It’s that time of the year again.  No, not your first three day weekend in law school.  Football season is upon us (and when I say football, I mean American football).   For those of you who are looking to unwind after your first couple of weeks in law school, there are some great games on tap in Atlanta this weekend.

TONIGHT, August 30th, your Georgia State Panthers will open up the regular season at the Georgia Dome against South Carolina State.  If you are hanging around school late, definitely head down to the Dome. Kick-off is at 7:30 pm and students get in free with their PantherID.

Friday, August 31st, the North Carolina State Wolfpack (GO PACK!!!) will be taking on the Tennessee Volunteers in the Dome at 7:30 p.m.  This will be the first of two ACC vs. SEC match-ups this weekend.

Saturday, September 1st, the Clemson Tigers will be taking on the Auburn Tigers in the Dome at 7:00 p.m.  This will be the second of two ACC vs. SEC match-ups.

For those of you who saw this post and thought I was talking about proper football aka soccer,  I’ve got just what you need.  Drawings for the UEFA Champions League Group Stages were today, and there are some interesting match-ups in store for us football fans this fall.  The group stages will run from September 18th and 19th through December 4th and 5th.  The groups have been drawn as follows:

• Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris St Germain, Dinamo Zagreb
• Group B: Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiakos, Montpellier
• Group C: AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht, Malaga
• Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund
• Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, FC Nordsjaelland
• Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia, Lille, BATE Borisov
• Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Celtic
• Group H: Manchester United, Braga, Galatasaray, CFR Cluj

Look for Group D to be the “Group of Death” this year, matching up the league champions from Spain, England, Netherlands, and Germany.

If none of this perks you up, just remember to take time to have a little fun on what might be your last weekend of freedom this semester.

Author Michael Connelly (image by Flickr user ala_members)

Michael Connelly has been awarded the 2012 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction for his novel The Fifth Witness. The Harper Lee Prize is cosponsored by ABA Journal and the University of Alabama School of Law and “celebrates the role of lawyers in society and the ideals represented by Atticus Finch.”

The selection committee this year included novelists, legal analysts and former Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice. ABA Journal also surveyed its readers.

The Fifth Witness is Connelly’s fourth book to star lawyer Mickey Haller. Previous titles in the series are The Lincoln Lawyer (recently made into a movie starring Matthew McConaughey), The Brass Verdict and The Reversal.

Students that have registered with CALI using a hotmail account will need to take additional steps to continue to access CALI exercises and other services. Additional information about this change as well directions for hotmail users can be found here.

CALI is best known for their library of  interactive, computer-based lessons covering 33 legal education subject areas. These interactive tutorials are written by law faculty to supplement traditional law school instruction. In addition to the lessons library, CALI also offers ebooks, the classcaster podcasting and blogging platform, and the CALI Excellence for the Future Awards that recognizes students that receive the highest score in a law school class.

Image by Flickr user marsmet544

In addition to learning how to brief cases and keep up with all of your readings, you may be wondering about your weekly Legal Bibliography assignments. Never fear! There are lots of ways you can get some help.

• Check out the CALI website, which features interactive tutorials on many legal topics, including legal research. And you can access the activation code on our website with your MyLaw ID.
• We have study aids, including Legal Research in a Nutshell.
• Our For Law Students page has links to the library catalog, database list, a library map and more.
• And last, but certainly not least, ask at the Reference Desk! We’re available seven days a week, in person, by phone and via chat.

Whether you’re coming back as a 2L or 3L, or just starting law school as a 1L, welcome! We hope you had a great summer, and that you’re refreshed and ready for a new school year.

Like always, we’re here to help make your law school experience an easier one, whether it’s by giving you the option to reserve a study room online, providing resources like AudioCaseFiles and CALI, or making it easy to find a book to read or a movie to watch. We’ve also put together maps to let you know of some great places to eat or get coffee near the law school.

So, welcome (back)! We’re happy to see you, and we hope you have a great year!

Official publicity photo from Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing

The law school has been abuzz with activity recently, as everyone’s getting ready for new student orientation next week and the start of classes the following week. But maybe you’re not quite ready to give up on that feeling of summer yet. Here are a few suggestions for ways to enjoy your last little bit of freedom.

1. Watch the Olympics — Let’s start with the obvious one here. The games run through August 12 in London and every day there is another story, from the badminton players being disqualified to news that the archer who trained Jennifer Lawrence for The Hunger Games was competing today. Not able to watch the coverage live? You can always set up a blocker to hide all the spoilers.

2. Get pumped for an action-packed Fall — And by that I mean in TV and movies, of course. Watch Daniel Craig get back in action as James Bond, first by accompanying the Queen to the Olympics and then in the new trailer for Skyfall. And if you happen to also subscribe to the “Bond is a Timelord” theory [it makes sense, doesn’t it?], there’s a brand-spanking-new trailer for Doctor Who Series 7 out as well.

3. Enjoy the theatre — Want something a bit quieter? Catch the closing weekend of the Georgia Shakespeare summer season. You have the choice of The Emperor and the Nightingale, Illyria: A Twelfth Night Musical, The Importance of Being Earnest and Much Ado About Nothing. (And did you know that Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers, is putting out a new film version of Much Ado this Fall too? Now you do.)

