduction to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, common issues related to case citation, generally applicable citation rules, and citation to electronic databases and other online sources.

See our latest New Titles list for a list of new books and other resources.

For assistance in accessing these or other resources, please contact our Reference Desk.

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WSLL Receives Unique Donation – Angela Humiston, Wisconsin Collections Librarian

The State Law Library recently received a unique gift of historical Wisconsin legal materials. Madison attorney Victor S.Wahl donated sixteen volumes of briefs and appendices that were collected and privately bound by his great-grandfather, attorney Charles T. (C.T.) Bundy. The briefs relate to several cases Bundy and his associates litigated from the 1890s through the 1920s.

Charles T. Bundy was born in Menomonie, WI in 1862, the son of Judge Egbert B. and Reubena (Macauley) Bundy. He moved to Eau Claire in 1894, and in 1897 he formed a law partnership with Thomas Frawley and Roy Wilcox. Following Frawley's death in 1902 the two remaining partners continued as the law firm of Bundy & Wilcox, which went on to become quite prominent. They litigated several notable cases including United States vs. Barber, 219 U.S. 72, 31 S. Ct. 209, 55 L. Ed. 99 (1911), Eau Claire National Bank vs. Jackman, 204 U.S. 522, 27 S.Ct. 391 (1907, which affirmed Jackman v. Eau Claire Nat. Bank, 125 Wis. 465, 104 N.W. 98, 115 Am.St.Rep. 955, Wis. Jun 23, 1905) and a number of Wisconsin water power cases including one that went on for several years, Eau Claire Dells Improvement Company v. City of Eau Claire, 172 Wis. 240, 179 N.W. 2 (1920).

We sincerely thank Attorney Wahl for generously donating these items from his great-grandfather's personal collection. If you or someone you know is in search of a good home for unique Wisconsin legal materials from the territorial period or early statehood, please keep the State Law Library in mind. Our toll free number is 800-322-9755.

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Click To It: Wisconsin Resources on LLMC Digital – Carol Hassler

LLMC Digital is a database available in our libraries that provides access to a wide range of historical and current legal materials. Developed through the digitization of materials loaned by members of the Law Library Microfiche Consortium, LLMC Digital provides a way to browse and search historical primary legal sources for Wisconsin, the United States, and other jurisdictions. The State Law Library is a LLMC member and has loaned a number of its materials for this database. At this time, LLMC Digital is only available from a public computer in the Wisconsin State Law Library, Milwaukee Legal Resource Center, or Dane County Legal Resource Center.

WI Court Opinions

The collection includes digitized volumes from Wisconsin Reports (1st series), Chandler's Reports, Burnett's Reports, and Pinney's Reports. Opinions can be found by browsing to the volume, keyword searching, or by using the citation search.

WI Laws

If you need to keyword search old session laws or statutes, LLMC Digital is a good tool to use. The database includes Wisconsin Session Laws from 1891 through 1986 and the 1878 Revised Statutes.

WI Attorney General Opinions

The State Law Library has a complete collection of Wisconsin Attorney General Opinions in print. However, without a citation it can be difficult to locate a pertinent opinion. Though LLMC Digital lacks a few volumes, many from 1902 through 1976 are available for searching or browsing. Also available are Attorney General Reports for selected years.

From the home page, use the menu on the left to browse to the collection you want to search. Select the plus sign to expand the U.S. States collection, and then the Wisconsin collection.

Clicking the "Search" link allows you to perform a full text search of that title. To browse through a list of available volumes, click on the link for the title instead.

Once you've arrived at the volume you need, use the Page Range tool to the left of the document viewer to designate a visible page range, or to move through the pages. The Page Range tool is also used to designate pages for printing.

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Tech Tip in Brief – Heidi Yelk

Using information from the Web? Know the jurisdiction!

Legal researchers are often scouring the web for information relevant to their needs. When researching a legal question, you may come across the perfect article, blog or government document that appears to answer your question, only to have your hopes dashed on discovering it's from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia or some other foreign jurisdiction.

Librarians continually advise researchers to "know your source." On the web, that includes reviewing the URL, or domain name, for hints as to where the information is coming from. There is now an easier way to very quickly discern a website's geographic location. It's an extension called FlagFox, and it works on the Firefox browser.

After installing Flagfox, you'll see a country flag within the address bar of the browser. As you browse, the flag changes to indicate the country in which the website's server is located. The location of the server, more often than not, will also be the location of the website owner. This will allow you to quickly identify whether the information on a particular website will be useful to your legal question, given the jurisdiction.

What if you're not familiar with the flag that displays? Hovering your mouse over it will provide the domain name, the IP address, and a confirmation of the server location. Having this information might also help you detect whether a website is part of a phishing scheme.

For more information on FlagFox, visit their website, flagfox.net. See also this helpful article from How-To-Geek: "Find Out a Website's Actual Location with Flagfox."

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WSLL Recommends: American Law of Products Liability 3d

This monthly column highlights a legal research tool, in print and/or electronic format, that is not freely available on the internet. We hope it will increase your knowledge of sources with which you might already be familiar and help to expand your legal research toolkit.

