Articles Posted in December, 2006

Both the Oregonian and the Portland Tribune have stories today (and in the past, of course) about Measure 37 (M37) developments. There seems to be some surprise that it’s not the little guy who is filing M37 complaints, though there is some of that. Duh (that’s librarian-ese for Uh huh). Just about any county law librarian could have told them this shortly after M37 passed. We prepared for an influx of ordinary people with M37 questions and instead, nothin’. It occurred to us in very short order that most of the M37 filers were people with lawyers, and in some cases, people with big law firm lawyers. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing (if I had a M37 claim, I’d probably hire an attorney), but why voters and the head of Portland’s M37 program thought it was a “mom & pop” do-it-yourself game, I’ll never know:

“It’s a whole new ball game,” Dearth said. “It’s not the mom and pop, Dorothy English-style claim anymore.” [Chris Dearth, head of Portland’s M37 program] [Quoted from the Portland Tribune story.]

The Oregonian had a nice story today on neighborhood mediation services, “Neighbor got your goat? Time to call in a mediator.” They link to Resolutions Northwest for more information. Some Oregon cities, e.g. Hillsboro and Beaverton, have local mediation services in place and in Portland, some neighborhood associations can also help out or refer to professionals. These are terrific places to begin to resolve disputes – save the courthouse for later if necessary.

The latest issue (Fall 2006, vol. 25, no.3) of Litigation Journal (published by the OSB Litigation Section) has, among other informative articles, one by Erick J. Haynie, entitled, “The Lis Pendens Doctrine inOregon: Caging the Golden Goose in Real Estate Litigation.”

If you need an alternative to all that holiday music, try Sarah Kaltsounis’ “The School of Rock: Learn Criminal Law by Listening to the Radio.” (Linked to via Trial Ad Notes where you will also find a link to a great story about the use of therapy dogs in a prosecutor’s office.)

If you’re going to work as an independent contractor, by all means read up on the subject and make sure you understand your rights and obligations. Your local public library will have lots of books on the subject (depending, of course, on the size of your local public library), but also check out the Oregon Gov sites, here and here. Oh, and there is also this from the IRS and lots of practical information from our favorite self-help legal publisher, Nolo Press.

There is something to be said for being a new (or relatively new) state resident. We can find wonder in things like this final report from the Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature. Wonky is as wonky does. Just don’t get me started on Mayor Potter’s Charter Revision Commission 🙂

It’s a’snowin’ and a’blowin’ here in Oregon something fierce, but we’ll always have Mozart. Now you can download it all. And if you lose your ‘lectrical power, just start humming.

The Multnomah County Auditor has released its public records law report on eliminating barriers to public access. Today’s Oregonian had an editorial about the report, here.

We should always read outside our fields (and out in the fields and on the beaches whenever possible :-). I was reading my favorite librarian cartoon today and it linked to this, which got me thinking differently than before about my own plans for the future of my library. Way back in my East Coast academic law school library days, I once found an answer to an elusive legal research question while reading a David Lodge novel, 35,000 feet in the air above the Atlantic. So don’t ever feel guilty about reading whatever, whenever.