FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 1999
CONTACT:
James S. Heller
Director of Law Library and Professor of Law
(757) 221-3252
jshell@facstaff.wm.edu
AALL Joins Nolo Press in Texas Lawsuit
The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) today joined Nolo Press in
filing a lawsuit against the Texas Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee
(UPLC) in Texas state court. The lawsuit seeks a judicial declaration
whether Nolo, bookstores, and libraries can continue to sell and distribute
Nolo publications in the state.
The lawsuit is an outgrowth of Nolo's recent struggles with a subcommittee
of the UPLC, which is investigating whether Nolo may distribute its
materials under the Texas unauthorized practice of law statute. The lawsuit
also follows on the heels of a recent decision in which a Texas federal
district court enjoined the sale in Texas of Quicken Family Lawyer, a
computer program that automates the task of preparing legal forms.
Berkeley, California-based Nolo Press has been the leading publisher of
self-help law books and software in the U.S. since 1971. Nolo Press
publishes more than 120 titles -- books, software, legal forms, audio and
video tapes -- and has over five million copies in print.
"Every librarian who serves the public uses Nolo Press and other self-help
materials to assist those who want to do their own legal research. In my
experience, Nolo materials are exceptionally clear and help to answer many
common questions," said Keith Ann Stiverson, a member of AALL and Deputy Law
Librarian at the School of Law of the University of Texas at Austin. "These
materials are an essential part of public library and law library
collections in Texas, and the public would be poorly served without them."
James Heller (Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law, College of
William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe Law Library, Williamsburg, Virginia),
President of the American Association of Law Libraries, maintains that "this
is an important issue that goes to the essence of our association: the
dissemination of, and access to, information. It's most appropriate that
AALL should take a strong stand."
In addition to Nolo and AALL, the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the
Texas Library Association and six other Texas citizens who are Nolo
customers or who rely on borrowing Nolo publications from libraries.
The American Association of Law Libraries was founded in 1906 to promote and
enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and public communities, to
foster the profession of law librarianship, and to provide leadership in the
field of legal information. Today, with over 4,800 members, and nearly 220
members in the state of Texas, the Association represents law librarians and
related professionals who are affiliated with a wide range of institutions:
law firms; law schools; corporate legal departments; courts; and local,
state, and federal government agencies. For more information, visit
AALLNET, the official AALL Web site, at www.aallnet.org and
http://www.nolo.com/texas/index.html.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 14 2007 - 20:50:04 PST