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Vol. 70, No. 7, July
1997
Book Reviews
How to Use the Internet for Legal Research
By Josh Blackman. New York, NY: FIND/SVP, 1996. $39.95. 221 pgs. To
order, call (800) 346-3787.
Reviewed by Jenina Mella
Still haven't found your entry ramp to the information superhighway?
Never fear; author Josh Blackman is here with the ideal vehicle for you
to become part of the Internet revolution.
There is no dearth of books seeking to explain the newly exploding Internet
to the novice user. In How to Use the Internet for Legal Research,
lawyers and other legal professionals have a guide designed specifically
for them. It not only covers Internet basics, but persuasively makes the
case for the Internet's importance as a powerful research tool for lawyers.
At about 90 pages (not including an extensive directory of Internet legal
resources) any prospective Internet user would be hard-pressed to find another
guide that so concisely and clearly summarizes the broad outlines of the
Internet and the World Wide Web. The book is divided into three parts: Part
one covers Internet basics, including how-to tips regarding hardware and
software considerations in connecting to the Internet; part two explains
the Internet's practical uses, including communications and legal research;
and part three, which is a legal research Internet directory of substantive
law sites, mailing lists and publications organized by jurisdiction.
While the tenor of this book is basic, its tone is respectful. Blackman
takes great care to define several of the important terms and acronyms that
are generally tossed about in mainstream Internet discussions without clarification.
Footnotes containing definitions or clarification of terms appear in shaded
gray boxes in the book's wide margins for quick reference. The author also
details the distinction between the Lexis and Westlaw databases, which are
known entities in the area of computer legal research, and the Internet.
Of local interest, Blackman uses the example of a Milwaukee firm's use of
an Internet web site as a marketing and educational tool, including an informative
narrative about the firm's considerations in designing its web page, to
illustrate the Internet's applicability to law firms.
This book's emphasis is on elucidating the joys of Internet legal research. But
what makes it most comforting is that it points up the pitfalls that accompany
Internet legal research and acknowledges that the manual research methods
(read books), which have held the legal profession in good stead for generations,
still are the quickest and most cost-effective ways to access primary law
(cases and statutes) in most situations. An entire section discusses the
type of analysis a legal researcher should go through in determining where
to search for the fastest and lowest cost source of the desired information,
as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each research method for
solving particular research problems. In this way, the book helps to put
the current usefulness of the Internet as a legal research tool in its proper
perspective.
While Blackman does his best to provide a comprehensive directory of
Internet legal research resources, the list provided here suffers from the
Achilles heel of all materials trying to provide some written parameters
to the subject - obsolescence. Luckily, most sites will automatically forward
you to the new web address where one has been changed, so you are almost
certain to find the sites that are listed in the directory.
The book lacks a bibliography citing to other resources for using the
Internet as a legal research tool. A bibliography is needed, because once
you do merge onto the information superhighway you're likely to have trouble
finding an exit, at least without access to what else? More information.
Jenina Mella, Indiana-Bloomington 1988, is a freelance
legal editor and writer living and working in Madison.
Altman Weil Pensa Archive on
Strategic Planning and Management
for Law Firms and Corporate Law Departments
Edited by Susan D. Sjostrom. Newtown Square, PA: Altman Weil Pensa
Inc., 1996. $55. Paper. 362 pgs. To order, call (610) 359-9900, ext. 435.
Reviewed by Joseph T. Leone
If you have ever been baffled by the odd practices of your firm's management,
I highly recommend this book.
This collection of short essays from the consulting firm of Altman Weil
Pensa should be mandatory reading for all lawyers who are not actively
involved in management issues. The essays, which are excerpted from Altman
Weil's monthly newsletter, are brisk, well-written, subject-specific treatments
of almost every aspect of law firm management and planning. While reading
the book won't make you an expert, it paints an accurate picture of the
immense competitive pressures faced by law firms and how those pressures
can be addressed on a nominally rational basis.
The collection also contains some interesting, if somewhat self-evident,
survey data. For instance, one of the essays notes that over the last 10
years, per lawyer overhead increased 80 percent, while per lawyer revenues
increased only 60 percent. It's no wonder we're all logging so many hours.
The book itself is a hefty paperback of almost 350 pages. The text, however,
is double-spaced, which makes both reading and note-taking a breeze. The
essays are organized into three parts: Market Trends and Strategic Analysis;
Total Quality Management (TQM); and Organization and Management. Even within
the individual parts, each essay is largely a stand-alone piece, which encourages
the reader to jump from topic to topic, rather than to read the volume from
start to finish.
From a substantive standpoint, the essays are uniformly cogent, although
some are better than others. Interestingly, the essays on strategic management
espouse leadership mindsets that undoubtedly are good for the bottom line
but which also appear to be the root cause of much of the dissension and
bad manners experienced in law today. One particularly illuminating passage
notes "[A] martial orientation toward competitors is essential. ...
