Hearings on the MCLE Elimination of Bias Requirement:
“The Supreme Court will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, September 19, 2006, to accept comments on the Board of Governors’ proposal to amend the MCLE Rules to delete the requirement for elimination of bias (EOB) credit.”
The full notice on this and other hearings before the Supreme Court can be found at the OJD News Site, here (if it links properly) or here (if you need an alternate link – click on News and then use the drop down menu).
Law Office Technology: I keep saying this and so do all the best lawyer and law tech bloggers, but it’s obvious you’re not paying attention:
“An AOL, Yahoo or Hotmail address is not very professional and should be reserved for use by friends and family, not your clients.”
This quote is from an excellent August 9th posting at I Heart Tech, which has answers to some of the most frequently asked tech questions from the pros and the newbies. This is an easy blog to follow, with postings only every few days and easy to follow time-saving tips and fixes for common tech problems.
I’ve mentioned other blawgs (aka law blogs) useful to solo and small law firm attorneys, but they are worth mentioning again and again. The short list includes Jim Calloway and MyShingle. Longer lists can be compiled by you very easily by exploring these two sites and looking at other sites these two attorneys recommend. Blogging attorneys are sharing invaluable information, freely and happily. Revel in it and learn.
New Veteran’s Web Site: A new government web site for veterans can be found here. Link is courtesy of beSpacific.
Crook County M37 Case: The recent Crook County Circuit Court Measure 37 case can be found at the Association of Oregon Counties web site.
Public Service “All I need is a Form” Questions: Hot on the heels of my forms copyright posting, here’s one for members of the public. Non-attorneys frequently come into libraries and ask for “Forms.” (Sometimes there are “forms” and we can provide or refer. But this is extremely rare. Legal forms in Oregon are about as thin on the ground as 18-24 year-old voters.) While it seems simple enough to say, “We don’t have forms,” it is not an acceptable Public Law Librarian answer, at least without continuing the conversation to determine exactly what is needed. But the alternative is cumbersome. How do you explain without a long dissertation things like this:
“Well, we have sample forms, though it might take you some time to locate the one you need. Oh, your friend’s attorney told you to look for a form called xxx? Well, did you talk to that attorney? Does the attorney know exactly what your situation is? No? Um, no there isn’t a form called that or even a little bit like that.
[After showing them a few books with sample forms.] You think this is the form? Are you sure? Are you really sure? [It couldn’t possibly be.] No, you can’t just fill it in, but yes, you could copy it and use it as a guide. I’m not an attorney so I don’t know if this is the right form. No, it might not apply exactly to your situation, though yes, it could still be helpful but you need to sit and read it carefully first to decide or make a copy and find someone to advise you.
[And then of course we have to set out all the caveats.] Do you know what this form will do? Would you like a book on powers of attorney, advance directives, etc., etc., etc.? No? It’s too complicated? Are you sure it’s the right form or the form you want? Ah, you might want to consult an attorney before completing and signing the form. Have you ever talked to an attorney before? Would you like a book on how to work with attorneys? We have a couple of helpful ones. Oh, you don’t know where to find an attorney? Have you tried the OSB Referral and Information Service? Yes? Oh, they weren’t at all helpful. Well, maybe you want to try phoning them again. They rely a lot on volunteer help and maybe another person on the phone at a different time will help. Oh. Well, do you have anyone in your family or a friend who has hired an attorney and might be able to help you with a referral? No?”
You see, it’s not easy being a helpful public law librarian.
Keeping Up With the Law: In the “olden” days, attorneys and law librarians would read paper advance sheets and slip opinions to keep up our state court’s recent opinions. Now there are paperless ways to keep up. In Oregon, it’s easy to keep up with the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. If you regularly check the OJD web pages, and in particular the “Media Releases,” you won’t miss much. The trick is to keep up with it. Figure out how. Opposing counsel and the judges do.
Law Firm Forms – Who Owns the Copyright?: The law firm or the lawyer? Ed Poll talks about this at his Lawbiz blog and also links to a July 24th post, Who Owns the Copyright?, at Adams Drafting blog.
Treaties Out of Print: The word on the law librarian listserve is that Treaties in Force and Treaties and Other International Agreements Series (TIAS) will no longer be published in print. The online source will be the U.S. Department of State. The Los Angeles County Law Library, among others, has a nice little guide to treaty research.
Podcasting Legal Guide: Creative Commons has posted a Podcasting Legal Guide. Thank you to Neat New Stuff for the link!
Old Bailey Proceedings: I did a lot more English legal research in my previous life when it was much harder than it is now to find the documents we wanted, so I give a wistful sigh over how much fun it would be today with the avalanche of English legal history materials coming up on the web, including these Old Bailey Proceedings.
Oregon Legal Research Blog