Articles Posted in February, 2007

I work for and in Washington County and live in Multnomah County (as do many of my fellow Trimet 3+ hour-a-day commuters) and this good news made me think again about the need for “satellite” law libraries. I’m not talking about anything extravagant, though in this world of expensive remote access legal databases, database license costs could give bricks & mortar a run for its Buck$. But I, and fellow county law librarians, think a lot about how to get basic legal research materials (and legal research expertise) to those who can’t make it to our “county seat” public law libraries. My plan is simple, but it’s the execution that’s tricky. For the East County Justice Center or a centralized public library (in Washington County, I think Beaverton maybe?), it needs a little shelving for Oregon primary and a few secondary materials, maybe a room for lawyers to meet with clients or pro se litigants to meet with a volunteer lawyer, a computer for online research (a couple of subscription databases and the web), wireless service, and a reference desk staffed (or in phone contact – Skype or its ilk come to mind too) with someone who can assist pro se litigants and attorneys with legal research questions.

I can dream. But I’m also working on a Plan.

From a local law firm:

We are having a Free Legal Consultation Day here at KOHLHOFF & WELCH:

February 9, 2007
KOHLHOFF & WELCH
Attorneys at Law
A Mother Daughter Partnership
5828 North Lombard Portland, Oregon 97203
503.286.7178

In honor of a new Bedsworth (yeah!), I also give you Beer for Dogs. (It’s from another law librarian so what can I say? We like dogs.)

One of my law librarian colleagues who will remain nameless (and perhaps shameless, which is why we love her) sends us this:

“Brackens v Texas Roadhouse: Lawsuit of the Month

The court also released the following notable unpublished opinion: Brackens v. Texas Roadhouse in Wichita, No. 06-50736 (5th Cir. Jan. 31, 2007) (Jolly, Dennis and Clement) (per curiam; unpublished): Brackens and his family were having dinner in a Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Wichita, Kan., when the song “Redneck Woman” came over its sound system and employees began dancing. He sued for race discrimination, breach of contract, and the tort of outrage, but all were dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6). Holding: Affirmed. 42 U.S.C. § 2000a “was not designed … to require places of public accommodation to cater to the musical tastes of all of [their] patrons”; the defendant had never contractually agreed not to play “Redneck Woman” during plaintiff’s dinner; and under Kansas law, playing the song did not exceed the bounds of decency in civilized society. (Appealed from W.D. Texas;”

The judges in a case I mentioned in the previous post, Vasquez-Lopez v Beneficial Oregon Inc, discuss arbitration riders at some length. I’ll leave it to Oregon contract and consumer attorneys to decide if new ground has been broken. The questions the judges decide are:

1) Who decides whether the arbitration rider is enforceable?
2) Is the arbitration rider unconscionable?

The Oregon Court of Appeals decided some interesting cases that were released yesterday. The Media Release Summaries are here and the full cases can be found here.

They include, among others, a case on home loan fraud (Vasquez-Lopez v. Beneficial Oregon Inc) and one on statutes of limitations in a tort claim after a rape (Johnson v. Multnomah County).