Competitors are viewed as the enemy."
The treatment of TQM is surprisingly candid in its admission that TQM
is not for everyone. Many, if not most, law firms have a culture of personalities
that precludes implementation of true TQM. The TQM essays are equally candid
that TQM is often perfunctorily rejected by law firms due to the seemingly
self-evident concepts involved (for example, do it right the first time,
walk the talk, and so on). But for those firms able to do so, the concepts
espoused here might signal a better way to practice law profitably.
For those proficient with numbers, one of the essays on firm management
presents a formula for computing the value of a partner. While I was unable
to assess the validity of the formula using actual numbers, I think a large
law firm might glean some very interesting data by uniformly applying the
formula to its membership.
The only drawback to the collection is that it is peppered throughout
with blatantly self-serving references to Altman Weil Pensa surveys and
findings. But since the collection bears their masthead and is clearly intended
as a marketing piece, Altman Weil can't be held to task for tooting its
own horn.
Joseph T. Leone, Marquette 1992, is an associate
at DeWitt Ross & Stevens S.C., Madison, where he practices intellectual
property law.
Debating the Democratic Peace
Edited by Michael E. Brown, Sean M. Lynn-Jones and Steven E. Miller.
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1996. $17. Paper. 379 pgs. To order, call
(800) 356-0343.
Reviewed by James J. Casey Jr.
Edited by Michael E. Brown, Sean M. Lynn-Jones and Steven E. Miller,
Debating the Democratic Peace is a collection of articles by political
scientists debating the theory of democratic peace. The theory, first articulated
by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant 200 years ago, states that countries
founded upon liberal (which is modern conservative thought) or democratic
traditions virtually never go to war against each other. The book becomes
a battleground between academics supportive of the theory and those who
find it specious. Separated into three sections - the case for democratic
peace, the case against democratic peace and a point-counterpoint section
- it is relatively easy for the political novice to follow the discussions
and the relative merits of each position.
Drawing upon data sets that consider wars going back to the British-Maharattan
conflict of 1817-18, those authors in favor of the theory show that democracies
rarely go to war with each other, and that democratic peace is the result
of common characteristics of democracy embodied by these countries. In short,
it never really pays - politically, economically or socially - for these
like-minded countries to go to war with each other. But over the last 200
years, liberal states (which we now call democracies) have shown a far greater
tendency to go to war against countries with other political/economic systems,
such as communism or authoritarianism.
Those who oppose the theory do so on the grounds that the data used is
statistically insignificant; that is, the results are not that strong in
favor of the theory, or that other factors explain this phenomenon, such
as common political enemies or "marriages of convenience" in support
against an aggressor. To these academics, the type of political system may
be one of many reasons to explain why democracies don't go to war against
each other.
In fact, one of the major battlegrounds in the social sciences, including political
science, is the use of statistics and statistical methods to prove or disprove
theories. Some academics have trouble with the statistics used to justify
the theory of democratic peace; thus, this is a never-resolved battle because
unfortunately the statistics can be manipulated to achieve almost any result.
The weakness is whether the statistics have any explanatory power, and scholars
are divided over what is statistically significant.
A major point in these articles is how to define a liberal or democratic
state. Two hundred years ago, when the U.S. was established, there were
very few democratic states, as that term is used today. Countries like Great
Britain and France were called liberal states, though at that time and by
modern-day standards they were not essentially democratic states. Some authors
and historians also consider Czarist Russia to have been a liberal state,
though most people today would consider it to have been authoritarian, not
democratic. This issue must be kept in mind when reading this book.
The book has probably no relevance to the practicing attorney, but it
is definitely a must read for those who are interested in questions of international
relations and war. It probably is anecdotal to most Americans that we do
not go to war against our allies, who are for the most part steeped in democratic
tradition, but this book provides some intellectual justification for that
belief.
James J. Casey Jr., Dayton 1988, is a sponsored
program officer in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Northwestern
University. He also holds a master's degree in international affairs from
Marquette University.
Family Group Conferences in
Child Abuse and Neglect Cases:
Learning from the Experience of
New Zealand
By Mark Hardin with Elizabeth Cole, June Mickens and Robert Lancour.
Washington, DC: ABA Center on Children and the Law, 1996. $19.95. Paper.
325 pgs. To order, call (800) 285-2221.
Reviewed by David Heitzman
Attempting to improve the functioning of families who abuse or neglect
their children is sufficiently frustrating that one will look for help in
all manner of places. In New Zealand a conference of the child's extended
family (and, perhaps, tribal leaders) is convened whenever the investigating
social worker substantiates abuse or neglect.
