View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE

provided by University of New Mexico

10-1982

The Law School : Its Function, Structure, and Management

Robert J. Desiderio University of New Mexico - School of Law

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship

Part of the Law Commons, and the Law Librarianship Commons

Recommended Citation Robert J. Desiderio, The Law : Its Function, Structure, and Management, 73 Special 292 (1982). Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/727

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the UNM School of Law at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected].

-special librariese-

OCTOBER1982 VOLUME73, NUMBER4 ISSN 0038-6723 SPLBAN

Letters 266 The Role of an Academic in the lnformation Age Janice W. Holladay lnformation Management and Special Librarianship Miriam Drake 270 Determining the Information Needs of Marketing Executives Stanley F. Stasch and Ronald T. Lonsdale Corporate Climate and Its Effect on lnformation Management Karen Feingold Ceppos 280 Management of Proprietary Information Margaret H. Graham

Achieving Failure in the Company Environment 286 The User-Oriented Library in an Mark Baer Industrial Setting Adele Hoskin, Winston C. Lister, and Max M.Marsh Management Looks at the Corporate Library Donald C. Spindler The Law School Library Robert J. Desiderio

Marketing for Special Libraries and lnformation Centers lnformation Management: Arthur Sterngold A Bibliography William F. Wright

Mainstreaming the New Library Elizabeth Keeler ON THE SCENE

Actions of the Board June 4, 5, and 11, 1982 iqublzsher: DAVIDR. BENDER Edrtor: NANCYM. VIGGIANO 1982 Salary Survey ~4sszstantEditor: DORISYOUDELMAN Draft Report (~lrc~lation:FREDERICK BAUM

Special L~brarzes is published by Special Libraries Associa- Reviews tion, 235 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10003 (2121477-9250). Quarterly: January, April, July, October. Annual index in October Issue. lndex to Advertisers

61Copyright 1982 by Special Libraries Association. Material protected by this copyright may be photocopied Annual lndex for the noncommercial purpose of scholarship or research.

Second class postage pald at New York, N.Y., and at addi- tional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Spe- cial Libraries Association, 235 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

october 7982 The Law School Library Its Function, Structure, and Management Robert J. Desiderio University of New Mexico Law School, Albuquerque, N. Mex. 87131

.The has a special and unique importance because of the nature of our legal system and its role as a laboratory for anyone involved in a legal proceeding. Stu- dents, faculty, , , and lay persons cannot accomplish legal work without the library. Law libraries, in the process of transition, are planning or implementing computer-based retrieval systems and video devices for training and instruction. Law have significant responsibilities for accurate information retrieval and teaching legal research techniques.

E LAW LIBRARY has many found in a basic law library. There are users. It not only serves the law official state case reporters, statutes, T"faculty and students but is also and various secondary materials. used by the practicing on a daily Of the approximately 175 accredited basis. In addition, lay people use the law schools in this country, only 15 law library to find answers or explana- have libraries with less than 100,000 tions to their questions. Without the volumes. Most of those have around law library, the legal system could not 100,000 volumes, and many are rela- function; a system grounded on prece- tively new schools. A large number of dent must, at a minimum, provide state and county law libraries have col- access to those precedents. lections of more than 100,000 volumes. The special nature of the law library is It is estimated that a minimm of 225 law highlighted by noting that there are libraries in this country have holdings more books about law than any other of more than 100,000 volumes. A large single subject. The National Reporter percentage of those exceed 200,000, System, published by the West Publish- with a few exceeding 500,000 volumes.* ing Company, which includes all re- ported appellate cases and many trial *The purpose of this comment is to sketch court cases, now comprises 7,500 the role and structure of the law school li- volumes and is growing at approxi- brary. The basis of the following presentation mately 200 volumes each year. The will be drawn from the author's extensive ex- National Reporter System represents perience with the University of New Mex~co only a fraction of the primary materials Law School library.

