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From the ABA Journal: “20 apps to help provide easier access to legal help,” by Joe Dysart, April 1, 2015.

Words to the Wise: DIY Lawyering can be risky – and expensive – if you have to pay a lawyer later to fix what you could have done correctly, and cost effectively, from the start. If you need to respond to a summons, draft a lease, a power of attorney, a contract, or a will, or take any legal action that requires you to know not only how to research the law, which rules of procedure to follow, and how the courts interpret the law, please consult an attorney. As a very wise lawyer/librarian says:

“If you read only what is written in the statutes, the cases, and the constitutions you will be absolutely wrong about what the law is.”

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Every working stiff needs a laugh and a boost on Friday-Eve morning (better known as Thursday morning) and we are no exception to that truth. So, we often turn to the Legal Research is Easy blogger who never fails to tickle our funny bones – and he’s willing to spill the beans about his patrons. What more could you want?! We all have these public law library patrons, but who can tell their stories with such humor and exasperation – and with excellent legal research tips!

(Public libraries everywhere have these patrons. If you don’t believe me, read Unshelved and the “Black Belt Librarian” author who thought he knew everything about libraries and security until he actually started working in one.)

The latest Legal Research is Easy posts (and previous ones for that matter) are hilarious AND interesting AND smart AND the facts described would elicit a my, my, my from our favorite Auntie Mame (Rosalind Russell). (The rest of us fall about laughing. Auntie Mame was nothing if not a classy dame.)

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This is an update to the previous 10/14 blog post: OJIN and OECI Access in Oregon County Law Libraries

The following Oregon public law libraries have in-library public, or staff-assisted, access to OJIN, OECI, or ACMS (court dockets). (But, these locations do not necessarily have access to any or all full-text filed documents. You may need visit Circuit Court records offices for those documents.)

Contact information for all Oregon county law libraries can be found at the OCCLL directory.

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“13 States Have Adopted Ethical Duty of Technology Competence,” by Robert Ambrogi, 3/16/15:

“In 2012, something happened that I called a sea change in the legal profession: The American Bar Association formally approved a change to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to make clear that lawyers have a duty to be competent not only in the law and its practice, but also in technology….” [Link to full blog post.]

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Law Librarians Rock and Rule!

I was checking the Law-Lib archives recently and noticed that the first archived Law-Lib email message appeared in March 1980. There was another one in January 1988, but the archiving didn’t pick up speed until August 1991. (Visit the Law-Lib FAQ for Law-Lib instructions.)

Can 3,564 dedicated subscribers (on 3/23/15) be wrong? Well, yes, they can! But not when it comes to crowd-sourcing our patrons’ legal research needs. The accumulated knowledge, kindness, and humor on law-lib is still awesome.

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A few days ago a Trimet buddy told his fellow riders about an appalling tax return grab and go theft that happened at the downtown post office earlier this week. He was jostled from behind and when he turned the mail in his hand was grabbed, including, especially, the easily identifiable IRS tax return envelope.

He spent the remainder of the day, and week, doing the rounds of police, credit reporting agencies, IRS, and all the other ID theft checklist items, including a couple hours looking at security video, sadly to no avail.

Yes it’s a lesson to file electronically, but it’s also a lesson we all need to keep in mind – watch out for other people and not always strangers who invade your personal space. And keep those valuables out of sight!

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From the AALL (American Association of Law Libraries), LISP (Legal Information Services to the Public) special interest section:

Public Library Toolkit:

“This is a toolkit meant to help public librarians understand the process of legal research, effectively develop and use the information located within their libraries, utilize information located outside their libraries, with the end goal of helping the patron locate the legal information they need ...”

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We get a lot of calls for people who need to talk to a Washington STATE public law librarian. If you need to research Washington State law, don’t call us, call them:

Washington (State) County Law Libraries

Washington State Law Library

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U.S. Congress at Work:

18 U.S. Code § 2703:

“(a) Contents of Wire or Electronic Communications in Electronic Storage.— A governmental entity may require the disclosure by a provider of electronic communication service of the contents of a wire or electronic communication, that is in electronic storage in an electronic communications system for one hundred and eighty days or less, only pursuant to a warrant issued using the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (or, in the case of a State court, issued using State warrant procedures) by a court of competent jurisdiction….” [Link to the full text of 18 USC 2703 at the Cornell Legal Information website.]

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