SOURCE: ConSource
August 08, 2007 16:17 ET
Top Supreme Court Law Firm Uses New Online Constitutional Source Library to Prep for Gun Law Cert Petition
Online Resource Saves Law Firm Time, Money
WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - August 8, 2007) - Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a leading
law firm, is using the collection of founding documents compiled on
ConSource, the first comprehensive online collection of
Constitution-related source materials, to research and present the District
of Columbia's position that the District's handgun ban withstands
Constitutional scrutiny. These documents will play an important role in the
petition for certiorari presented to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to
overturn the March 9 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.
Circuit holding that the District's law violates the Second Amendment.
"This case has great implications for gun laws across the country," said
Tom Goldstein, the head of Akin Gump's Supreme Court practice. "It is
extremely important that we get the constitutional history right. With the
help of ConSource, we will be able to access the full documentary record of
the Second Amendment in presenting the case to the Supreme Court."
Through ConSource, Akin Gump has access to digitized collections relating
to the Second Amendment: the Anti-Federalist Papers, the state ratification
debates for seven states, and the legislative history of the Bill of
Rights. Online access to these documents will drastically cut the research
time necessary to research the case.
"Akin Gump is using this resource in one of many ways we envisioned this
project could be used," said Lorianne Updike, President & Executive
Director of The Constitutional Sources Project, which is creating
ConSource. "Attorneys and practice groups are able to easily find
prominent and obscure historical documents relating to different provisions
in the Constitution via ConSource, and will soon be able to create their
own collections, post briefs, and publish or block access to their practice
groups' work product."
ConSource houses more than a thousand of the most important founding
documents from over 30 archives across the eastern seaboard, the Midwest,
and California, and will soon be adding documents from an archive in
France.
To view a full case study regarding Akin Gump and the firm's use of
ConSource, visit www.ConSource.org/akingump.
About The Constitutional Sources Project
Founded in May of 2005, The Constitutional Sources Project created the
first, comprehensive, online library of Constitution-related source
materials and provides free access to "We the People" at www.ConSource.org.
Full access to the site and collections will be available on Constitution
Day, September 17, 2007. This new medium will give the Founders,
Reconstructionists, and original Feminists voices in the classroom and
courtroom, providing everyone from the sixth grader to the Supreme Court
justice with the best history of the Constitution. Collections include
James Madison's Notes of the Constitutional Convention, The Federalist
Papers, the Anti- and Pro-Federalist Papers, State Ratification Debates for
seven states, the Bill of Rights' Legislative History and 188 personal
letters detailing the workings behind-the-scenes during ratification and
the passage of the Bill of Rights called the Founders' Papers.
About Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a leading
international law firm, numbers more than 900 lawyers with offices in
Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Dubai, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New
York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Taipei and
Washington.