CALI Lessons

CALI Lessons IconCALI [The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction] is a  resource provided by Pepperdine Caruso School of Law for students that includes over 1,000+ interactive online tutorials written by law professors, on 50+ subject areas. This includes, but is not limited to topics such as, 1L-First Year Lessons, 2L-3L Upper Level Lessons, Administrative Law, Tax Law, Constitutional Law, Legal Research, Property Law, Civil Procedure, and Environmental Law. These interactive tutorials are an excellent resource to enhance your studies. You may find that one or more of your professors will require you to use CALI lessons in the course of your studies.

CALI Registration Code: In order to take advantage of the CALI interactive online tutorials, you will need to register with the CALI service.  You will need the institutional registration code to do so. The Caruso Law CALI registration code is available in the Harnish Law Library at the Public Services Desk or you can send an email requesting the registration code to CALI-INFO@law.pepperdine.edu.

Quick Start:  Once you have your registration completed using the above referenced code, you may find this Quick Start Guide helpful.

CALI also provides additional services including (but not limited to):eLangdell Icon

  • eLangdell: Free eBooks for Legal Education – before purchasing textbooks, consider checking out this resource to see if your textbook is available for free.
  • Classcaster: Free blogging and podcasting tools/network designed for law professors to supplement their course materials and link them to other colleagues around the country.

Graduation and Email

Hurray! You’ve graduated (or will soon graduate) from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law! The last thing on your mind is your Pepperdine Email account, but there are some things you need to know…

  • The following information applies to all students graduating from any program at Pepperdine: Student email accounts, WaveNet, and other network-related resources are governed by university policy and managed by the university IT department. Student email accounts, WaveNet access, printing, Zoom, etc. will be deactivated 90 days after the date of the commencement ceremony
  • Recent graduates will receive automated notifications in their student email inboxes 90, 60 and 30 days before account deactivation.  
  • After graduation a process starts that begins with your status changing from student to alumnus.  This process involves a file transfer that takes place sometimes several days (up to four weeks) after graduation.  Sure, you have the diploma but the system doesn’t recognize you as an alumnus until that file is transferred from the student system to the alumni system. Typically this takes place about a month after the date of your graduation.  That’s when all the automated stuff starts up.
  • On the fifteenth day of the month immediately after your graduation date you will get an email to your student email account.  This is a reminder message to encourage you to move out of your student email account and other Google-based services hosted for you by Pepperdine.
  • Note again, that student email accounts and related services (Google Drive, Calendar, etc.) are disabled 90 days after the student’s commencement date (the day of the graduation ceremony).
  • Once an account is deactivated the data/emails in that account it is not recoverable.

NOTE: Pepperdine offers a special Alumni-only email service provided by Google.


email

You will want to use a personal email address going forward. We recommend that you use something professional, perhaps you already have such a personal email address. If you don’t, we recommend creating an email account on Google’s Gmail service.

If you plan to migrate your email from your Pepperdine Google email account to a personal gmail account you will want to ensure that you have a personal gmail account set up first. Then review these instructions all the way to the end before moving forward with the migration.

Part of this process should include your migration of the data from your Pepperdine Google Drive to your personal drive space. If you are migrating to another Google account, keep in mind that you may run into space limits on your targeted storage system.

Resources from Pepperdine’s IT department on this topic:

Account Changes When Transitioning from Student to Alumni Status
https://community.pepperdine.edu/it/alumni/
Transfer or Download Your Google Workspace Data(for new graduates)https://community.pepperdine.edu/it/alumni/email/datatransfer.htm

Alumni Email
https://community.pepperdine.edu/it/alumni/email/

After your student email address expires, no mail will be received at your student address. To make a smooth transition, we recommend:

  1. Set up your new personal (and professional) email address immediately when you get that email noted above.
  2. Forward your mail in Wavenet to a new email address — that new personal gmail address or another one you prefer. (Note that forwarding will only work up until your student email account is suspended.)
  3. Set up an out-of-office message in your Pepperdine Student Email (accessed through Wavenet) account informing all your contacts of your graduation and of your new email address. Log into Wavenet click on Options, and then update your Out of Office Assistant.

