[blindlaw] Bluebook

[Laura Wolk]

I think something is being lost in translation here. The question  was
how to **learn** the mechanics of the bluebook as a means of getting a
head start on 1L. Not how to complete every single bluebooking
assignment you will ever be given during the duration of your legal
career. I do not, for instance, use a reader to complete blue booking
assignments now either, nor have I since first semester. However, if
and when I am unsure of something or want to make sure that I am doing
something correctly (for instance when I was given an international
law assignment), I know how to get the information I need efficiently
and quickly either through jaws or a sighted person. Hence my
discussion of "building a foundation," etc.



On 7/20/15, Derek Manners <dmanners at jd16.law.harvard.edu> wrote:
> Michal, I agree with Chris on this one. While a reader is the short term
> most efficient way to get through the bluebooking, I would never ask my firm
> to provide a reader. The more independent you can be, and you can be with
> the online version of the bluebook, the more likely you are to get a job
> from a pragmatic standpoint.
>
> I believe in the "nature of independence" and understand that being
> efficient sometimes means using sighted help. But you need to be able to do
> your job, when possible, when sighted folks aren't around. For example, I
> was working at 11 p.m. this Saturday on a brief. even if my firm provided a
> reader, they certainly wouldn't provide one at that hour.
>
> Best regards
> Derek Manners
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jul 20, 2015, at 9:01 AM, Laura Wolk via blindlaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> I understand that I may be opening Pandora's box here, but I feel
>> compelled to respond to this.
>>
>> I am at the top of my class. I am an editor on my law review. i am
>> finishing up the last week of a big law firm internship. I have
>> procured an appellate clerkship post-graduation. I have received the
>> top score on one of my seminar papers. And, my goodness, i asked for
>> sighted help to learn the bluebook.
>>
>> Though I do not usually use the list as an occasion to vaunt my
>> accomplishments, and my intent is not to get into a tit for tat
>> contest with Chris, I am utterly tired of the false and unhelpful
>> notion that there is one, and only one way, to be independent. I was
>> stripped of nothing by asking for a reader's assistance. I simply
>> chose the most efficient way for me, individually, to learn the
>> system. "stripping" would entail me giving my assignment to a reader
>> and saying "do this for me" not asking for assistance to learn the
>> skill in the best and most comprehensive way that fit my needs and
>> learning style. My reader didn't cite check my law review edits. my
>> reader didn't interview for my clerkship, my reader didn't write my
>> paper or fix my citations. What my reader did do was help to build up
>> a foundation so that I could spend my time on each of the above tasks
>> focused on the substance of what was in front of me rather than the
>> minutia of learning what to italicize and what to smallcaps.
>>
>> Do what works best for you, Michal. If that happens to involve a
>> sighted person or, for that matter, as Chris himself offered, speaking
>> to a blind person who will functionally be providing the exact same
>> information and help, go for it. the job in law school is to figure
>> out the best and most efficient process that will allow you to excel.
>> I wish you all the best.
>> PS, if you don't make, or don't try for law review, the world will go
>> on. I promise.
>>
>> Laura
>>
>>
>>> On 7/20/15, Stewart, Christopher K via blindlaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>>> wrote:
>>> Michal,
>>>
>>> If you copy and paste the Bluebook citation from the online system
>>> into Microsoft Word, then hit Jaws key plus F, JAWS will read the
>>> attributes that the online editor fails to read. This primarily only
>>> applies to smallcaps, which you will not use in court documents, but
>>> you'll likely need to know for your research/writing course. And, of
>>> course, you should strive to be on law review.
>>>
>>> I completely disagree with the notion that reader would assist you.
>>> All a reader would do is strip you of your independence in these
>>> matters. I'm an editor on my school's top law review, and in speaking
>>> with my sighted friends, the process of sourcing and citing articles
>>> is time-consuming and tedious for everyone. In fact, the sighted folks
>>> have to go through character by character as well to insure, for
>>> instance, that periods are not in small caps.
>>>
>>> I'm a Bluebooking nerd, and I'd be happy to discuss the online edition
>>> with you. By the way, the online edition is really the only useful
>>> way, currently, to get really specific information with 100% accuracy.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Chris
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Laura Wolk
>> Notre Dame Law Review, Federal Courts and Submissions Editor, Vol. 91
>> Notre Dame Law School, J.D. Candidate, 2016
>> (484) 695-8234
>>
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>


-- 
Laura Wolk
Notre Dame Law Review, Federal Courts and Submissions Editor, Vol. 91
Notre Dame Law School, J.D. Candidate, 2016
(484) 695-8234