If you’ll allow me to go off-topic for a moment, the Portland Tuba Christmas (see here also) event is Saturday, December 13th, 2008.
This is definitely a Do Not Miss event for everyone – and I mean everyone – at least everyone who likes to laugh. We might even have snow!
I’ve blogged about this before (here), but it is worth mentioning again (in different words) – we get lots (and lots) of questions from people who would not have questions at all, or their legal reference questions would be quite different, if they understood the following. But we’re happy to explain as often as necessary – it feels very good when someone lights up and says, “I think I’ve got it!”
The Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) are different from the Oregon Laws. As I wrote in a previous blog post:
“… if you research “the law online,” please make sure you have the current, official, corrected, authentic, and updated laws of the jurisdiction. For example, the 2007 ORS is not the most current statutory compilation. You will also need to check the 2008 Laws (and Oregon case law, not free-text searchable free online, though individual cases can be found here) which won’t be included in the ORS until the 2009 enactments are codified and published in early 2010.”
The King County Law Library blogs about More People are Acting as their Own Lawyers, linking to this story:
“More people acting as their own lawyers: Courts clog up as Americans represent themselves, even in complex cases,” updated 2:28 p.m. PT, Mon., Nov. 24, 2008
From the Washington County (Oregon) Law Librarian:
This question comes to law librarians with a variety of different back stories, but the gist of the question remains:
Question: What DO you do with a check that keeps getting returned for insufficient or non-sufficient funds?
From the Washington County (Oregon) Law Librarian:
Rental property Habitability questions can be separate from Repair questions for landlord and tenants, but the two can overlap, as you might imagine.
Habitability questions we hear in the law library can be a broad as: what does a habitable apartment looks like? Or, as specific as: does an apartment have to have a window large enough for me to climb out?
There are a number of excellent sources of information on Oregon landlord-tenant law, online (e.g. this from the Oregon State Bar (OSB) and these) and in print (note: the OSB link has been fixed.) The latter print resources include Janay Haas’s “Landlord/Tenant Rights in Oregon,” which most public and law libraries have (unless their copies have been stolen – sigh) and some other landlord-tenant resources not online but available at your county law library.
From the Washington County (Oregon) Law Librarian:
See the press release at the FTC: Marketers of Mystery Shopper Scam Settle with FTC
From the Washington County (Oregon) Law Librarian:
Hot on the heels of yet another law library patron asking me to refer them to a paralegal instead of a lawyer (and we never, ever refer anyone to paralegals (aghhhh) or to specific lawyers – just lawyer referral services) and my posting the other day about Liability for Lawyer Referrals, I read this decision by the Oregon Court of Appeals, Wythe v. Harrell (docket number A133382).
Here’s an excerpt from the OJD Media Release, dated December 3, 2008, but the case itself is worth reading (and it’s only 4 pages):
Law librarians never make referrals to individual lawyers. Never. Never. Never. But, others can and do. Lawyers do and can, friends can and do. (And the best bartenders often have the best recommendations – they hear it ALL – but you still have to check the attorney’s bona fides!) The Oregon State Bar (OSB) Referral and Information Service can and does make referrals to individual attorneys.
The latest (Vol. XXV, No. 4, October 2008) issue of the newsletter from the Estate Planning and Administration section of the Oregon State Bar (OSB) has the following article:
“Liability for Referrals to Other Lawyers,” by Tim McNeil, of Davis Pagnano & McNeil, with a discussion of the tort of negligent referral, joint venture/join liability, the Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct, and how to limit liability.
From the Washington County (Oregon) Law Librarian:
The flurry of debt collector news stories this past week leads me to post a few of the places to start your research if you have unpaid bills and debt collectors contacting you – and if you want to speak out to your state legislators (just in time for the beginning of the 2009 Oregon Legislative Session).
The (mostly local) stories I refer to (and surely not a comprehensive list in this economic climate) include:
From the Washington County (Oregon) Law Librarian:
There is an interesting article in the Fall 2008 Litigation Journal, The Diminishing Viability of Wrongful Discharge Claims, pp. 6-9.
(I also want to express my gratitude to the members of the OSB Litigation Section for making this newsletter freely available online.)
Oregon Legal Research Blog