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Correspondence SEAALL Archive

2-5-1988

Letter to SEAALL Members regarding SEAALLquestionnaire, February 5, 1988Mary Cross

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Repository CitationCross, Mary, "Letter to SEAALL Members regarding SEAALL questionnaire, February 5, 1988" (1988). Correspondence. 496.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/seaall_cor/496

LAW O FF ICE S

STEARNS WEAVER MILLER WEISSLER ALHADEFF & SITTERSON, P.A.

E . RICHARD ALHADEFF LOUISE J. ALLEN LAWRENCE J . BAILIN LISA K. BENNETT

SUSAN FLEM I NG BENNETT R ' CHARO A . BRASCH DORA BRAZLAVSKY CLAIRE BAIL E Y CARRAWAY CVNTHIA ANN CLOUD

CAROL SORET COPE SETH THOMAS CRAINE CHRISTOPHER A . OETZEL LESLIE ROBERT E V ANS ALAN H . FE IN

CPJJo. •G A F ,:')t. 05 ROSEMARY FRANKEL FURMAN L ESTER L . GOLDSTEI N PH ILI P R . GREENSER~ JEAN IE E . HANNA

ALICE R . HUNEYCUTT GEORGE N . JAHN M , SCOTT KLEIMA!.J TEDDY 0 . KLINGHOF"FER SUSAN LEVINE BRIAN J. M CDONOUGH M E LIN6A L. MC ICHOL S

Dear Colleague:

MUS E UM TOW E R

150 W ES T FLAG LER S T RE ET

MIAMI, FLORIDA 33130

(305) 789 · 3200 • T E LEX 51 · 5592

TELECOPIERS (305) 7 8 9 - 3395 • 789 · 3396

ROBERT A. MARK DAV IA OD E LL MAZUR ANTONIO R . M E NENDEZ

FRANC I SCO J . MENENDEZ ALISON W. MILLER CELESTE NORRIS MITCHEL JOHN N. MURAT I DES KEVYN D . ORR STEPHANIE L . PHILLIPS STEV EN D . RUBIN GAIL DORFF SEROTA K IM MAR I E S I NATRA

CURT I S H . S ITTERSON DAVID SMOLKER Mo).Q~ o . SO LC"/ EUGENE E . STEARNS JAY A . STEINMAN EDWARD A . STERN BRADF""ORD SWING

DENNIS R TURNER RONALD L. WEAVER ROBERT I. WEISSLER PATRICIA G . WELLES THOMASINA H , WILLIAMS MARTI N B , WOODS

February 5, 1988

OWEN S . F"REED SENIOR COUNSEL

TAMPA OF"F"ICE SUITE 3300

ON E T AMPA CITY CENTER POST OFFICE BOX 3299

TAMPA, F"LOR I DA 33601

(8 13 ) 223 · 4800

ORLANOO OF"FICE SU ITE 900 BARNETT PLAZA 20 1 SOUTH ORANGE A V ENUE ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32801

OF COUNSEL

ALFREDO G . OURAN

At the SEAALL meeting in Lexington this April, Warren Rosmarin (of the University of Miami Law Library) and I are presenting - a program entitled Law Clerks: What They Know and When They Know It. We are gathering data for our discussion from members of SEAALL through surveys. Warren is sending questionnaires to the law schools while I am soliciting responses from the law firms.

I would greatly appreciate your taking a few minutes to respond to the enclosed survey. Information gathered from this survey will strengthen our presentation and, hopefully, enliven the discussion. In addition, copies of any handouts or other orientation materials would be greatly appreciated.

Please return the questionnaire to me by February 22, 1988. My address is:

Mary F. Cross Stearns Weaver Miller et al. 2200 Museum Tower 150 West Flagler Street Miami, Florida 33130

Thank you very much for your input into the program. see you in Lexington!

Sincerely, J 'I' 1, .. i 'CL , , ....__.::- . . _, .., ...,-;.._

Mary F. Cross

I hope to

j LAW CLERK SURVEY

CITY: _ AtlantaL Georq_ia _______________________ _

A. LAW CLERKS

1. How many clerks did your firm have last year? _ _J._~-

2. How many does your firm anticipate this summer?--~~-

3. Does your firm hire 1st year students as clerks? --~-- Yes _____ No

4. If so, what problems do they have in using the library to do research?

Very little understanding of ways in which various component materials work together.

5. Do the 2nd year students working as clerks have the same problems as the 1st year students? If not, what problems do they have?

Yes - maybe even less familiar as they haven't had any research training in 2 years.

6. What areas of study do you think the law schools should emphasize for:

1st year students?

Basic research techniques - familiarity with primary ,source materials

2nd year students?

Build on basic knowledge, introduce looseleafs, admin law, make research techniques part of course they are studying.

3rd year students?

Westlaw/Lexis applications Importance/Availability of non-law materials Concept that there's not always an answer.

7. Using the key ( V) Very Familiar, ( S) Somewhat Familiar,

or <N> Not Familiar, please answer the following. At

the beginning 0£ their clerkship, how familiar are

your 1st year student clerks with:

a. Case law research (including digests) _s_ __ _ b. Shepardizing _ _s_ __ c. Statutory research _ _s_ __ d. Administrative law research _...N_ __

e. Loose-lea£ services _...N_ __

£. Other secondary sources __ ...N__

g. Lexis/Westlaw skills _Ji __ h. Research methods _....s. __

8. Using the key ( V) Very Familiar, ( S) Somewhat Familiar,

or CN> Not Familiar, please answer the following. At

the beginning 0£ their clerkship, how familiar are

9.

your 2nd year student clerks with:

a. Case law research (including digests) --~--b. Shepardizing _ _s_ __ c. Statutory research __ _s__ d. Administrative law research ....s. __ _ e. Loose-lea£ services ,J:;L __ _

£. Other secondary sources--~--g. Lexis/Westlaw skills __ a __ h. Research methods __ a __

Do you clerks?

participate Yes

in the evaluation 0£ your summer __ _x_ No

10. List here any other problems (with possible solutions>

that your law clerks may have encountered in doing legal

research?

8. LIBRARY ORIENTATION

1. Do you give library orientation? __ x __ Yes _____ No

2. Do you teach clerks how to use your state's materials i£

they attend law schools in another state?

--~-- Yes _____ No

3. Do you coordinate the Lexis and/or Weatlaw training £or

the clerks?

..

X Yes No

4. If you have either Lexis or Westlaw <but not both>, do

you discuss the costs involved in doing a search with

your clerks?

5.

6.

Yes No

I£ you have both Lexis and Westlaw, do you discuss the

differences between the databases in , such areas as

pricing structure, AutoCite and InstaCite, Nexis, and

depth of database coverage? Yes X No

Do you discuss the that may be available policies and practices?

X Yes No

other libraries in your community

£or use and their collections,

7. Do you work with your firm's Recruitment Coordinator or

the person in charge of the clerk program in preparing

£or the arrival of the clerks?

X Yes No

8. How much time per clerk do you spend on orientation?

X 0-15 minutes 15-30 minutes 30-60 minutes over 60 minutes

9 . Briefly describe your orientation program.

I meet with each group of clerks on their first day for

introductions and basic tour of library. Later during

summer, I host one or 2 brown bag lunches to discuss

more substantive issues. Much orienting is done on a day

to day basis.