Print Resource of the Month: Handbook on Louisiana Evidence Law

From January to May, we are focusing this series on Louisiana-specific materials intended to be helpful for practice (or that are just really interesting). Check back each month for updates!

This month we're utilizing Handbook on Louisiana Evidence Law. Although there is a lot of great guidance for evidence law, even specific to Louisiana, that is available electronically, this is a great resource because it is an all-in-one handbook - so much so that it may be even more convenient than other online sources (gasp!). 

Here are some reasons why you might want to take a look:

• Extensive overview of legislative history from the 1988 passage of the Code and subsequent amendments
• Easy comparison of Louisiana Code and Federal Rules of Evidence
• References to commentary dealing with more specific issues - Daubert decisions, DNA testing in paternity cases, rules of evidence in family law, choice of law, automotive recalls. 
• Important provisions re evidence from the US and Louisiana Constitutions, US Code, Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Code of Criminal Procedure, Children's Code, and Revised Statutes
• Excerpts from the Rules of Professional Conduct and Louisiana Supreme Court Rules

Note that the text of the Code of Evidence is included twice - in the first half of the book with only the language of the Code and in the second half with official comments and extensive authors' notes. (This second part is where the real goodness lies.)

You can find this book in the Reserve Collection on the first floor or in Reference on the second floor of the library at KFL 540 .H36. New editions are typically printed every year with updates reflecting amendments, new cases, and new commentary.

Where to Find It: Louisiana Law

On our new website designed to assist in your research, http://libguides.law.loyno.edu/, there is a guide specifically for finding Louisiana legal materials. Called “Where to Find It: Louisiana Law”, it’s a guide for finding Louisiana law and related materials, with preference given for Bluebook citation standards. There’s so many places to find information online that it can often be difficult to know what is reliable. This guide is designed to lead you to reliable sources, and also help alleviate some confusion that the Bluebook can cause.

You can visit the guide here, http://libguides.law.loyno.edu/findit_LA and then explore some of the other materials the LibGuides page has to offer.

Electronic Resource of the Month: Session Laws Library on HeinOnline

This week we are combining HeinOnline collections and the Legislative Session! All HeinOnline resources can be accessed through http://libguides.law.loyno.edu/az.php. The collections are available to Loyola Law faculty and students, and it can be accessed while connected to the Loyola internet. Check back each month for updates!


The HeinOnline Session Laws Library gives Loyola students and faculty access to:

1. Legislation for all 50 states, Canada, Australia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and the D.C. Register from inception to present day
2. Compilations of historical state statues
3. Historical statutes and/or acts for the US, Canada, Bahamas, and Australia
4. Collection of various related historical documents, including Laws of the Northwest Territory and many colonial compilations.

The coverage for each depends on the particular resource.

Louisiana acts from 1804-2012 are included, which also covers the Territory of Louisiana (1804-1812).

There are also many historical compilations of laws, official texts and annotations, including:

• 1808 Digest
• 1825 Civil Code
• 1856 Revised Statutes
• 1870 Digest

Select “State Statues” on the top menu to search these collections.

Although we have many of these items in print, HeinOnline provides the convenience of electronic searching. Select “Advanced Search” at the top of the page, and you can narrow by state, collection, years – there’s even a full text search for all documents.

Louisiana Legislative Session

The Louisiana Legislature will convene for the 2016 Regular Session on March 14, 2016 at noon. During March, we'll focus on publications related to LA legislation and have a post on compiling LA legislative history.

To learn about current bills and committee information, visit the Legislature's website at http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/home.aspx. From there, you can see bill text versions, committee agendas, watch committee meetings online, view votes, and find logistical session information.

The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn sine die by 6pm on June 6, 2016.

Print Resource of the Month: Trial Handbook for Louisiana Lawyers

From now until May, we will focus this series on Louisiana-specific materials intended to be helpful for practice (or that are just really interesting). Check back each month for updates!



This month we’re highlighting Trial Handbook for Louisiana Lawyers, a publication of the Louisiana Practice Series, written by the Honorable Eldon E. Fallon, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

This practice-oriented book “is designed to be a quick reference for the journeyman trial lawyer who spends his or her life representing clients in trial courts of Louisiana.” There are thirty-four chapters, a table of laws and rules, a table of cases, and an index. The entire range of trial subjects are covered from the role of attorneys, to examination of witnesses and evidence rules, to the verdict and judgment.  

Trial Handbook is available in the stacks, in reference, and in the Reserve Collection at KFL 530 .F34. It is also available online through WestlawNext. 

Eldon E. Fallon, Louisiana Practice: Trial Handbook for Louisiana Lawyers (3rd ed. 2007 & Supp. 2015). 

The Legal History of Mardi Gras in Louisiana

As the Carnival Season is gearing up to full speed, and with Fat Tuesday two weeks from today, the law library has a new exhibit, “The Legal History of Mardi Gras in Louisiana.” It features some historic items from our collection, a summary of the Mardi Gras Krewe de-segretation legal battle of 1991-1992, and some humorous examples of how lawyers and the law are often the subject of parody and satire during Mardi Gras.

For those who can’t stop by and see it (and the exhibit comes down promptly on Ash Wednesday!) here is a slide show of the exhibit and some of the specific items in it.



(You'll need to advance the slides manually.) You can also view a full size version of the slide show.

Happy Mardi Gras!!!

Halloween and the Law of Masks

Several states have statutes that prohibit the wearing of masks for nefarious purposes, like California:

or Michigan:

(93 days?)