Author: Kristen E. Murray

A Message from Interim Kean Family Dean Kristen E. Murray

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Editor’s note: The following message was shared by incoming interim dean Kristen E. Murray with the Temple Law community. I am honored and excited to serve as interim dean at Temple University Beasley School of Law. Temple Law is a special place in which an extraordinary community of faculty, staff, and students work together to serve our city and shape the future of our profession. Grounded in our historic mission of access to excellence, we deliver a world-class legal education that integrates a rigorous doctrinal curriculum with powerful skill-building and experiential opportunities, professional development and mentorship, and the principles of ethical leadership. I am grateful to President John Fry for the opportunity to lead the law school through this transition, and grateful to Dean Rachel Rebouché for her transformational leadership, vision, and service. Among Dean Rebouché’s marks on our institutional identity has been the development of three strategic priorities – student success, elevated reputation and impact, and sustaining a diverse, inclusive community – which have guided our growth as an institution. As we navigate this …

Temple-Law-Library

Mind the Gap

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We are in the midst of a major paradigm shift in legal research—both how it is done and how it should be taught. For generations of lawyers, the process of legal research remained static, rooted in a bibliographic approach that reflected the print publication of legal materials. However, as legal sources have become digitized and migrated online, it is now impossible to talk about legal research from a purely bibliographic perspective. The organization of legal materials in digital databases is getting further and further away from the world of books it once replicated. The search box has replaced most print finding tools for legal research, and lawyers conduct most of their research electronically. Today, it would be irresponsible to teach legal research without a focus on electronic research, and many have abandoned teaching book research at all. In recent years, legal writing professors and law librarians have given much scholarly attention to questions of pedagogy and training in a world of online legal research. One question that poses a serious and ongoing challenge is that …

Pope Francis

A Law Student’s Guide to Popeapalooza

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Philadelphia is in the final stages of preparations for Pope Francis’s visit this weekend. Center City is filled with welcome signs, street closures, and portable toilets as far as the eye can see. It’s Popeapalooza or Popeocalypse, depending on whether you’re feeling excited or meh about this historic weekend. So, how might a busy Philadelphia law student spend Pope weekend? Bunker down and catch up Time is a law student’s most precious resource. Classes are canceled, offices are closed, and we’re about a third of the way through the semester, so you could take advantage of the gift of some added free time and do some extra reading or writing or whatever else keeps falling to the bottom of your to-do list. Celebrate from afar You can get involved without getting too involved–relax with friends over a papal beer, check out a Pope-inspired restaurant menu, or grab a pope hat cookie from DiBruno brothers. Or, keep in touch with classmates stuck on the other side of the Pope fence by downloading the Popemoji app and …