Articles Posted in October, 2006

Oregon Bankruptcy Attorneys C.A.R.E.: Did you know that the OSB Debtor-Creditor Section attorneys participate in C.A.R.E., which means that they travel from high school to high school talking to students about credit card use and abuse, among other debtor-creditor issues. The latest issue (Fall 2006) of the section’s Debtor-Creditor Newsletter has more details, but it’s not online (sigh). I do have a copy in my library, the article is by Laura Walker, and there’s a list of schools visited, attorneys who volunteered, and more.

It’s 10 a.m. Do You Know How Reliable Your Legal Database Is? Read this from Shlep, “… Best Legal Information,” and don’t forget the Comment(s).

Too Busy?: One of the most popular types of books we have in my law library is the sort we all know as, “1,001 ways to save time” or the equivalent. Logic has it, and who am I to disagree, that if you pick up even ONE new trick, you’re ahead of the game. (We even have a couple of these books that give Oregon attorneys MCLE credit – doesn’t get much better than that, does it.)

So my tip of the day is, if you are too busy to track all your favorite blogs, and even if your RSS is getting out of hand, give yourself a mini-vacation and try reading just your top 3-4 blogs, the ones that summarize the best of the best or have the best new tips themselves. For me, they are Stark County Law Library, Jim Calloway, My Shingle, and Robert Ambrogi. You get to pick your own. (Crazy librarian that I am, I have my Daily and my Daily Quick Blog lists, Weekly and Monthly ones, and more. Sad, isn’t it.) Sure you’ll miss a some good stuff from the other bloggers, but this team covers an awful lot of ground, especially for solo and small law firm practitioners, the group I most aim to please.

“One Toke Over the Line” at WW: The Willamette Week, in a story by Ian Demsky on 10/25/06, “One Toke Over the Line” reports on the Oregon Legislature’s [moderately successful] attempt to make selling pot “the ‘king’ of drug crimes.” WW story here, WW issue here, state law here (look for 2005 Regular Session, SB 907 or Laws, Chapter 708).

Victims of Paternity Fraud, Pop-Up Pops, and Other Tales from the Family Law Trenches: The past two issues of ABA Family Law Section’s “Family Law Quarterly” have been quite interesting. Spring 2006 was on “Family Boundaries: Symposium on Third-Party Rights and Obligations with Respect to Children,” and the Summer 2006 on, “Symposium on Fathers and Family Law.” You need to be an ABA and a Family Law Section member or a subscriber to receive the hard copy, but if you are neither contact your local law library to see if they have a copy you can read. Section link is here and the tables of contents are here (as of this posting only the contents of the Spring 2006 issue was posted, not the Summer issue).

Rabies Alert – Vaccinate Your Pets: Portland metro area and beyond: If you don’t think this has anything to do with the law, think again:

“A joint coalition of Portland metropolitan area animal services and welfare agencies, public health officials, and veterinary professionals are alerting cat, dog, and ferret owners to protect themselves and their pets by getting rabies vaccinations for their companion animals. This advisory is a result of a recent increase in animal rabies cases, specifically in bats and foxes, in Oregon.”

Forfeiture Manual: beSpacific links to government documents that have sometimes been tough to find and that are now at The Memory Hole, including the “Asset Forfeiture Policy Manual,” among others.

Oregon Employment/Independent Contractor Law: The Willamette Week ran a story by Nigel Jaquiss this week (10/25/06 issue) on a lawsuit by two Oregonian employees against their (former) employer.

Fastcase: Future Lawyer has a plug for Fastcase, which the Florida bar (among others) provides “free” for their members. Not to bash Casemaker at all (full disclosure: Oregon State Bar members use Casemaker, but unlike Washington state, it’s not available to Oregon’s public law librarians – go figure). I’m trying to get Fastcase for my county the same way I have HeinOnline (you just need a public library card in my law library’s county to use HeinOnline remotely from anywhere – you don’t need to be a lawyer). Fastcase has been great to work with so far. I just need to crunch numbers, do a trial run, and make a decision. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? One day we’ll let you in on a Day in The Life of a County Law Librarian. NOT easy, not pretty – but definitely fun.

Funny Lawyers Who are Funnier Than Lawyer Jokes:

“I now have a car that talks to me. It gives me directions. As near as I can determine, a very small woman lives behind my dashboard and someone pays her to tell me where to go. I find this remarkable, since there are so many people willing to do that for free.” (Justice Bedsworth, OC Lawyer, October 2006)

Do you realize just how many lawyer comedians we have in this kooky profession? Leaving aside lawyer jokes (please), we have the inimitable Bedsworth, Courthouse News (I’m not sure it’s supposed to be funny, but it is – and the editorials are almost always worth reading), and the Anonymous Lawyer (yes, it’s a matter of taste – over 40’s usually find it funnier than his peers – go figure – I find it snortingly funny, which tells you something about me). There are lots of others (some blawkers, e.g. here and here, will do all the work for you and point to funny judicial opinions), but as a blorker, I have to go and get serious now.