Legal Research March Mania-ness: definitely not madness

*Printable (PDF) 2022 Legal Research bracket*

Brackets, brackets, and more brackets. The GSU College of Law Library is doing its part to add to March’s bracket noise. This year we are hosting a battle of legal resources by putting our favorite ones (including print, online, and Georgia resources) in a seeded, knock-out bracket and allowing the internet (via our Twitter account @GSULawLib) to decide who advances. A PDF printable bracket can be downloaded to fill out and follow along.

Resources have been selected and ranked by a mysterious committee that neither has to define its criteria nor is accountable to anyone for mistakes and down-right bias. The committee is working under the fiction that it is infallible, so they do not want to hear any whining about ranking or who got snubbed. They also seem to have a predisposition for the established, larger programs. See, we are making this almost exactly like another March event.

Legal resources will face off against one another and based on Twitter polls, advance in the tournament. In the improbable event of a tie, our copy of Randomness by Deborah J. Bennett will be tossed in the air. If it lands front-cover up, the first resource wins. If it lands back-cover up, the second resource wins, and if it lands open on a page, we will apply the example of randomness discussed therein.

Round one voting will begin Monday, March 21, 2022. Unfortunately, GSU’s spring break is this week (the week of March 14), so our students are not around. Subsequently, we’ll wait for them to get back and start the week of March 21. That said, everyone out there is welcome and encouraged to join in the Mania-Ness. All voting will take place via the law library’s Twitter account, @gsulawlib. We encourage you to follow the law library on Twitter to not miss any of the “games”.

Each “game” will last one day, and voting will open around 8:30 AM. The tournament schedule is:

Monday, March 21, 2022, First Round (Online 1 Section)
Tuesday, March 22, 2022, First Round (Online 2 Section)
Wednesday, March 23, 2022, First Round (Georgia Section)
Thursday, March 24, 2022, First Round (Print Section)
Monday, March 28, 2022, Second Round (Sweet Sixteen, Online 1 & 2 Sections)
Tuesday, March 29, 2022, Second Round (Sweet Sixteen, Georgia & Print Sections)
Wednesday, March 30, 2022, Third Round (Elite Eight, All Sections)
Thursday, March 31, 2022, Fourth Round ( Final Four, All Sections)
Monday, April 4, 2022, Fifth Round (Finals)

The legal resources that are competing in our March Mania-Ness, their sections, and seeding are as follows:

Online 1 Section:

Online 2 Section:

Georgia Section:

Daily Report
Georgia Jurisprudence, also available on Westlaw
Pindar’s Georgia Real Estate Law and Procedure, also available on Westlaw
VerdictSearch (formerly Georgia Trial Reporter)
Georgia State University Law Review Peach Sheets
Redfearn Wills and Administration in Georgia, also available on Westlaw
Georgia Legal Research (Carolina Academic Press)
Kissiah & Lay’s Georgia Workers’ Compensation Law, also available on Lexis+

Print Section:

American Jurisprudence (Am. Jur.) Library, available on Westlaw and Lexis
American Law Reports, available on Westlaw and Lexis
Restatements of Law, available on the ALI website
Moore’s Federal Practice, available on Lexis
West Digest System, available on Westlaw
Bluebook, also available via their website
Prince’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations
Words & Phrases

Congratulations and good luck to all of our legal research competitors. Questions can be directed to Librarian Manion and he will relay them to the mysterious committee.

03.10.22

by Gerard Fowke

Research Consultations are Really, Really Great and They Will Almost Definitely Improve Your Paper

Researching a paper can be intimidating. In my experience, this emphatically applies to many situations where the paper in question is for a law school course. Most law students have only just recently become familiar with the fundamental sources and strategies of legal research, and applying them to a lengthier treatment of a multidimensional (and often interdisciplinary) topic adds another layer of complexity.

Fortunately, your friendly neighborhood librarian is here to help, in the form of a research consultation. We are available to meet with you one-on-one to give you highly individualized advice on researching your paper. This includes help with many different aspects of the paper-writing process, including refining your thesis, checking for preemption, developing a research plan, identifying relevant resources, finding authorities that support your arguments, and more.

Efficient, high-quality research can make a big difference with any paper. Research can be very path-dependent, and the strategies you choose earlier in the process will lead you to different sources, and those sources will inevitably shape your arguments and ideas in the final product. Impeccable research isn’t just something you do to build an impressive footnote count! (Although a consultation will undoubtedly help you with that as well.)

Research consultations are not only extremely helpful, they are also very easy to schedule. To do so, you can hit us up at lawreference@gsu.edu, email your personal librarian, or simply stop by the reference desk. With that high degree of convenience in mind, I’m going to close out this blog post by stridently demanding that you stop whatever you’re doing and schedule a research consultation right now. I mean, don’t you want to write a better paper?

03.08.22

by GSU Law Student

NFL Broadcast Rights on the Move

By Ross Crowell, Law Library GRA Sports Law Correspondent

Watching primetime NFL games on television will probably look a bit different during the 2022 season. Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN, and Amazon are all trying to figure out who they will have announcing their games during this upcoming football season. These multi-million dollar broadcasting contracts are legally complex, implicating different areas such as Contract Law, Employment Law, Media Law. There are also potential Antitrust Law implications, since the NFL and its television broadcasters are regulated by the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which grants a limited exemption to the Sherman Act permitting the various teams to enter into joint broadcasting agreements despite their anticompetitive effects.

The biggest shift relates to increased importance of streaming rights. Amazon has shaken things up being a new player in this business, as they now have the exclusive rights to stream 15 Thursday Night Football games for the 2022 season on Amazon Prime.

The networks’ broadcast booths will be playing musical chairs, as many of the biggest names will be on the move. Some top broadcasters that are potentially leaving networks are Troy Aikman (Fox), Al Michaels (NBC), Louis Riddick (ESPN), and Brian Griese (ESPN). Riddick is being considered for NFL general manager positions and Griese, whose contract expired after the 2021 season, will reportedly become the San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach. Aikman, who reportedly will become the new color analyst for Monday Night Football at ESPN, has broadcasted for Fox for 20 years, spending 19 of those with broadcast partner Joe Buck. Aikman’s reported deal will be for five years and close to $18 million annually.

In addition to current broadcasters, some big-name former players are also in consideration for these roles. Recently retired 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady reportedly will be contacted by Amazon and Fox to gauge his interest in broadcasting. Drew Brees, who led the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl, was on television last season for NBC and could be poached by one of the competing networks.

However, Brees only has one year of experience on television and Brady has not broadcasted any games, as he retired just over a month ago. As these contracts for broadcasters rival what the top players in the NFL are paid, it is a bit of a risk to hire someone with inexperience. However, the names of Brees and Brady likely will draw in many fans that would want to tune in to their broadcasts. The networks will have to carefully weigh these various considerations when negotiating these complex employment contracts.