A Casebrief Search Engine

By Timothy Lee, Jr | Published: April 27, 2010

As classes finish up and another academic year comes to an end, I wanted to share a resource I have been using throughout this semester: A Casebrief Search Engine.

Whether you like to book brief, paper brief or not brief, sometimes it’s nice to be able to reference casebriefs online. I started out using Google and entering case names. The challenge: too many irrelevant results. So I decided to use Google custom search to create a search site that would only index sites that provide casebriefs. While you won’t find every brief, hopefully you’ll find most!

Enjoy, and good luck on finals!

If you know of other sites that should be added, leave them in the comments and we’ll add them ASAP.

Posted in Not Mac-Specific, Techniques | 3 Comments

Formatting Appellate Briefs: Arabic and Roman Auto Numbering

By Timothy Lee, Jr | Published: April 16, 2010

[Ed: You know you're a law geek when you're reading about numbering pages in appellate briefs]

You can use the following directions before you write the substance of your brief, or after.

Either way, you need to start with all your basic pages titled. (e.g., Cover page, Question Presented, TOC, etc.)

1. Go to the bottom of your Cover Page, placing your cursor behind the last word of the page.

2. Select Insert -> Break -> Section Break (next page)

This will jump you to the top of the second physical page of the document.

3. At the top of the second physical page select Insert –> Page Numbers…

4. Select Alignment Center

Check Show number on the first page

Then Select Format

5. Select the appropriate Number Format

Select Start at: and choose the first page (either i or 1 depending on where you are)

Press OK.

6. Scroll down to your TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

7. Place your cursor at the end of the last word of the TOA § (see step 1)

8. Select Insert –> Break –> Section Break (next page) (see step 2)

9. At the top of the blank page, select Insert –> Page Numbers… (see step 3)

10. Verify the same settings as in step 4.

Then select Format

11. Change Number format back to Arabic numerals and make sure Page Numbering is set to Start at: 1

12. Verify that you have roman numerals starting from your Question Presented and Arabic numerals starting from your Statement of the Case.

Posted in Techniques | 2 Comments

Monitor Your Hard Drive Space Visually

By Timothy Lee, Jr | Published: April 14, 2010

Ever wonder where your hard drive space went? Find yourself needing to free up a few gigs to download that Snow Leopard update? While you can manually start checking individual folders and files, this can be a tedious and daunting task. Fear not, there is a better way.

GrandPerspective and Disk Inventory X are both programs that visually break down hard drive usage by file and folder.

GrandPerspective

You can customize the programs to color code different types of files, and also run custom scans of specific folders or partitions.

Disk Inventory X

The layout of the programs are a bit different, but functionally they are the same. Both allow you to see the path of each file/folder you click on.

Recently, I noticed I had “lost” almost 50 gigs of hard drive space in less than a week. Knowing I hadn’t installed or saved anything that large, I opened up Disk Inventory X to help me out. Come to find out, CrashPlan was freaking out and instead of incremental backups, it had switched to full back ups, every day. Without one of these programs, I could have wasted precious Moot Court prepping hours trying to find the cause. Instead, it took less than two minutes. And even if you don’t need to account for “missing” space, it’s just cool to get a visual snap shot of your hard drive.

Both programs are free so check ‘em out!

GrandPerspective

Disk Inventory X

Posted in Reviews & Updates | Leave a comment

Thinking of Buying an iPad?

By Erik Schmidt | Published: March 24, 2010

I’ve been fired up about the iPad since it was just a rumor, but I wonder how the rest of you feel about it. As a law student or practicing attorney, do you think the iPad would be a good fit for you?

Posted in iPod & iPhone | 8 Comments

Delete Old Junk from Time Machine

By Timothy Lee, Jr | Published: March 9, 2010

Like many, I use Time Machine to regularly backup my entire machine (and Dropbox for my most often used and important files). The great thing about Time Machine is that you install a hard drive, turn it on, select which folders you don’t want backed up, and you’re done. The next time you need to remember Time Machine is when you need to restore a deleted file, or if you’ve purchased a new computer and want to transfer your stuff.

But what happens when you’ve filled up your Time Machine hard drive? While Time Machine automatically deletes the oldest backups to make room for the most recent, if you’re like me, you already know that certain of your backed up files will never be needed again (like raw video from an undergrad project taking up 48 gigs on Time Machine). Deleting individual files is easy.

Enter Time Machine:

Once the nifty interface loads, make your way to the project you want to delete.

Select the file, right click and select Delete All Backups of “your file”.

You’ll be asked if you’re sure.

In case you accidentally clicked yes accidentally, you need to enter your password to confirm.

At any time before you type your password and press enter, you can ESC out.

However, once you type your password and press Enter, that file or folder is gone FOREVER (dramatic, huh?)!

The delete process bypasses the trash, so be careful. There might be a way to undo this process but I hope I never need to find out.

Posted in Techniques | 1 Comment

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