Original Content Collections

Wex:

Around 50 Cornell students and recent graduates contributed to Wex, LII’s online legal encyclopedia, in Fiscal 25.  Under Nichole McCarthy’s supervision, they participated in various initiatives, mostly  the Wex Definitions Team and the Wex Quality Assurance Team.  These students reviewed and improved over 1,000 Wex entries this year and created more than 80 new entries. Changes in the law forced modifications to entries such as Chevron deference and the Fourteenth Amendment, while emerging intersections of law and technology led to entirely new articles on topics such as blockchain and cryptocurrency.

The Cornell Law School Securities Law Clinic, under the guidance of Professor Birgitta K. Siegel, improved and created 13 new securities law definitions. Examples include entries for Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), blue-chip stocks, Howey test, and Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).

As we continue to grow and improve this collection, we are hopeful for more collaborations and partnerships across clinics and schools across Cornell University.

Gender Justice Collection:

As part of a consolidation and reorganization, Nichole also assumed responsibility for the Women & Justice Collection that LII inherited many years ago from the Avon Center.  After re-naming it the Gender Justice Collection, Nichole embarked on an ambitious campaign to add more U.S. content to what has always been primarily a database of international materials. Using both undergraduates and law students, the collection began an ambitious 50-state survey of gender justice issues.

The international focus has not suffered, though.  Employing around two-dozen JD and LLM students in FY25, Nichole supervised the addition or revision of more than 350 resources in the collection, including new resources for Australia, China, Germany, and the Dominican Republic.

The collection has also grown with the recent addition of two new topics: education rights and technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). Education rights focus on access to and equality in education, including legal protections against gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment in schools, and policies ensuring the inclusion of girls, pregnant students, and gender-expansive individuals. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) includes online harassment, non-consensual sharing of intimate images or videos – also referred to as revenge porn, deepfakes, cyberstalking, and other forms of digital harassment and abuse. Legal resources in this collection will address regulations, criminal sanctions, digital platform responsibilities, and survivor support.