For the last several years, we’ve been regularly reading about lawyers getting into hot water by citing AI-generated hallucinated cases to courts. In a recent federal court case in the Northern District of Mississippi, lawyers from both sides were removed from Withers v. City of Aberdeen and fined for citing AI-generated fake cases in court filings.
 

Barbara Engstrom offers a summer reading roundup from the King County Law Library and Foundation staff, with picks ranging from speculative fiction and literary classics to true crime and historical adventure. The column pairs staff reading recommendations with a sense of who each recommender is, turning a summer book list into a lively snapshot of the people behind the library. Selections include Sky Full of Elephants, The Serviceberry, The Historian, The Count of Monte Cristo, and more.

Barbara Engstrom offers a summer reading roundup from the King County Law Library and Foundation staff, with picks ranging from speculative fiction and literary classics to true crime and historical adventure. The column pairs staff reading recommendations with a sense of who each recommender is, turning a summer book list into a lively snapshot of the people behind the library. Selections include Sky Full of Elephants, The Serviceberry, The Historian, The Count of Monte Cristo, and more.

One of the first things that struck me when I started working with pro se litigants at KCLL was that many folks were operating in a vacuum with no real sense of how the litigation process works or why. It occurred to me that pro ses could really use an introductory civil procedure class. To that end, the law library joined forces with fabulous volunteer attorney Jeff Cowan in 2018 to create the class, Civil Litigation without Tears: The Basics of Representing Yourself in Court. While the class might be more accurately called Civil Litigation with Fewer Tears, it was a 90-minute dive into the court rules, deadlines, and procedures that pro ses are most likely to encounter.

I learned a new word usage recently—neighboring. In Thomas Friedman’s op-ed, “Why Minnesota Matters More Than Iran for America’s Future,” he discussed returning to his native Minnesota and witnessing, “something that I’d never seen in nearly 50 years: a spontaneous uprising of civic activism propelled by a single idea—I am my neighbor’s keeper, whoever he or she is and however he or she got here…. they were all propelled by a verb I’d never heard before: ‘neighboring,’ as in, Today I will be neighboring—going out to protect the good people next door or down the block.”

I learned a new word usage recently—neighboring. In Thomas Friedman’s op-ed, “Why Minnesota Matters More Than Iran for America’s Future,” he discussed returning to his native Minnesota and witnessing, “something that I’d never seen in nearly 50 years: a spontaneous uprising of civic activism propelled by a single idea—I am my neighbor’s keeper, whoever he or she is and however he or she got here…. they were all propelled by a verb I’d never heard before: ‘neighboring,’ as in, Today I will be neighboring—going out to protect the good people next door or down the block.”

I love reading good books. And almost as much as I love reading them, I love talking about them. I ran into a book loving friend of mine at Mirabelle in Pioneer Square at lunch the other day and our conversation (in between bites of heavenly quiche) quickly turned to—what have you been reading lately? 

I love reading good books. And almost as much as I love reading them, I love talking about them. I ran into a book loving friend of mine at Mirabelle in Pioneer Square at lunch the other day and our conversation (in between bites of heavenly quiche) quickly turned to—what have you been reading lately? 

We are living in very strange times. The practice of law, in particular, seems perched on notably shaky ground. Court orders are routinely ignored at the highest levels, longstanding norms and precedents are swept away in shadow docket opinions with no explanation of the reason why, and AI assistance that was supposed to be a boon to the overextended attorney has resulted in the public shame of sanctions for several.

At the law library, our resources and services can help take some of the stress out of the daily woes of practicing law. And we can even help you find a good place for lunch when you’re down at the courthouse.

We are living in very strange times. The practice of law, in particular, seems perched on notably shaky ground. Court orders are routinely ignored at the highest levels, longstanding norms and precedents are swept away in shadow docket opinions with no explanation of the reason why, and AI assistance that was supposed to be a boon to the overextended attorney has resulted in the public shame of sanctions for several.

At the law library, our resources and services can help take some of the stress out of the daily woes of practicing law. And we can even help you find a good place for lunch when you’re down at the courthouse.