This Week in the Law Library ... July 7, 2025

This week in the Law Library we’re looking at more bar exam resources; reviewing additional basic legal research skills for summer; and learning more about disability legal issues and history for Disability Pride Month.

Congratulations! You have made it through law school but now the bar exam looms. Don’t worry, the Law Library’s got your back. When you’ve caught your breath and you’re ready to start your bar studying, we have resources that can help. Check out our Bar Exam Research Guide.

The July 2025 bar exam will be held in three locations: Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. 

Examinees will be tested at the following locations:

• Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati College of Law, 2925 Campus Green Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45221
• Columbus: Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43210
• Cleveland: Cleveland State University College of Law, 1801 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115

Accommodations testing will be located at OSU Moritz College of Law (Drinko Hall, 55 W. 12th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210).

Learn more: Ohio Bar Exam

The Bar Exam is not a sprint, it’s a marathon so pace yourself! Check out this week’s Bar Exam Resource highlights below.

• AmeriBar, It’s Two Weeks Before the Bar Exam. Help!
• BarBri, The Final Weeks of Bar Prep - How to Get Yourself Ready to Pass, CriticalPass (July 11, 2023)
• Megan Canty, Strategies And Tips For The Final Weeks Of Bar Prep, Bar Exam Toolbox (July 5, 2017)
• JD Advising, How to Make a Study Schedule the Last Two Weeks of Bar Exam Prep 
• What to do with only 2 weeks left..... Law School Academic Support Blog (July 14, 2021)

Be sure and take a look at our previous June 30, June 23, June 16, June 9,  June 2, May 27 and May 19 posts on Bar Exam Resources.

Previously we covered:

• Basic tips to think about before starting a research project 
• Initial steps to take:
  • Identify the resources available to you at your place of summer employment and ask questions.
  • Develop a research plan. Read more about developing a research plan on our Research Strategy & Documentation Guide.    
• Using secondary sources to jump start your research. Learn more about secondary sources with our Researching Secondary Sources Guide or watch our videos on finding and searching within the various secondary source types.
• The structure and organization of annotated codes.
• Using Statutory finding tools.like indexes, tables of contents, parallel reference tables, and the popular names table to find the statutory sections you need.
• Checking the currency of your code and making sure your statutes are still good law.
• Effective dates of statutes and historical codes.

This week we will cover statutory surveys.

You may be asked to find statutes from multiple jurisdictions on a particular topic. Rather than search from scratch, check to see if there is a survey available! 

Lexis and Westlaw both have 50-state surveys. You can search or browse these surveys. The surveys are on selected subjects and you will definitely want to verify statutes you will be using.

The State Law Comparison Tool in Lexis Practice Advisor allows you to efficiently compare laws across multiple states for a variety of practice areas and topics. To produce a comparison document, start by selecting the “Practical Guidance” icon located on the left-hand side of the Lexis+ homepage. Then click the State Law Comparison Tool link on the right. You can then select your practice area, topic, jurisdiction, and question.

Westlaw also has a service called Jurisdictional Surveys. Start with the citation of a statute you know, index terms that describe your topical target, or from a predefined topic page. The result list is a curated list of statutory sections that uses algorithms to account for varying terminology across all jurisdictions.

Another place you can find a state code survey is in a publication called Subject Compilations of State Laws. This is an annual publication that identifies and describes multistate surveys that have been published since the 1960s in various types of sources, including books, articles, government documents, and websites. This publication is now searchable online through HeinOnline.

The publication gives you a citation or a link to the survey. It does not give you the full-text of the survey. Still, it is an excellent way to find a treatise or law review where someone has done a survey. It is much more comprehensive subject-wise than the Lexis and Westlaw state surveys.

Bloomberg Law has a chart builder that you can use to create custom state law surveys. Additionally, some of the Practice Centers on Bloomberg Law also let you build state law charts, reports and track developments.

One organization that compiles high quality surveys on a wide variety of topics is the National Conference of State Legislatures. They are much better on reporting legislation as opposed to codified statutes, but you can still find surveys on a wide variety of topics. Some of their resources are for members only but much of it is available to the public.

In addition to these sources, keep in mind that many organizations and associations may conduct code surveys. Just be aware that it is often harder to tell how up to date such a source is and you don’t know who compiled it or how accurate it is.

Don’t forget that you can always find out more about researching statutes in our Researching Statutes Guide or watch our videos on finding and searching within annotated codes.

Ann Magill, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

About Disability Pride Month

Disability Pride Month is an annual worldwide observance holiday during the month of July. It promotes awareness of disability as an identity, a community, a culture & the positive pride felt by disabled people. It directly challenges systematic ableism and discrimination. President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law in 1990 and in July of that same year, the first Disability Pride Day was celebrated in Boston.

This month, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Disability Rights invites you to take part in the #BeCounted campaign. Many law schools, firms, courts, and legal employers do not collect data on disability status and many law students, lawyers, and judges choose not to disclose their disabilities due to fear of stigma, bias, and discrimination. The #BeCounted campaign encourages lawyers with disabilities across the country to add themselves to the ABA's U.S. map so that the profession can make measurable progress toward a more accessible legal profession.

5 More Resources to Promote Learning & Reaching Your Own Conclusions About Disability Legal Issues and History

• ABA Wide 21-Day Disability Equity Habit-Building Challenge
  • The ABA Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council hosts a 21-Day Disability Equity Habit-Building Challenge syllabus in honor of Disability Pride Month. ABA members and non-members, including non-lawyers, are invited to participate in this Disability Equity Habit-Building Challenge©. Its goal is to assist each of us to become more aware and engaged in the quest for disability equity, and specifically to learn more about the members of the disability community, many of whom are from other marginalized communities, as well as barriers, biases, stereotypes, and discrimination they encounter in everyday life.
• ABA, History of Disability Rights Milestones and Laws 
  • Learn about the history of the civil rights of persons with disabilities through this timeline.    
• ADA.gov
  • Disability rights are civil rights. From voting to parking, the ADA is a law that protects people with disabilities in many areas of public life. From answers to common questions to official legal documents, ADA.gov has everything you need to understand your rights and responsibilities under the ADA.
• Library of Congress, Disability Law in the United States: A Beginner’s Guide
  • This research guide provides an overview of relevant laws and regulations related to disability rights. It provides resources from the federal government and non-profit organizations that work toward advancing the rights of people with disabilities. The guide is by no means exhaustive, however it offers a extensive guidance on resources for performing legal research on this subject, as well as information from leading advocates and government entities with missions to protect those with
• Ron Jones, Disability Law Guide
  • Disability law focuses primarily on the enforcement of various Federal and state statutes which have been enacted to remedy and prevent discrimination against individuals with disabilities. While disability law is largely covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (Pub. L. No. 101-336), there are many other federal laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination against disabled individuals in many areas, such as employment, housing, and education. This guide focuses on resources to learn more about disability law.

Posted July 7, 2025 by Susan Boland

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