4. Audition to be a zombie — Not content to let others do all the acting for you? Head over to Six Flags Over Georgia on August 4 and 5 to audition for a part in this Fall’s Fright Fest.

5. Celebrate random events — And if you’re still looking for something, the kindly folks at Mental Floss have created this handy list of August holidays you can celebrate. From International Beer Day (August 5) to Lazy Day (August 10) to National Bad Poetry Day (August 18), there’s something there for everyone. Just don’t forget that the first day of orientation coincides with National Fresh Breath Day. Coincidence? We think not.

Registered trademark symbol

Today marks the beginning of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, but for lawyers, the Olympics have been going on for a while. “Branding laws” in the UK were passed a few years ago to ensure that only the official sponsors of the London Olympics can use phrases such as “London 2012” or Olympics-related designs. There has been criticism of the way these laws have been applied; a butcher was forced to remove a sign featuring the Olympic rings made out of sausages, and even the Duchess of Cambridge’s family’s party planning business had to make changes to its website.

Protecting trademarks (and other intellectual property) is a regular part of being a well-known brand. If a word or symbol becomes too synonymous with the product, trademark protection may be lost. That’s what happened to “aspirin,” “escalator,” and “Murphy bed.” So lawyers often send out “cease and desist” letters to people who are believed to be using a trademark without authorization.

While there has been criticism of the approach taken to protect the Olympics trademark, another approach has recently made news. Patrick Wensink recently received a cease-and-desist letter from the attorneys for Jack Daniel’s, which has been hailed as “the most polite, encouraging, and empathetic cease-and-desist letter ever to be sent in the history of lawyers and humanity.”  Mr. Wensink’s book, Broken Piano for President, features a cover that looks remarkably like the Jack Daniel’s logo. Jack Daniel’s attorney, Christy Susman, sent Mr. Wensink a letter that very politely explained that while they are “certainly flattered by [Wensink’s] affection for the brand” and “appreciate the pop culture appeal of Jack Daniel’s,” they have to protect their trademark and request that the cover design be changed. Jack Daniel’s even offered to pay part of the costs of changing the design quickly.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has a searchable database of both “live” and “dead” trademarks, TESS. You can use that system to search for the Jack Daniel’s mark (the serial number is 85456921) or any trademark from an organization like the United States Olympic Committee.

By Stephen Adams, 2012 Library GRA

The law library is rather quiet today, because today is the first day of the two-day process that is the bar exam. All the folks that have been toiling away in the library with their BarBri and Kaplan materials are now taking what is quite possibly the biggest test of their lives. Three (or four, or five, if they’re part-time students) years of hard work boils down to two days of lengthy multiple choice questions and essay questions. To say that nerves are a bit frayed would be an understatement.

So let’s just make fun of the situation with cute jokes and take a bit of a mental vacation in honor of all those folks toiling away in a big, scary room.

–          Today, Tort Bunnies is continuing its last hurrah before the author ends the strip: a five-day story arc devoted to both the bar exam and world annihilation. Because let’s be honest: the bar exam is rather close to the end the world, isn’t it?

–          When in Law School has wished its readers good luck, but you’ll also want to check out their other bar exam-related posts to recreate the proper feelings attributable to the exam.

–          Above the Law’s contribution this year has been a little less than usual, but is still a gem: a student from Hastings rapping (not RAPping…Rule Against Perpetuities FTW) herself through some property concepts.

Good luck to all of those that are sweating bullets today and tomorrow!

Image by Flickr user zappowbang

The library will have shortened hours between July 18 and August 4. Our hours will be:

• Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

The Reference Desk will be open Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. during this time. There will not be weekend Reference hours.

We will return to our normal hours of operation on Sunday, August 5 when the library will be open 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. Our hours for the Fall semester can be found on our website.

by puliarf on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

It’s a busy time to be Lance Armstrong’s attorneys. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a non-governmental organization given authority by Congress to enforce anti-doping measures in amateur sports, decided to file formal drug charges against the retired racing cyclist. Sanctions from the USADA would likely include a lifetime ban from sports and stripping Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles.  Given a choice of accepting sanctions or submitting to arbitration by Saturday, Armstrong decided to file suit, which he did on Monday, filing an 80-page complaint in federal district court in Texas challenging the authority of the USADA.

Later that day, though, the complaint was dismissed by the judge in the case, Judge Sam Sparks. Why? A failure to comply with Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires “a short and plain statement of the claim.” As Judge Sparks noted, “[t]his Court is not inclined to indulge Armstrong’s desire for publicity, self-aggrandizement, or vilification of Defendants, by sifting through eighty mostly unnecessary pages in search of the few kernels of factual material relevant to his claims.” Armstrong’s attorneys reworked the complaint and shaved off 55 pages, refiling a new 25-page complaint on Tuesday. On Wednesday the USADA granted a 30-day extension of time for Armstrong to contest the drug charges, prompting his attorneys to drop their request for a temporary restraining order while Judge Sparks considers their request for an injunction.

While we’re sure you can continue to follow the case in the media, did you know that you can also follow the filings in the case? You can using Bloomberg Law. You can request to track the docket (number 1:12-cv-00606) and be informed as often as you’d like of any new filings in this case or any other case in a court covered by Bloomberg. As this case is in federal court, you can also view any of the filings in the case, such as the numerous exhibits submitted by Armstrong’s attorneys, which include emails, news reports, and even law review articles.