Biddleblog

In the wake of the economic hardship brought on by the Great Depression, the United States was compelled to revisit its system of debt relief.  Legislative efforts in the 1930s culminated in the passage of a new federal bankruptcy law, known as the Chandler Act of 1938, which established an administrative system that lasted for nearly 40 years.

Prior to the Chandler Act's passage, a young Supreme Court law clerk, Francis R. Kirkham, advised Chief Justice Evan Hughes and his associates on recommended changes to bankruptcy laws as they existed at the time.  When writing the drafts of what would eventually become published as the "General Order and Rules of Bankruptcy," Kirkham researched the existing legislation, reports from the National Bankruptcy Conference (which, at this time, was the leading bankruptcy advocacy organization), and corresponded with his superiors at the Supreme Court.  These and other materials from Kirkham's working files were recently processed as part of the National Bankruptcy Archives.  

The finding aid of the Francis R. Kirkham Papers is located here.  To find out more about this collection or to schedule a research visit, contact me or stop by the Archives.

The Penn Law community was saddened to learn of the recent passing of Professor John O. Honnold, Jr., a preeminent figure in international law who taught at the Law School from 1946 until his retirement in 1984.  Given Professor Honnold's stature in the legal community, there have been many tributes accorded to him, including those found in the Philadelphia Inquirer and our own Communications Department. 

The Biddle Law Library Archives also has items of interest for those who would like to learn more about Professor Honnold.  Last year, we processed a collection of John Honnold's papers, information which can be found here.  And in conjunction with an exhibit currently on display in the Biddle Law Library's main reference area, below is an oral history recorded in 2000, where Professor Honnold was interviewed as part of the Penn Law School Legal Oral History Project.  For more information about access to these and other materials related to the life of Professor John Honnold, please contact the Archives.

Google Scholar is a free and popular online search engine, which links to full-text scholarly articles.  As is the case with most search engines, Google Scholar users may wonder whether they are using all of the features to its fullest.     

Google Scholar for Legal Research

Google scholar provides the full-text opinions from both federal and state district, appellate and supreme courts. To search for these legal materials, simply check the "Legal opinions and journals" button below the main Google Scholar search box. Coverage of case opinions is not comprehensive and varies by court. Currently, opinions are available for:

• U.S. state appellate and supreme courts (1950 - present)
• U.S. federal district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy courts (1923 - present)
• U.S. Supreme Court (1791 - present)

When looking at an opinion in Google Scholar, you can click on the "How Cited" tab to locate other cases that cite to the case you're currently reading. While this feature is not as robust as either Shepard's or KeyCite, it can assist with finding other relevant cases or provide a sense of how a case is used by other courts. You can limit your "How Cited" results, as well as any searches for case opinions, by jurisdiction or court using the Advanced Search features.

Looking for analysis and not case opinions? Google Scholar will also locate law review articles relevant to your search. Please note that Google Scholar only indexes a subset of academic literature available online; if you do not locate articles relevant to your research please consult a more robust database available through Penn Libraries or ask a reference librarian.

Full Text Articles through Google Scholar

When you find a relevant article, Google Scholar will often link you to the publisher's website to purchase the full-text version of that article. Many of these articles are available to you for free through various databases purchased by Penn Libraries. To see if you already have access to the full-text of an article, access Google Scholar through links provided by the Biddle Law Library on the library's Goat Page, the main A-Z electronic resources list, or here. Once you authenticate with your Penn card information you can see if full-text is available for any article by clicking on the provided "Penn Text" link. 

Google Scholar is a useful free resource to begin your research, but do not rely on Google Scholar to provide comprehensive research assistance for your research question. If you have questions about what resources to consult to dig deeper into your issue, please ask a reference librarian.

We all love HeinOnline’s easy access to law review and journal articles, but did you also know Hein is a great tool for foreign and international legal research?

HeinOnline is an especially user-friendly resource for treaty research. All of the major sources for finding treaties and executive agreements to which the United States is a party can be found in the . The Treaties and Agreements Library contains all of the official publications for U.S. treaties, including Statutes at Large, Treaties and International Agreements (TIAS) and United States Treaties (UST), as well as Treaties in Force, the U.S. State Department’s annual index of treaties and international agreements currently in effect. This library also provides access to the unofficial but very reliable KAV Agreements series and its finding tool, Kavass’s Current Treaty Index, for agreements too recent to have been published in official sources yet. Additional finding tools, guides and secondary sources on the law of treaties can be found in this library to assist your research. For treaties deposited with the United Nations Secretary-General, go instead to the United Nations Law Collection, where you can quickly retrieve a treaty using its United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) citation, or search for treaties by keyword, name, or member states using the “Search for a Treaty” feature.

Decisions and documents of the major international tribunals, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (INTLOS) can also be found in the United Nations Law Collection. Documents from the post-World War II Nuremberg and Tokyo criminal tribunals are accessible in the World Trials Library, along with a wealth of historical trials material. For decisions of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), look in the Foreign & International Law Resources Database, which also offers access to many yearbooks and digests for research into specific areas of international law. 

HeinOnline’s newest library, World Constitutions Illustrated, is an excellent resource for comparative and historical constitutional research. In this library, you can readily find current and prior constitutions for every country of the world, with at least one English translation available for each non-English-speaking country. The World Constitutions Illustrated library also includes a variety of books, periodicals and other sources on the constitutional law of each country to enhance your research.

HeinOnline libraries provide even more resources for specialized questions. For example, if your research involves foreign policy questions, the Foreign Relations of the United States library incorporates Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), the State Department’s official documentary history of major foreign policy decisions, plus additional U.S. foreign policy documents. If your project focuses on historical English law, the English Reports library contains a full reprint of English Reports, comprising the important English cases from 1220-1867, and Statutes of the Realm, containing English legislation from 1235-1713.

If you would like pointers on how to use HeinOnline’s tools for foreign and international law research or help in developing a research strategy for your project, email Gabriela Femenia, Foreign and International Law Librarian, at gfemenia@law.upenn.edu, or stop by Tanenbaum 412.