Caruso School of Law Information Services

  • To reach Information Services (IS), the Caruso Law technology support group, you may email support@law.pepperdine.edu or call 310-506-7425, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. If you need assistance over the weekend, please leave us an email or voicemail and our team will reach out to you in the order your message was received on the following business day. 
  • Classroom Support: There is a phone installed in every classroom that will automatically call the extension 7425 number when picked up. There is no need to dial.
  • Lawtech.pepperdine.edu is the Caruso Law technology support site that includes announcements and help articles for law students, faculty, and staff.
  • Zoom: If you are having issues accessing class recordings via Courses please make sure to “Sign in” to zoom.pepperdine.edu  before trying to watch a Zoom recording. You only need to do this if you are having trouble accessing any class Zoom recordings within Courses. Here is some additional Zoom troubleshooting information
  • Examplify support, please take a mock exam at least 2 days before your first exam. If you have any issues, please contact our IS team immediately.

Caruso Law School Computer/Technology Recommendations

If you are just starting out at Caruso Law, or heading back to school and looking to upgrade your system, please review the below information before purchasing your new laptop!

Nearly all Pepperdine Caruso Law Students use laptops for class, exams, and homework. While laptops are not required, they can be a very valuable tool in law school.  The following recommendations take into account services and applications that are often used in conjunction with Caruso Law classes and other curricular and extra curricular activities.

The Information Services team at Caruso Law provides assistance in configuring your laptop for the network. Please think very carefully before choosing a laptop brand or other hardware/software choice outside the recommended list, as you may be limiting your potential sources of support.

As a law student your laptop computer is a key tool.  Please keep this in mind as you think about how you will use it, the software you install on it, the websites you visit with it, the files/attachments you choose to download and where you store it when you are not using it.  You will want it to be functioning at optimum levels.  Theft, drops, malware, and other untoward variables will detract from your laptop’s ability to help you succeed in law school.

Below are the minimum Computer/Technology Recommendations:

  • Internet: Strongly recommend a rock solid internet connection with a minimum 20 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up.  This exceeds the minimum requirements for synchronous Zoom sessions (the absolute minimum is 600 kbps in both directions while recommended minimum is 1.5 mbps) but note that if you share your internet connection you will need more bandwidth to ensure a reliable, continuous connection.  Also please note that the age of your hardware (router, modem, cabling, computer) will play a significant role in reliability.
  • Manufacturer/Model: Dell Latitude Series/Apple MacBook Pro or MacBook Air
      • NOTE: We strongly discourage the use of Microsoft Surface computers.  Microsoft Surface systems may provide some challenges with ExamSoft software, this software is used by most students to take exams at Caruso Law and is used by the California Board of Bar Examiners for the state bar exam … along with most other state jurisdictions. 
  • Display: Minimum 11” screen – for improved readability, consider 13” or larger
  • Operating System: Windows 10 /Mac OS 11 or better
  • Processor: Intel i5 processor, Apple M1 processor, or greater (Make sure your system is compatible with ExamSoft)
  • RAM: 12GB – 16GB is recommended
  • Solid State Drive (SSD): 120GB or higher
  • Integrated WiFi or WiFi adapter: Newer is often if not always better
  • Media Drives: None necessary, but it’s always good to have a few flash drives handy. Keep in mind that these don’t last forever, don’t rely upon one flash drive to keep your work safe. AND have a backup solution.  LESS DOWN TIME
  • Battery Life: 4-6 hours, much longer is much better.  MORE UP TIME.
  • Spare Laptop Charger: If you plan to bring your laptop with you, keep one for home and one for travel.  If you lose one you have a spare.  NO DOWN TIME.
  • Warranty: 3 year parts/on-site labor. LESS DOWN TIME.
  • Security Lock/Cable: Don’t ever walk away from your laptop if it isn’t securedLESS DOWN TIME
  • Malware Protection Software: Make sure you have Anti-Malware installed.  Use the firewall that is build into your computer’s operating system.  MORE UP TIME.
  • Personal Printer: We strongly recommend HP Laser Printers with an extra toner cartridge.  NO DOWN TIME.
  • BACKUP System: There are two ways to do this, traditional backups where a copy of all your files (or just critical files) is made to another storage device either over the web or to an external drive of some kind OR storing your files in the “cloud” to start with where they are backed up by that service provider (think Apple iCloud or Google Drive).  We strongly and urgently recommend a reliable automated backup system AND synchronizing your law school materials on a cloud-based service like Google Drive or iCloud. LESS DOWNTIME

Please visit the Minimum System Requirements page for the ExamSoft/Examplify system requirements to ensure that your system is compliant.

The Dell Latitude series is designed for a professional enterprise user and is not what you will find in a consumer-focused retail store.  We have found these systems to be very reliable and strongly recommend them to both students and faculty for their personal computing needs.  This recommendation is not meant to dissuade you from other manufacturers or even other lines of Dell computers, however, we know this line to be a great fit for a law student who needs a solid, reliable system for three years of challenging work (plus the Bar exam).

