Oregon Legal Research Blog
Reading minutes from meetings can be a snooze, but they can also be very funny – and they can make a great lawyer out of you (or at least contribute to your greatness).
Funny meeting minutes examples (though I will admit that maybe you needed to be there):
1) From Oregon State Bar board meeting minutes several years ago:
“Gaelic Procedures: Mr. [x] reminded the board again of the significance of the shillelagh and passed around the marble stone, which according to legend, will provide persuasive eloquence to anyone who rubs it. Everyone in attendance rubbed the stone.”
2) From Washington County Commission hearing minutes (also several years ago):
“Mr. xxx stated to Council that he liked Government but does not understand it.”
Lawyer Tip: Read the ORCP until your lips hurt.
And then read it again. Make it bedtime reading until the rules can fall from your lips like Voodoo Donut crumbs.
And then read the Minutes of the Council on Court Proceedings. Really. Truly.
It’s horribly wonkish, but you’ll not regret it. Knowing the ORCP (and all court rules) is the equivalent of knowing your Robert’s Rules of Order or the Rules of your legislative body (and we all know that s/he who knows the Rules of Procedure, rules the roost).
The current draft minutes (from the December 2011 meeting) are dense, informative, and dare I say absorbing. You can find the CCP Minutes, and lots of other priceless information tidbits (but no donuts), at the Oregon Council on Court Procedures website.