Friday, May 23, 2014

Hot Dogs and 5 U.S.C. § 6103

As one who loathed legal research—despite enjoying the benefit of Lexis and Westlaw—throughout much of law school, I am always seeking ways to make learning how to look up statutes and caselaw more entertaining. Were I teaching legal research now, I’d suggest students be sure to pull up a copy of 5 U.S.C. § 6103.

That statutory provision, as those who’ve found it know, designates, among other things, the last Monday in May as Memorial Day. Were I to give an assignment over the three-day weekend, I’d ask students to locate some secondary sources discussing this little provision. If I really wanted to get intense, I’d have students look into this provision’s impact on statute of limitation computation periods or have them determine whether state governments must observe federal holidays. For me, that would beat looking up caselaw about motor vehicle accidents, which was the sort of problem my legal research assignments in law school focused on.

Today, if I were really having fun, I’d have students look up caselaw where hot dogs were discussed. Legal research doesn’t have to be dry—and neither do hot dogs.

—Lori Tripoli

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