Articles Posted in May, 2006

High Tech Without Pain: Speaking of tricks of the trade, I hope you followed my advice from some time ago to check in regularly with I Heart Tech. Adriana’s blog is a hit in my book (that’s librarian talk :-). Not only will you learn something that will save you lots of time, but you’ll have lots of fun while you learn.

How to Find Things: Librarians have to find things (duh), but that doesn’t mean we’re any better than anyone else when it comes to losing our own things. Enter Professor Solomon and his Twelve Principles of finding things. It’s very funny and not unsolomonic (yeah, I made that up – I hope). I found Professor Solomon through Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools, about which I can’t say enough good. Reading it a couple times a week will cheer you up immensely. You might also want to visit Tricks of the Trade, which isn’t so much about finding lost objects, but about its cousin, learning new and possibly useful things.

The Dance of Wexis: The news about Westlaw’s “content sharing agreement” with ALM that affects Lexis and Westlaw database content has been all over the legal blogs and news sites, but here’s (at Law Lib Tech, May 3rd posting) one more story – and really just my excuse to get you to look at another legal blog you might not already have seen and that frequently has some interesting and useful postings.

Public Library Q&A: Bankruptcy Law: One of the most frequently asked questions we get via email or forwarded to us from public librarians is from library patrons who want to file for bankruptcy and want to find forms. Here is one of the answers we frequently provide:

Answer: If you live in Oregon, I recommend you review ALL the materials on bankruptcy at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Oregon web site.

Also, Nolo Press publishes books and articles for non-attorneys who want legal information on bankruptcy and many other subjects. Some of their books may also be at your local public library.

Public Librarian Q&A: I hope to post frequently asked legal reference questions that come to us from our dedicated public librarians at their public library reference desks. I receive help answering them from a number of our indomitable Oregon county law librarians, who like to remain nameless, if not also unidentified. Here is another question:

Question: “Law librarians always say to refer patrons to free or low-cost services and provides some examples. What is a good way to find out what services are available for our patrons?”

Answer: Start with the Legal Aid Services of Oregon, which is a page that offers links to legal aid services in each county in Oregon.

Public Q&A: The following question (and answer) is a good example of why law librarians caution public librarians when they try and respond to legal questions posed by members of the public. Unlike many public library reference question, legal reference questions are rarely answered and instead referrals are made to research materials, attorneys, or legal service providers:

Question: “I make very little money and am unable to hold a job for very long due to bi-polar or schizophrenia. How can I get rid of my old student loan, which has grown from $8,000 to over $25,000 with interest?”

Answer: This is a multi-faceted question and one that has a lot of potential pitfalls buried within it. (i.e., there are probably several details that the patron hasn’t shared with you that could affect how this could be addressed.) It is also a loaded question, as there are a number of issues here that are probably more complex than they seem on the surface. First reaction would be to refer the patron to other resources in the community that can assist with credit counseling or with providing free or low-cost legal advice relevant to the patron’s particular situation.

Public Q&A: How do you know if a legal question is multi-level (e.g., fed, state, county, etc.)?
Answer: You can’t always tell – except if you can clearly establish the person is talking about a “local” issue, (i.e., zoning, noisy neighbors, etc.) vs. a federal one (i.e., federal bankruptcy filings or medicare benefits). Even then, you can find several levels of information related to many questions, i.e., if filing for bankruptcy and reviewing what exemptions are available, the federal law makes clear allowance for some exemptions that are outlined within state statutes, i.e., amount allowed for homestead exemption.. And even a “local issue” such as zoning can also have implications if a local plan or ordinance has elements that have been challenged (and decided) in the state appellate courts (or even higher, as last year’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on a community’s use of eminent domain to set aside property for use by private developers – which started as a municipality’s administrative ruling, contested in local court, and then rose through state appellate level to the U.S. Supreme Court – which impacts all states and municipalities with similar issues.).

Short answer is never assume that any “answer” is only one dimensional. For example, the local ordinance on noise levels allowed for airports or industrial sites may not be the only answer possible to a question about what levels of noise. However, a question about what areas are affected by the ordinance might be – if the ordinance referenced specific zoning maps, for instance. (Thank you to the Lane County Law Librarian for answering this question from a public librarian.)

This blog and RSS Feeds: Setting up an RSS feed for this blog is on my To Do List for this blog – really! Bear with me, please.

Public librarian/public patron Q&A: “I’m buying a new car. Even though I’m paying cash, the sales contract stipulates “binding arbitration” for disputes with the dealer. How can I find out what this means in Oregon law?”

Answer: Arbitration, or mandatory arbitration, is a form of alternative dispute resolution. It removes legal disputes from the arena of the courtroom and eliminates the process of submitting a case to a judge or jury for determination. An arbitrator makes the decision after hearing testimony and arguments from both sides. In theory, the arbitration process should be quicker and more efficient, as well as less expensive for all of the parties involved. It is a common practice for commercial organizations to include an arbitration clause in their contracts. The Oregon State Bar has a brief introductory statement about arbitration on their website;
http://tinyurl.com/m68bd.

Even where a contract does not specifically require arbitration, the court may require it under the Mandatory Arbitration statutes, ORS 36.400 et seq.
The Oregon State Bar has a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) publication titled Arbitration and Mediation with a thorough treatment of both methods of dispute resolution and a discussion of the statutory requirements of the Arbitration Act.

Public librarian/patron question: Can we get a quick overview of what types of cases/issues are addressed at each level of court – city, county, state, federal?

Answer: There probably is no such thing as a “quick” overview. In Oregon there are several different types of courts. Limited jurisdiction courts such as municipal courts or justice courts have, as you might guess, limited jurisdiction. They typically hear cases involving traffic tickets and in some areas, they might hear cases involving traffic crimes like driving while suspended or driving under the influence of intoxicants. Limited jurisdiction courts do not normally hear criminal cases, divorces, or larger civil suits.

It used to be the custom in Oregon to refer to the county governing body as the “county court” and in some counties that is still the practice. The county board of commissioners or county court has very limited jurisdiction to hear land use matters (and some other issues) in the same way that a city council hears zoning issues.