Cleveland Law Library Weblog

PACER Courts Plan to Migrate to Require Documents to Be Filed in PDF/A Format

According to PACER's July 2011 Quarterly Announcements, PACER courts are going to be migrating to a new technical format that some people have already been using called PDF/A. According to more detailed information from PACER, the PDF/A format "... is an International Standards Organization (ISO) standard document format. The standard has been published for almost five years and is available in the current versions of all major word processors and scanning systems. It is a subset of the PDF standard which excludes those PDF features that give rise to concerns about the ability to archive documents." The key seems to be the ability of PDF/A documents to be archives for NARA. The PACER release indicates that there is no national transition deadline and that courts will establish their own dates for the changeover. Apparently, this change will not affect PACER users, who PACER hopes should be able to view both traditional PDF and new PDF/A formats with their regular PDF readers. If you want to test whether your PDF software can open PDF/A documents, try this link for a sample document. A software matrix from Adobe that I found indicates which software programs can create and validate PDA/A documents.

Cuyahoga County CP Judge Michael P. Donnelly Identified as a "Justice System Leader"

Local Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael P. Donnelly has been identified as a "justice system leader" and nominated by the Ohio Supreme Court to participate in a 2-year long, national leadership and mangement initiative of the National Judicial College. The Supreme Court's press release quotes Judge Donnelly as saying:  “I look forward to developing new skills designed to improve our Justice System.”

U.S. Courts Launch Podcast Series on Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Cases

The U.S. Courts website has launched a brand new series of podcasts on landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases. According to the press release, new episodes will air each month and contain discussions by law professors about Supreme Court cases "that have shaped American life." The press release also indicates that "Each episode will explain the case’s background, the key arguments, the decision, and why the case has continuing importance today." The first two podcasts currently available cover Mapp v. Ohio (1961) and Texas v. Johnson (1989).

Law Library's Lunch & Learn Program on July 20, 2011 is Canceled

The Law Library is unfortunately going to have to cancel the Lunch & Learn program scheduled for tomorrow, July 20, 2011. The topic was to be Quick & Easy PDF tips. The Law Library apologizes for this inconvenience and will resume programming at 12:00 noon on August 9th with a program on Skype Telephone calls over the Internet.

OSBA Certifies 31 New Paralegals

As part of its annual credentialing process, the Ohio State Bar Association has certified 31 new paralegals in the state of Ohio. Locally in Cleveland, congratulations go to the following individuals:

Mary O. Fogg, Brindza McIntyre & Seed LLP

Jessica L. Kubiak, Zoller Biacsi LPA

Chris Sedar, Skirbunt, Skirbunt & Wirtz

Angela Simonyi, Weisman, Kennedy & Berris

For more information, you can read the OSBA's Press Release, which provides the names of all of the successful candidates and explains the credentialing process.