This month our highlight is the print set, American Law of Products Liability 3d. If you are working on a products liability case this 32 volume set has everything you need.

American Law of Products Liability is broken down into the following looseleaf binders:

Primary Source Documents with Federal and State Laws, Uniform laws and the UCC.

Practice Aids Binders with forms, checklists, pattern discovery and jury instructions.

Main treatise binders containing elements of products liability cases, negligence and warranty liability, design and manufacturing defects, defense and procedural directions, and damages and fees. There is also an in-depth analysis of types of cases including food, packaging, cleaning supplies, clothing, toys, machinery, and agriculture. Litigators will also appreciate the ability to find names of expert witnesses and attorneys involved in specific products liability cases.

Rounding out the set are the detailed Index, Table and Citator binders. The Citator is a treasure trove containing research references to Westlaw databases, digests, ALR articles, forms, law reviews, legal encyclopedias, other treatise and practice aids, and case law by jurisdiction. Please note these "finding tool" volumes do not circulate.

This set is updated four times a year with the next supplement scheduled to arrive in December. There is also a monthly newsletter with relevant products liability news and information. Check this set out the next time you are in the library!

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Book Review: Lawyers Who Shaped Dane County: A History of the Practice of Law in the Madison Area – Lisa M. Winkler, Librarian, Dane Co. Legal Resource Center

After years of historical research and recording of oral history interviews, in June 2012 the History & Memorials Committee of the Dane County Bar Association (DCBA) released the fruit of its labors, Lawyers Who Shaped Dane County: A History of the Practice of Law in the Madison Area. This 91-page illustrated book covers the practice of law in Dane County from the mid-19th century through the early 1980s.

In chapter 1, bursts of prose break up the 261 biographies of selected Dane County lawyers, which are listed alphabetically within the time periods 1840-1900, 1900 to World War II, and World War II to 1980s. Both well-recognized and lesser-known attorneys are listed, along with members of the judiciary at all levels of state and federal courts, and landmark events in the development of the court system. Many important and laudable accomplishments are recounted, and the reader can see the present-day effects of those feats.

After the dense, fact-laden content of chapter 1, the remaining chapters are significantly shorter and much faster reads. Chapter 2 recounts the evolution of several notable Dane County law firms from their starts as solo law practices in the 19th century into the sizeable organizations we know today. Chapter 3 explores the entry and recognition of women into the practice of law during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Chapter 4 digs into the roots and traditions of the University of Wisconsin Law School, and chapter 5 discusses the origins and development of the DCBA itself. The history of the practice of law would not be complete without a discussion of Dane County's courthouses. In chapter 6 the first three courthouse buildings are each remembered for both their function and failings – in particular see Attorney Milo Flaten's recollection, "The First Courthouse: Leaves and Hornets" – and the chapter ends with a brief mention of the current, fourth courthouse which opened in 2006.

Numerous archival photographs are woven throughout the book. Following chapter 2, the collection of historical DCBA photos from pre-Civil War to 1977 is a particularly special treat. An appendix of supplementary materials includes a bibliography of research and oral history resources; charts showing Martindale-Hubbell AV™ peer review ratings of Dane County attorneys for 1910-1945 and 1955-1985 (which aided the DCBA History & Memorial Committee's selection of attorneys); and an index to names cited throughout the book.

Lawyers Who Shaped Dane County is a successful effort to capture local history before it's lost to the passage of time. Although it reads more like an annotated yearbook than a history book, the highlights and recollections found within give readers an opportunity to connect with the many remarkable individuals who laid the foundation for the practice of law in the Madison area and paved the way for those who have followed after them. The Dane County Legal Resource Center and the Wisconsin State Law Library have each received a generously donated copy of the book and keep it on display for in-library browsing. Persons interested in purchasing their own copies should contact the DCBA directly.

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Odds 'n' Endings – Amy Crowder

"Spacing Out" at the Law Library: Shifting WSLL's Compact Storage Collections

If you visited WSLL's second floor a few weeks ago, you might've heard a bit of noise and seen 20 large moving carts filled with books. That's because library staff was busy shifting the superseded materials and other collections shelved in the Compact Storage area.

When the library moved to the Risser Justice Center in 2002, materials destined for the Compact Storage area were shelved in a manner that would allow for about 10 years of growth. It's now 2012, and space to add more books had indeed become tight in a number of different rows. To remedy the problem, staff working in small groups shifted approximately 1900 linear feet of books - some of which were a bit dusty with age, hence the need to wear masks while we worked (see photo).

The end result of this project is much-improved access to Compact Storage materials for both library staff and users. The amount of space for superseded treatises has been expanded to allow for additional growth, and several special collections, including the historical volumes of Martindale-Hubbell directories & law digests and West's Wisconsin Statutes Annotated, are now shelved in rows that are easier to access. As always, if you need help locating an item in Compact Storage, don't hesitate to ask at our Reference Desk.

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