I feel your pain

You ever feel like you have no clue what to do next?  You've worked hard all your life, planned, schemed, and plotted and are still at a point where you're stuck?  Happens all the time at my LAW library.

Yesterday, in fact, I had a newly minted lawyer come into our LAW library. Seems new lawyer had recently passed the bar but try as he might, he could not get a job at a law firm and so decided to put out his own shingle.  

Problem was, while law school taught theory to help with passing the bar exam, what he needed now was practice (or tools of a practical nature).  

I suspected he was kicking himself for not paying more attention in his Legal Research and Writing class.  Yeah, that would have really helped him out now (in the real world).

Anyway, I could see the fear in his eyes as he roamed our halls. Heck, I could smell it and he was really freaking out since he had just accepted a new client in a personal injury case and he didn't know where to start. 

Approaching him from behind (because that's what you do when dealing with drowning people), I suggested he take a look at (in this order): 

1. California Practice Guide: Personal Injury (TR)
2. California Torts (Lexis)
3. California Forms of Pleading and Practice (Lexis)
4. California Civil Discovery Practice (CEB)
5. Bender's Forms of Discovery (Lexis)
6. AmJur Trials (TR)

Over the course of a few months, newly minted was able to piece together a strategy and properly serve his client's interests without having to go to trial (and settled for a pretty penny, to boot).  

If you ever find yourself in a bind, know that your local county law Librarian knows their collection like the back of their hand.  We know what you need and can help you look good doing whatever needs doing.