BLS Library Blog

This time of year can be quite overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. There are many resources in the library to help you succeed. Listed below are some of the resources. If you have questions about them, please feel free to stop by or email (refdesk@brooklaw.edu) the reference desk.

Study Aids:

First Year Courses:

Site provides links to popular study aids for first year courses.

Upper Level Courses:

There are a few ways to identify study aids for upper level courses. One way is to search the SARA catalog for the subject matter of the exam and then use the filters on the left to limit the list to items located on Reserve.  Another way is to search for a particular series. For example, you could search SARA for West’s Nutshell Series, the Understanding Series, Sum and Substance, Concise Hornbook Series, or Examples and Explanations.

Legal Writing and Citation Tools:

Legal Writing & Analysis:

Site links you to resources to help with legal writing and analysis.

Legal Citation:

Site links you to legal citation resources

Other Tools for Success:

Exams on File:

Link provides access to past exams

• During the reading and exam period, you must make a reservation to use a library study room.  Mandatory study room reservations will begin on Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 8:00am; at that time all study rooms will be locked and you must go to the first floor circulation desk to charge out the key to the room at the time of your reservation.  Please use the link to the study room reservations which is on the library homepage under “Related Links.

Study Room Policies:

• Study rooms are for the use of groups of two or more students
• Study rooms may be reserved for the current day and two days ahead
• Study rooms may be reserved for periods from 30 minutes up to four hours
• Students are permitted to reserve one study room for a maximum of four hours per day
• Study room reservations are monitored and reservations violating these policies will be deleted
• Instructions for making reservations and a list of rooms available are on the study room reservations page

Library Hours for the Reading & Exam Period:

• Thursday, April 30 – Thursday, May 14, 2015:  8:00am – 2:00am
• April 30 – May 14:  The circulation desk closes at 12Midnight; no books can be charged out after Midnight
• Friday, May 15:  8:00am – 10:00pm

Library Hours for the Writing Competition Weekend:

• Saturday, May 16:  9:00am – 2:00am
• Sunday, May 17:  8:00am – 2:00am

Reminders:

• Please limit all conversations in the library; remember that your colleagues are studying too.
• There is no eating in the library; please go to the student lounge or cafeteria for snacks and meals.
• Do not leave valuables unattended.  If you step away from your study table or carrel, take anything of value to you with you.

Good luck on your exams and have a great summer!

The three legal research databases, Bloomberg Law, Lexis Advance and WestlawNext, are available to Brooklyn Law School students this summer.  May 2015 graduates will also have access to these databases for six months after graduation.  See the details below:

Bloomberg Law:  Provides unlimited and unrestricted access over the summer.  Student accounts will remain active and available all summer.  Students may use Bloomberg Law without restrictions.  Graduating students have continued access for six months after graduation.

For questions, contact Erica Horton, Esq, Law School Relationship Manager, Bloomberg BNA, ehorton@bna.com, 1-800-542-1113, ext. 1884.

Lexis Advance:  Students will have continuing access all summer for academic, professional and non-profit research.  All legal and news content will be available and there is no limitation on the number of hours of use.  Graduating students will have extended access until December 31, 2015.

Lexis ASPIRE:  Students graduating in Spring 2015 working for a non-profit 501(c)(3) employer may apply for an ASPIRE ID which provides free access to Lexis Advance for as long as their non-profit work continues, until September 1, 2016.  ASPIRE provides free access to federal and state cases, codes, regulations, law reviews, Shepard’s, and Matthew Bender treatises to use in their non-profit employment.

• Use the Graduate ID Form which will open ASPIRE details and extended access to Lexis Advance when you fill in your non-profit employment status.
• Review the eligibility requirements, and if your non-profit employment qualifies, use the Graduate Program form to apply for an ASPIRE ID.  You will need to provide verifying documentation.

For questions, contact Mary Beth Drain, LexisNexis Account Executive, marybeth.drain@lexisnexis.com, 845-598-3203.

WestlawNext:  Students may extend their passwords for the following academic uses on WestlawNext:

• Summer law school classes and study abroad programs
• Law Review & Journal, including writing competitions
• Research assistant
• Moot Court
• Unpaid internship/externship

To extend their passwords, students can select the “Need Westlaw this Summer” banner on the Westlaw homepage for continued access.  They can then complete the online summer extension form to request the summer extension.

Graduating students will need to complete an online password extension request on the Westlaw homepage for continued access.  Once they complete the online extension request, they will have continued access through November 30, 2015.

For questions, contact Stefanie Efrati, Academic Account Manager, Thomson Reuters, stefanie.efrati@thomsonreuters.com, 212-548-7432.

On March 25, 2015, the Supreme Court handed down Young v. United Parcel Service and set forth a new standard making it easier for a female employee to establish discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act [42 U.S.C. 200e(k)] (“PDA”).  The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which amended Title VII in 1978, explicitly provides that discrimination “because of sex” or “on the basis of sex” includes discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.”

The Young case arose when UPS offered light-duty accommodations to disabled and injured employees but not to pregnant employees.  Young alleged this policy violated the PDA.

In Young, the Court did not go as far as to say that employers must accommodate pregnant workers whenever they accommodate non-pregnant workers.  What the Court did say is, whenever different accommodations are provided to similarly situated pregnant and non-pregnant workers, the employer must determine whether there is any legitimate reason for the disparate treatment. If no legitimate reason exists, then the employer has discriminated on the basis of pregnancy in violation of the PDA.  Even when the employer is able to articulate a neutral business rational for the different accommodations, the Court ruled that the pregnant worker must still be given the opportunity to show that the different accommodations impose a “significant burden” on pregnant workers that cannot be justified by the employer’s neutral rationale.

Going forward, the Young decision means that a pregnant worker will not be required to establish explicit discriminatory intent to prove a PDA violation.  Instead, under Young, it is sufficient for the worker to show that different accommodations offered to similarly situated pregnant and non-pregnant workers impose a “significant burden” on pregnant employees.