The purpose of the New Zealand family group conference is to decide how
the situation should be handled from that point forward. (For example, should
the child live with someone other than a parent? Should the child live with
a parent under the supervision of someone, including one or more members
of the extended family? Should the child or the parent receive services
of some type?) Although this innovation only began in 1989, New Zealand
has had just enough experience with it to make it worth looking at and considering.
The book is a big help.
Part one, consisting of seven sections, discusses the New Zealand model.
Part two, consisting of two sections, deals with applying the New Zealand
model in this country. The first section of part two, written by Cole, sets
forth the key policy decisions that ought to be made to implement the model.
The second section, written by Mickens, is a legal analysis of the privacy
implications of using the model in the United States. The relevant federal
statutes are analyzed. As to state statutes, the analysis is not exhaustive
but rather a random review. Wisconsin does not happen to be one of the states
included. However, the applicable confidentiality statutes are easy enough
to find and analyze. Clearly, they will need to be amended for this technique
to be used to the fullest extent in Wisconsin.
There are five appendices, including two that contain sections 13 to
39 of The New Zealand Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act of
1989 and all of the December 1992 Care and Protection Coordinator's Manual.
Both the book and the concept of family group conferences are commended
to the thoughtful consideration of any attorney who has substantial contact
with the children's court and the families who provide the work for that
court. We need all the help we can get.
David Heitzman, U.W. 1969, has been employed
by Rock County as an assistant corporation counsel and assigned primarily
to the Child Protective Services Division of the county's human services
department since 1978.
Guardianship and Protective Placement for the Elderly in Wisconsin
By Gretchen Viney. Madison, WI: State Bar of Wisconsin CLE Books,
1996. $29. 175 pgs. To order, call (800) 362-8096.
Reviewed by Sarah Fry Bruch
Anyone who has heard Ms. Viney speak at a CLE seminar will recognize
and appreciate her thorough, methodical and practical approach to mastering
the subjects of this book. The book presents the subjects of guardianship
and protective placement specifically for the elderly (guardianships of
nonelderly chronically mentally ill or developmentally disabled are not
discussed) in a style accessible to lawyers of all skill levels. It has
nine fully outlined and annotated chapters with a detailed, easy-to-use
index and three very useful appendices described below. Although the book
emphasizes the perspective of private counsel in these matters, its extensive
information and detail should prove useful to county attorneys as well.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the guardianship and protective service
system statutes and reviews the definitions of incompetency and types of
guardianships. How to choose the proper procedure for your client's situation
is explored in Chapter 2, where the author explains the differences between
guardianships of the person and of the estate, limited and full guardianships,
and voluntary services versus involuntary services and protective placement.
Appendix A lists useful additional resources, including seven books and
the complete address, telephone and fax for 15 organizations pertaining
to issues of long-term care, SSI, Medicare, mental illness and advocacy.
Guidance for selecting a guardian is found in Chapter 3. Ms. Viney recommends
counsel assess a proposed guardian for past and present elder abuse, and
provides a lengthy checklist of occurrences and elder's behaviors that may
indicate financial, material, mental and physical abuse. Ms. Viney recommends
that both petitioner's counsel and the guardian ad litem (GAL) ask the proposed
guardian directly if the proposed ward has ever been subject to elder abuse
and if the proposed guardian was determined to be the perpetrator, noting
that a county's records of such matters are confidential but may be released
to petitioner's counsel and GAL pursuant to a court order. Also explored
are the factors germane to selecting an individual guardian versus a corporate
guardian, such as a bank or nonprofit corporation. Appendix C lists all
42 state-approved corporate guardians in Wisconsin, with the address, telephone
and name of a contact person for each, and the approval date and the number
of clients each guardian can serve.
Chapters 4 and 5 are the workhorses of this book. Chapter 4 outlines
the role of the petitioner's attorney in excruciating detail, and covers
the preparation, service and filing of initial documents, subsequent case
preparation, the hearing and resulting order. Summing up the chapter is
a checklist, in chronological order, of everything petitioner's attorney
needs to do, including consideration of ethical issues. Chapter 5 treats
the role of the GAL in like manner, complete with a checklist. Appendix
B complements these two chapters with the necessary forms for an entire
proceeding. It contains 19 forms in full text, with annotations referencing
statutory authority, and includes the petition, necessary orders, notices,
letters of guardianship and the inventory.
The remaining Chapters 6 through 9 thoroughly review the guardian's role
and safeguards of the protective service system such as annual review and
transfer to other facilities, termination of guardianship and change of
guardian. While at first glance it appears no different than any other CLE
practice manual, this little book speaks the volumes of Ms. Viney's experience.
Its many practice tips, checklists, caveats, notes, cautions and comments
seek to guide the practitioner into an efficient and thorough practice.
Sarah Fry Bruch, Marquette 1986, recently relocated
to Waukesha County from Stevens Point, where she practiced law during the
past nine years and served as an assistant district attorney from 1988 to
1991.
