In a post earlier in the week, Jessica Price highlighted Fastcase, the online legal database that will soon be available to members of the Wisconsin State Bar at no additional cost. The Marquette Law Library explored Fastcase over the summer and is in the final integration stages of a subscription that will allow law students and law faculty access to the complete Fastcase database.
As the calendar switches to October, readers will note two new features of this Blog. First, Judi McMullen takes over from Keith Sharfman as the Featured Blogger of the Month. Judi teaches and writes in the areas of family law, trusts and estates, juvenile law, alternative dispute resolution, and social science and the law. Second, we will have a featured question of the month for faculty contributors: “What should be the highest priorities of the next President in the areas of law that you teach?” Look for a series of responses from several different bloggers to this timely question over the course of the month.
The second installment of the symposia celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Marquette Law School was convened earlier today. The same panel of scholars from the first session returned to discuss the period from 1908 to 1940. Joseph Ranney began by explaining how this time period saw the bureaucratization and professionalization of both legal education and the bar, and how these trends shaped the development of the Marquette Law School. In particular, Mr. Ranney noted the importance of the creation of the American Association of Law Schools, which sought to establish an accreditation process for law schools, and the transformation of law school faculties from exclusively part-time/adjunct professors to a combination of full-time and part-time/adjunct professors.