This Week in the Law Library ... November 17, 2025

This week in the Law Library we're teaching AI & the Law, Advanced Legal Research: Civil Litigation, and Online Searching. We're also looking at resources for outlining and previewing Ohio Supreme Court oral arguments.

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

AI & the Law

• 10:40am - 12:05pm
• Profs. Laura Dixon-Caldwell, Shannon Kemen, Ashley Russell, and Michael Whiteman

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Lawyering 1, Cohort 5

• 9:00am - 10:25am
• Online Searching
• Laura Dixon-Caldwell​, Instructional & Reference Services Librarian​

Advanced Legal Research Civil Litigation

• 3:05pm - 4:05pm
• Laura Dixon-Caldwell​, Instructional & Reference Services Librarian

Lawyering 1, Cohort 1

• 1:30pm - 2:55pm
• Online Searching
• Shannon Kemen, Legal Technology & Research Instructional Services Librarian

As we approach final exams, you might have some questions about outlining. Below are resources that explain why, when, and how to create law school outlines to help you prepare for exams.

• CALI Outlining Basics
  • Available via CALI, this CALI lesson teaches you why, when and how to create outlines when preparing for your law school exams. If using CALI, you will need to create an account (if you have not already done so) using a Cincinnati Law authorization code. You can obtain this code from a reference librarian.
• Outlining for Exam Success
  • Available via the West Academic study aid subscription, this study aid answers the most-asked questions of first, second, and third year law school students. Exam Preparation: How long should my outline be? What should I include in my outline? What secondary sources should I use? Are study groups effective? Should I swap outlines with other students? How do I prepare for open and closed book exams? And much more Writing the Exam: What is the best way to read the exam questions? How do I schedule my time? How do I organize my answer? When do I need to assume facts? How do I impress the professor? And much more. 
• One L of a Year
  • Available via the LexisNexis Digital Library, this study aid focuses on the reading, studying and testing strategies used by the most successful law students. This book is more than advice—it is a learning guide based upon empirical research and statistical correlations between law student learning and their law school GPAs.Most importantly, this book attempts to show what high-ranking law students have done to achieve success during their first year. It's one thing to read about how to take a law school essay exam—it's quite another thing to see examples of student essays, outlines, legal memoranda, and multiple choice questions.

• Your Brain and Law School
  • Available via the LexisNexis Digital Library, this book translates the technical research, explaining learning strategies that work for the brain in law school specifically, and calling out other tactics that are useless (though often popular lures for the misinformed). This book is unique in explaining the science behind the advice and will save you from pursuing tempting shortcuts that will take you in the wrong direction. The second part explores the brain's decision-making processes and cognitive biases. These biases affect the ability to persuade, a necessary skill of the successful lawyer. The book talks about the art and science of framing, the seductive lure of the confirmation and egocentric biases, and the egocentricity of the availability bias. This book uses easily recognizable examples from both law and life to illustrate the potential of these biases to draw humans to mistaken judgments. Understanding these biases is critical to becoming a successful attorney and gaining proficiency in fashioning arguments that appeal to the sometimes quirky processing of the human brain.

• CALI
  • CALI hosts and facilitates the creation of CALI Lessons, a library of over 1,300 interactive legal tutorials written by law professors and geared towards law students, as well as publishing open and free casebooks with their eLangdell® Press publishing wing.

• Exam Study Guide
  • Most law students find taking exams very stressful! This guide is intended to introduce you to the many ways that the Law Library can assist you in studying for exams. We can't take your exams for you but we can help you succeed!

• Outlining Strategies and Techniques (YouTube)
  • Daniel Richardson,  offers advice to law students about preparing for midterms and finals. (University of Virginia School of Law).

• The Learning Scientists
  • The researchers behind this website are cognitive psychological scientists interested in research on education. Their main research focus is on the science of learning. Check out loads of helpful information on studying!

• Black Letter Outlines
  • Available through the West Academic study aid subscription, the Black Letter Outline Series is designed to help students recognize, understand and master the primary principles of law by gaining a good understanding of the rule of law first before applying it to complex fact patterns. They contain comprehensive outlines of particular areas of law, a capsule summary of each outline, practice examinations, and examples and review questions.
• Emanuel Law Outlines
  • Available through the Aspen Learning Library subscription, the Emanuel Law Outlines series is a study aid that outlines the law, gives exam tips, and offers chances for you to quiz yourself.
• Gilbert Law Summaries
  • Available through the West Academic study aid subscription, Gilbert Law Summaries give students a detailed, comprehensive outline to prepare for exams. Each title also includes a capsule summary that is perfect for last minute review. Students can also test their knowledge.
• Quick Review (Sum and Substance)
  • Available through the West Academic study aid subscription, this series contains capsule summary outlines each section with a clear and concise explanation of legal concepts and terms, along with exam hints, strategies, mnemonics, charts, tables and study tips.

Be sure and see our Exam Study Guide for more information!

November Oral Arguments at the Ohio Supreme Court

You can view the live stream of oral arguments on the Court’s website or see them after the arguments take place in the Ohio Channel archives.

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

• State v. Fips - whether an officer confronted with evidence of an unrelated crime during a reasonably valid traffic stop must abandon that investigation if the officer later learns that the stop may have been based on a reasonable mistake. Court News Ohio Oral Argument Preview
• State v. Seymour (Case Nos. 2024-1658 and 2024-1732) - (1) whether the "cause" in Ohio Rev. Code sections 2903.04(A) and 2925.02(A)(3) require a strict but-for-causation or can a court require proof that the defendant's conduct was a substantial or contributing factor in the death or serious physical harm of another, and (2) if a trial court applies a but-for-causation, whether the prosecution must prove that the defendant’s conduct alone would have caused death or serious physical harm, and the existence of other necessary causes negates but-for causation.  Court News Ohio Oral Argument Preview
• In re Application of Fountain Point Solar energy L.L.C. - (1) whether the Ohio Power Siting Board properly weigh the testimony of a Bokescreek Township trustee and a letter from a Logan County School District superintendent, (2) whether the Board failed to address public safety concerns resulting from a conflict of interest and an inability to enter a first responder agreement, and (3) whether the Board failed to properly assess public opposition to the project. Court News Ohio Oral Argument Preview
• State v. Thoen - (1) whether double jeopardy applies when a trial court accepts a defendant's guilty plea and the state dismisses the case before sentencing and then refiles, and (2) whether there is a "manifest necessity" for the state to be able to dismiss and reindict the case if a trial court erroneously accepts a guilty plea. Court News Ohio Oral Argument Preview

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

• Bethel Oil & Gas L.L.C. v. Redbird Dev. L.L.C. - whether Ohio’s pleading standard under Civil Rule 8 (PDF) includes the plausibility requirement outlined by the United States Supreme Court in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal. Court News Ohio Oral Argument Preview
• State v. Bradley - whether it is plain error and requires a new trial when a court instructed a jury as to self-defense but failed to instruct the jury as to transferred self-defense applied to the charge of discharging a firearm into an occuppied structure. Court News Ohio Oral Argument Preview
• State v. Johnson - whether Ohio Rev. Code sec. 2953.33, the Application to Have Records Sealed statute for persons found not guilty of offenses, applies to persons found not guilty by reason of insanity. Court News Ohio Oral Argument Preview
• State v. Reillo - whether an appeals court conducting a weight-of-the-evidence review in a criminal case is confined to determining whether there is a clear conflict in the presented evidence, and only then determine whether the evidence supports one side of an issue over another. Court News Ohio Oral Argument Preview

Posted Nov. 17, 2025 by Susan Boland

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