Patent Law and Practice, 2d Edition
By Herbert F. Schwartz. Washington, DC: BNA, 1996. $75. Paper. 195
pgs. To order, call (800) 960-1220.
Reviewed by Walter E. Zimmerman
The idea for Patent Law and Practice originated in 1986, when
the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) approached the author to prepare a short
work intended to educate federal judges on the basics of patent law. In
1988 the FJC published the first edition, a 119-page work with more than
500 footnotes and the look and feel of a long law review article, which
provided a useful, if basic, account of patent law for federal judges.
In 1995 the author completed a second edition, also published by the
FJC, an extensive update of the first edition, with a primary focus on litigation.
The second edition also was published by the Bureau of National Affairs
Inc. (BNA) in 1996. In the preface the author explains that the BNA asked
him to make the book "available to a wider audience" and moreover
that the FJC was "enthusiastic about such a project." In its promotional
literature, BNA touts the book as "now available to attorneys"
and as an "insider's look at the bench's interpretation of patent litigation."
(Curiously, what neither explains is that before the BNA edition was published,
the second FJC edition was already available to a very wide audience
- anyone who requested it received a free copy from the FJC.)
By and large, the 187-page BNA edition efficiently handles the subject
of patent law. With 800-odd footnotes, it maintains the same law review
article feel of the first edition. It is well-indexed, well-annotated and
easy to read. For the most part, the basic legal standards are clearly articulated,
with ample citations made to the leading cases and many secondary sources.
It briefly covers patent prosecution and patentability, although the principal
focus is federal patent litigation - including substantive and procedural
issues, causes of action and defenses. There is one chapter on remedies,
covering injunctions, monetary damages, marking and notice, increased damages
and attorney fees, and one chapter on jury trials, covering softer subjects
such as reliance on juries, juror comprehension, the juror's role, form
of verdict and jury instructions.
The 1996 BNA edition also addresses the various amendments and revisions
of the Patent Act and post-1988 decisions by the Federal Circuit Court of
Appeals clarifying, modifying and restating various portions of the body
of law that patent lawyers and their clients must live with. Three important
en banc cases decided by the Federal Circuit in 1995 are covered: Markman
v. Westview Instruments Inc., 52 F.3d 965 (Fed. Cir. 1995), which dealt
with the respective roles of the judge and jury in determining the proper
construction of patent claims; Hilton Davis Chem. Co. v. Warner-Jenkinson
Co., 62 F.3d 1512 (Fed. Cir. 1995), which reconsidered fundamental questions
regarding infringement under the doctrine of equivalents; and Rite-Hite
Corp. v. Kelley Co., 56 F.3d 1538 (Fed. Cir. 1995), which articulated
limits on recoverable damages for patent infringement. However, the U.S.
Supreme Court has subsequently undertaken review of two of those cases (Markman
and Hilton Davis). The Supreme Court affirmed the Federal Circuit's
decision in Markman, see 116 S. Ct. 1384 (1996) (which is noted in
a footnote in the 1996 BNA edition), and thus the book's discussion of the
Federal Circuit's Markman holding is still more or less on point.
(The FJC edition was actually cited by the Supreme Court in Markman.)
But the Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit's decision in Hilton
Davis, and remanded the case for further consideration (see Warner-Jenkinson
Co. v. Hilton Davis Chem. Co., 117 S. Ct. 1040 (1997)), although the
doctrine of equivalents remains essentially intact (for the time being).
Accordingly, anyone looking for a complete reference should note that this
book misses the Supreme Court's holdings in both Markman and Hilton
Davis.
Now that Patent Law and Practice is no longer available for free,
should you buy a copy? Realistically, the book is a work of limited scope
and utility. It is not intended to - and will not - replace Prof. Donald
Chisum's multi-volume Patents in a law library or Robert Harmon's
Patents and the Federal Circuit (also published by BNA) on the desk
of the patent practitioner. And while patent litigators might note that
all federal judges may have a copy of Patent Law and Practice somewhere
in chambers, those who keep up with their reading of current case law have
no substantive need for the book.
The book is not without value, however. For the corporate lawyer or in-house
general counsel who might be thinking about patent law issues with increasing
regularity, one front-to-back reading of the book will cover much of the
basic learning curve. For an attorney practicing in an unrelated field,
or simply curious about the subject, the book will provide a solid basic
understanding of patent law and litigation issues. The book also will serve
as a useful text for a basic patent law course. Indeed, for the new lawyer
or law student interested in patent law, the book is an excellent starting
resource.
Walter E. Zimmerman, U.W. 1990, Order of the
Coif, practices intellectual property law with Foley & Lardner, Milwaukee.
He also is an adjunct assistant professor at the Marquette University Law
School. |