NO TABLETS, NO NETBOOKS: We do not recommend tablet-based systems. Nor do we recommend netbooks or Chromebooks.  You are certainly welcome to buy them but we don’t believe they will meet your needs in law school.  In fact, these systems do not work with ExamSoft Examplify at all so that should be a compelling reason to avoid the Chromebook/tablet acquisition unless you already have a serviceable laptop that meets the ExamSoft minimum requirements. Essentially, you can bring any device you want to law school. However, if you want to take exams and keep pace with the challenges of law school, you should purchase a high-quality, business class laptop, not a cheap, or off-brand version found on sale at a big box retailer. Remember, you want a system that is reliable and will last you through completing the BAR EXAM. You don’t want a machine that may crash in the middle of an exam!

MacBook ProThe Pepperdine University Computer Store (an online referral site) offers generous discounts to Pepperdine University students on software (MS Office is no cost to Pepperdine students and employees) and hardware. These discounts are often more than the typical education discounts that you will find online. The Computer Store can be accessed 24/7 online.

For purchasing as an enrolled Pepperdine student, please visit the Pepperdine University IT Department’s discounts for students web page or call Pepperdine University Tech Central at (310) 506-4811.

Please note that using a computer on the University network requires that you agree to the University Computer and Network Usage policy.

Formatting Appellate Briefs

Formatting your Appellate Briefs can be difficult, luckily the School of Law Lawguides page has detailed guides for how to format your briefs in Microsoft Word for Mac and PC.

Formatting Your LRW Appellate Brief: Instructions and Tips for 1Ls

The Lawguides page includes helpful information on the following:


Westlaw Table of Authorities Tool

Westlaw offers a tool for easily creating a table of authorities in the Westlaw drafting assistant program. The drafting assistant tool has automated cite identification for faster generation of a table of authorities. The tool also formats citations, locates authorities and complies authorities automatically.

Westlaw TOA Builder Tool


Print Shop Binding Services for Appellate Brief Assignment

The University Printing Services department provides Appellate Brief printing and binding services that can be utilized for preparing your appellate brief. The average cost for this service is just over $5 but it’s important to keep in mind that you MUST PAY Printing Services using Waves Cash Global. This method of payment is tied to your Pepperdine Student ID card. You can also use Waves Cash Global funds for the Cafeterias at the Pepperdine Malibu Campus.

The print shop accepts PDF submissions for printing and binding appellate briefs. Briefs can be printed and picked up at either the Malibu or Calabasas print shop locations, and customers should specify which shop they prefer to use when placing an order. The latest recommended date for submission to the print shop is March 2nd.

NOTE that funds allocated to you by Caruso School of Law for copying and printing using the University-provided copiers WILL NOT apply to purchases at the Cafeteria or at University Printing Services. Those funds are restricted and can only be used on the University-provide Sharp copiers.

To add funds to your Waves Cash Global account

Contact University Printing Services


Please consult the Lawguides page for general tips and troubleshooting, and if you still require assistance please feel free to email or call CSOL information services.

Support@law.pepperdine.edu | (310) 506-7425

Classroom Computers: Log out when you leave!

Class has just ended and the students are rushing to the front to congratulate you on a BRILLIANT class meeting.

But don’t let this distract you. FIRST, please take a moment and log out/sign out of everything.

Just restarting the computer doesn’t log you out of everything. Just closing the browser doesn’t either. The safest bet is to manually log out of each service you used during class time.

Most faculty will use Courses and Zoom. Some use them separately. A few others also use a Google service.

It’s very important that you intentionally log out of each of these systems to ensure that your data remains secure.


Log out of Google services — email, docs, drive, slides, etc.

Log out of Courses

Log out of Zoom

Removing Metadata from Word Documents

Looking to remove metadata from your word documents? Have an assignment that requires that? There are a number of resources available to you through the Harnish Law Library’s Research Guides. If you are working on an appellate brief there’s a page for that.

See instructions here to remove your personal data from a Microsoft Word document.

This guide can be found at the Harnish Law Library‘s Research Guides. Select the section on “Legal Writing” and you’ll end up in the same place.

Image of word "metadata" in black on a fuzzy gray background
METADATA

“You cannot view this recording”

Using your Pepperdine email to create a personal Zoom account on zoom.com will cause issues with watching class recordings.

You may have used your Pepperdine email for a personal account without knowing, or by mistake. If so, there is a simple fix: We need to let Zoom transfer your account.

To do this, clear your browser’s cache. Then, log into zoom.pepperdine.us using the Sign in button.

This should fix it, but If you continue to have problems someone from our team can help you at the library service desk between 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday.