Spindle Law now offers very thorough coverage of the extensively litigated dredge and fill regulation under the Clean Water Act.  Created and overseen by chief editor Professor Marcia Gelpe, with a good deal of suport from Kit Donnelly, it should be a great benefit to the many lawyers faced with questions on the dredge and fill provisions, as well as to lawyers involved in actions brought under this part of the statute.  Like the material on the Clean Air Act, it gives the practicing lawyer an excellent way of seeing how the statute is constructed and the issues that have arisen under it in litigation, as well as an easy tool for finding case law relevant to the issues.  Take a look.

We’ve had a few comments recently that searching the tree has been sluggish. Sorry! We’re working on it and expect to have an improvement very soon.

There are many ways to contribute to Spindle Law, whether you’d like to participate during brief breaks in your day, or use the site as a repository for the fruits of intense research. We’ve recently described how Spindle is useful tool for students and practitioners alike. In case you still harbor any hesitation in diving in to contribute, this post is for you.

How to Contribute

1. Getting Started – Vouching and Commenting

Before you add branches, rules, and authorities, you may want to lurk a bit in the background. First steps in adding value to Spindle Law for others is vouching for or commenting on existing content. You can watch a short video explaining how to vouch, or read the Help section on commenting.

2. Adding Topics, Rules, and Authorities

Joining the community of Spindle Law contributors doesn’t require a lot of time. In fact, our platform is built to require relatively little. Adding an authority can be very quick. Once you’re sure an authority supports a rule, it’s a matter of filling out a few citation fields, or selecting the case to add, if it’s already in the Spindle system. Adding a rule requires carefully crafting some language, but if that rule is a result of research you’ve already completed, it’s a matter of copying in a few lines of succinctly-stated text. Not sure where to start? Two suggestions:

1. Add topics, rules, and/or authorities to one of the already-built areas of the tree (see exactly how in this quick video tutorial for editing the tree); or
2. Browse into the tree or search the site by keyword, then choose a simple task from the “Contribution Suggestions” box in the lower-right:

3. Dig Deeper

When you’re ready to add more, to get your name out there as an ally in the fight for better legal research, and as an authoritative voice in your particular field, dig into our extended contributor’s guide, and contact us if you’d like to oversee an area by becoming a branch manager.

It’s that simple. As an attorney, law student, professor, or law librarian, you practice the skills you need to be a stellar contributor every day. You craft or adapt legal rules. You cite authorities for those rules. You think about how the rules fit into the context of the broader law. You look at an authority and quickly recognize it as supporting, rejecting, or refining a rule. Apply those tasks to Spindle Law and you’ll be helping yourself and a wider community of practitioners. Now’s a good time to share.