292 Copyrtght D 1982 Specla L~brariesAssoc~atlon special libraries Role and Function of the ries contain at least a minimal collection Law Library of secondary material. Indeed, all libraries have as their In addition to law sections of general primary objective housing and making libraries, there are at least four institu- available the information lawyers and students of law need in their work. tions that have law libraries. First, most law firms have libraries. The size of However, few county, state, and law these libraries relates directly to the size office libraries are large enough to of the law firm. Some are as large as, supply lawyers with all needed re- if not larger than, most county law sources. Physical space and costs are too libraries. Others are quite small con- prohibitive for these libraries to be full- taining mainly local or regional re- service libraries. As a result, in many porters and local statutes. Second, many states the law school libraries have counties or county courts have libraries. come to serve this purpose. For ex- These vary in size, ranging from a few ample, in New Mexico, the Supreme thousand to 700,000 volumes in the Court has a fine library; however, the case of the Los Angeles County Law primary law library for the state is the Library.* Third, most states have state library at the University of New Mexico or supreme court libraries. These libra- (UNM) Law School. Recognizing that ries are used primarily by government UNM is the only law school in the state officials. Finally, all law schools have and that New Mexico is the fifth largest libraries for the benefit of students, state geographically gives some idea of faculty, judiciary, bar and, in many the responsibility that the library has accepted. cases, the general public. These four li- braries do have a common denomina- tor; they contain the necessary materials The Law School Library and information through which the lawyer acts. Service to the bar is only one, and the A goal of our legal system is conflict least important, of the law school resolution. To develop the principles library's obligations. The library's pri- which become the standards for re- mary responsibility is to the educa- solving disputes, legislation and case tional and research programs of the law precedent are the essential ingredients. school. In the educational area, the Analysis and synthesis of theses library must complement the classroom sources are the lawyer's methodology. and clinical instruction. This means that Without access to the information, the the library must have the particular lawyer cannot function. The law library source materials, as well as adequate (in essence) is the lawyer's laboratory. copies and sufficient facilities for stu- In addition to cases and statutes, dents and faculty. Moreover, the staff there are many secondary materials- must help in the teaching of legal re- treatises, monologs, journals, and form search and bibliography. books-which aid the lawyer in under- With respect to research, the library standing issues, gaining ideas for re- must have the information, or be able solving them, and providing forms to to acquire it quickly, that faculty and carry out any plan. These secondary student researchers require. Faculty materials are essential tools for the research is as varied as the faculty. lawyer serving a client. Most law libra- Generally, a law school faculty reflects interest in all areas of the law; thus, the library must be able to respond to all *The data on state and county libraries is legal - subject matters. ~lt-bough the taken from Volume 74, No. I, Winter 1981 of library may concentrate in one area (for the Law Library Journal, pp. 121-151, example, UNM has a large Indian Law 160-196. collection and is developing a Latin

october 7982 American collection), access to all areas free research." The staff will prepare a is essential. Because of law journals, bibliography for the lawyer and photo- moot court programs, and independent copy and mail relevant information to research projects, students are also in- the lawyer. The staff also serves the volved in legal research. Their demands judiciary on occasion and responds to must be accommodated. questions posed by inmates at the state As this brief description illustrates, prison. the law school library is multifaceted. It Obviously, these people must under- must serve the practicing lawyer, the stand the nature of legal questions, the law professor, the law student, and the library, and the faculty, student, and public. Often, the needs of these groups lawyer population with whom they overlap. The library resources that deal. The library has accepted the students and faculty need are generally substantial costs involved because of the same as lawyers require, but the re- the importance it places on the notion search and teaching requests of the law that, as a state law library, it must serve school are generally broader than the the varied needs of different users. bar desires. Therefore, law school libra- Since the lawyers in New Mexico are ries must be research as well as service dispersed over a large geographical area libraries. This bears on the size and with little access to a complete law training of the library staff and on the library, the library must respond to budgetary demands of the law school their needs. The quality of legal repre- library. sentation is dependent upon it.

