If an Employer Asks You to Use Your Westlaw or Lexis Student Passwords...
You’re a recent law grad and a new hire at a small firm. A partner asks you to use your Westlaw or Lexis student account to get your research done for free. What do you do? What do you do?
In this post, Jason Potter offers two irrefutable reasons for avoiding any sort of unauthorized use (i.e., it’s unethical and Westlaw/Lexis will recover from you). He also gives students a great solution: offer to leverage all available free legal research tools to get the job done.
Make sure you know how much time you can spend on something, and how much Westlaw or Lexis money you can burn…you’re going to be the one who gets yelled at when the client balks at the $30,000 research bill you ran up on a fairly minor point of law. If you’re not sure how much time something should take, ask. If you don’t know how much time you can spend on Westlaw or Lexis, ask. Even, “Hey, do you have a ballpark idea of how long this should take?” can save you from a very unpleasant situation down the road. (Oh, and make sure you know how to research cost-effectively. When in doubt, ask.)
Causal Links, Vol. 4
- The Ontario Court of Appeal has reserved judgment in a potentially precedent-setting case, Baglow v. Smith, dealing with online defamation [International Forum for Responsible Media]
- Fuller details about Baglow v. Smith may be found via the Osgoode Hall Law School blog [The Court]
- A timely primer by a partner at Field Law: “Liable for Libel on the Internet? You Bet!” [Shaunna Mireau on Canadian Legal Research]
Found in a Dictionary of Words and Phrases Used in Ancient and Modern Law (1899)
- Waive: To relinquish; to abandon; to cast aside. To outlaw a woman; a convicted woman who is outlawed.
- Corsage: An ancient and extraordinary impost payable in corn.
- Court of Dusty Feet: Court of record anciently held at fairs to do justice between buyer and seller.
- Scintilla juris: The smallest interest. A particle of right.
- Feu et lieu: In old French-Canadian law, actual settlement on land by a tenant; hearth and home.
- Appostille: In French law, an addition or annotation made in the margin of any writing.
- De char et de sang: Of flesh and blood; words used at the time of Edward I in claiming one as a villain.
- Corium forisfacere: To forfeit one's skin; to be whipped.
- Aver et tener: To have and to hold.