Facility

The staff of law school libraries A spacious and comfortable law usuallv consist of a law librarian. tech- school library facility is essential. The nical gervice librarians, and refkrence facility's function is not merely to store and research librarians. The law libra- books and other materials--obviously, rian normally is trained in library the library is a work place for the science and must be a member of the user-but it must also serve as the law facultv. The other librarians mav lawyer's laboratory. Lawyers normally or may not have legal training and do not select one book and read all or generally are not members of the law most of it; they continuously search for faculty. At UNM, the library has its own and select additional legislative ma- faculty which consists of all the profes- terial, cases, and interpretive informa- sional librarians. tion to analyze and synthesize. It is not It is imperative that the library have a unusual to find stacks of books with competent reference and research staff. notices, "Please do not shelve." To help ~heselibrarians perform research and the lawyer with extensive research proj- reference work for faculty, students, ects, the UNM law library has four of- lawyers, state agencies, and the public. fices for members of the bar. Lawyers For example, the research and reference can reserve these offices for a week at a department at UNM includes a lawyer1 time. This allows them to work on their librarian, a lawyer, and three staff pro- projects without removing their re- fessionals who handle reference ques- search materials and work product at tions from students, faculty, lawyers, the end of each day. and the public; are assigned substantial Law students quickly learn that they research projects by the faculty; and will spend hours in the library research- provide preliminary research for ing a problem or simply preparing for lawyers throughout the state. Lawyers classes. For this reason, law school ac- understand that they can call in a ques- creditation rules require that a law tion and be provided with "an hour's school library be able to seat at least

294 special libraries 50% of the schools' student body at any time. Most libraries have more than the minimum; for example, the UNM library has seating space for all its law students.

Introducing New Technologies

Law libraries are facing a new facility need: computer and video libraries. As in the case of libraries in general, law libraries are introducing data retrieval systems into their collections. It is unusual to find a law school library that exposed to these technological advances does not have either LEXIS or WEST- and is not as apprehensive about them LAW. These are national computer re- as is the faculty. These information search databases, the former offered by specialists are the "frontline" educators Mead Data Company, and the latter by who will instruct the faculty and stu- West Publishing Company. Moreover, dents in the use of technology. state computer systems which access state cases, statutes, attorney general opinions, and similar legal material are Budget being developed. Finally, law libraries are beginning to establish video librar- With the increase in the cost of ies. Local and national continuing printed materials, the need for addi- legal education tapes, video tapes pre- tional and more qualified staff, the in- pared by faculty to supplement a class, troduction of computer and other elec- and tapes of classes which allow stu- tronic equipment, and the additional dents to complete a course without ever need for library space, the budgetary visiting a classroom are beginning to be demands of the UNM library are esca- introduced into libraries. Law schools lating at an astounding rate. The library and libraries are asking themselves how budget is presently 30% of the law does the video and computer explosion school's total instructional budget. The fit within their library and educational questions raised by the large financial plans. The more specific concerns in- needs of the librarv are: Can admini- volve acquisition of the equipment and strators continue to allocate larger per- databases, and providing adequate centages of their total budget to the li- space and security within the library. brary? If so, how? Book shelves, tables, and chairs are only In addressing these questions, it a part of the library's facilities. Micro must first be noted that most law school tape devices, computer equipment and libraries are not part of the university space, audiovisual carrels, and the like library system, they are a division of the are emerging as the new facility needs. law school. Law school accrediting rules Not only are these new technologies state: forcing libraries to reconsider their use of space, they are also causing rethink- The law school library must be a ing in education. Electronic research responsive and active force within the educational life of the law and teaching devices must be inte- school. Its effective support of the grated into the curriculum. Should they school's teaching and research pro- complement or even replace traditional grams requires a direct, continuing courses, and how? How do we teach and informed relationship with the students to use these devices? The faculty and administration of the library staff is essential here. It has been law school. The law school library

october 1982 shall have sufficient administrative of the law library is essential to the law autonomy to direct its growth, school and the legal profession. The development and utilization to obligation of the law school, in general, afford the best possible senrice to and the dean, in particular, is to raise the law school. the funds needed by sustained growth (a) The dean, law librarian, and faculty of the law school shall be of the library. responsible for determining Persuading, arguing, and cajoling the library policy, including the central administration has been the selection and retention of per- traditional method of funding the sonnel, the selection of acquisi- library, especially with state affiliated tions, arrangement of materials schools. But more long-range planning and provision of reader ser- is required. University budgets are vices. finite, and in today's economy, cannot (b) The budget for the law library be stretched further. shall be determined as part of, Outside funding is called for. Endow- and administered in the same manner as, the law school ment programs and charges for library budget. use by lawyers are not unusual. However, they have not been available This autonomy creates a basic con- for many state law school libraries flict, usually with the general university because it is believed that taxes support administration. Because the UNM law the institution. Thus, the library should library budget is so large, questions are be open without further charge. constantly being raised as to whether a A new method to attain additional library of such size is needed. Univer- financial support for the law school sity administrators ask this question on library is being explored in New principle; law faculty, consciously or Mexico, and probably in other states, as unconsciously, sometimes question the well. The method involves clients' trust need to collect so heavily in their col- funds. Pursuant to the Code of Profes- leagues' subject areas. The library must sional Responsibility, a lawyer is re- defend itself from these lines of attack quired to maintain a client's funds in a while remaining fair to all parties. trust account. These monies, which in-

- With the increase in the cost of printed materials, the need for additional and more qualified staff, the intro- duction of computer and other electronic equipment, and the additional need for library space, the budget- ary demands of the library are escalating at an as- tounding rate.

A second criticism from university clude awards won for the client which administrators who try to compare the have. not been disbursed, are not law library to other types of libraries is banked in separate accounts for each that staffing is unnecessarily large. The client. Rather, one trust account is library is in the uncomfortable position opened in which are deposited monies of having to justify the need forits rela- attributed to all clients. Interest is gen- tively large staff in comparsion to other erally not earned on these trust accounts university libraries. because of uncertainty as to who is en- The question, "Can we continue to titled to the interest. The banks are the fund the law library" should be ans- only ones who benefit from this system. wered by stating, "We must." The The proposal is that lawyers bank development, growth, and innovation trust funds with state or local bar asso- special libraries ciations. These associations would plan-an accreditation requirement-is maintain the funds in a banking institu- involved, the library is continuously tion and would earn interest on these evaluated. The librarian speaks to all funds. The bar would then allocate that the faculty about collection develop- interest to ongoing bar projects. One of ment; a regular list of book purchases is those projects is support of the law circulated among the faculty; and a school library. Since the law library is a member of the law faculty sits on the resource available to and used by all law library faculty meetings. Last year, lawyers in the state, allocating at least a in addition, a nationally recognized law part of the interest allows the bar to par- librarian was commissioned to evaluate ticipate in the continued development the library. That evaluation will become of the library. the basis of a review of the library plan. Evaluation of the library also comes, directly or indirectly, from outside Evaluation sources. Since the library is used by lawyers, they are also concerned about Law schools, including their li- its growth and development and the braries, are formally evaluated periodi- services that directlv affect them. Since cally by the American Bar Association the library is committed to serving and, for those schools which are its users, their suggestions are en- members, the Association of American couraged. Law Schools. Although these accredit- ing agencies are interested in the quality of the libraries, they normally Conclusion measure them through quantifiable data. They are interested in the size and The law library is the paradigm composition of the collection, the size special library; its users cannot practice and arrangement of the facility, the their profession without it. In fact, our number, qualifications and salaries of justice system cannot function without the staff, and the efficiency of the pro- it. The challenge is to continue the cessing and cataloging function. The development of the library so that logic is that a quality library requires a students, faculty, and lawyers will have minimum commitment, defined by the the means to resolve human conflict in accrediting associations in terms of an orderly fashion. It is the obligation of books, equipment and people; and that library administrator's to assure that the there is assurance that at least a basic library continuously responds and minimum is maintained. Standards serves its users and to provide the above that minimum are the concern of financial resources that this obligation the law school. demands. Self-evaluations of law schools vary. Some schools have faculty committees which formulate library plans and monitor them. Other schools, such as Robert J. Desiderio is Dean of the the UNM law school, use informal pro- University of New Mexico Law School, cesses. Although a general library Albuquerque, N. Mex.

october 1982