Articles Posted in General Legal Research Resources

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Imagine this: A patron comes into the law library at 4:40 and says “I’m being sued, and I need to file a response before 5:00 today. Do you have the form for that? Oh, and I need help filling it out.” We would really like to help this person, but realistically this may not be possible. Unfortunately, patrons usually do not know what services we provide. Read on for information on what law libraries can and can’t do and how to get the most from your visit.

Don’t leave your research until the last minute. Leave enough time to handle any problems that might arise. In our example, the patron assumes that there is a fill-in-the-blank form that they can use, and that law library personnel can help them fill it out. Oregon does not have many fill-in-the-blank forms and law library employees cannot help patrons fill out forms. We would direct the patron to possible sources of templates that they can use to create their own document, and to resources that might help them to fill out the form. They probably wouldn’t have time to do all that in less than 20 minutes and get it to the court before they close.

Along those same lines, make sure you can devote time to research your questions. Law library personnel can’t do research for you. We can point you to resources that might be useful and show you how to do the research yourself.

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How did we answer that? Contract Law

We got an email asking for assistance with contract law, specifically breach of contract. The email specified a dollar amount, which was greater than can be claimed in Small Claims Court, so we limited our response to resources in Civil Court.

Our first suggestion was to start with Nolo press self-help book. We recommended Contracts: The Essential Business Desk Reference and Represent Yourself in Court: Prepare and Try a Winning Case.  We suggested these titles for different reasons. The first because it was about Contracts and might have substantive information on breach of contract. The second because it has valuable information about the court process and what someone is going to need to know if they represent themselves. Nolo books can be found at many public libraries, online via the State of Oregon Law Library, as well as many Law Libraries.

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How did we answer that? Service of process

A patron came in needing to serve someone with a civil lawsuit. However, they didn’t know the address or any other contact information. What other options did they have?

First, “service” or “service of process” is the legal term for delivering legal filings or documents to someone. The requirements for service are designed to make sure the person knows they are involved in the case and what is expected of them.

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How did we answer that? Identity Theft and Freezing Credit

We had a librarian reach out to us for guidance in helping their patron with a question. Their patron asked for assistance with freezing credit and the librarian was unsure where to direct them.

As we were working with the librarian and not the patron directly, we were unable to ask follow-up questions. However, from what the librarian sent us, there were two questions/directions for information and resources that we wanted to share. The first being how to find information about if there had been a breach/identity theft and the second being information on freezing credit.

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If you need a copy of a file in your case, you can contact the records department of your local court. If you just want to see the docket and list of events or documents, you can use the courts’ online Records and Calendar Search.

Some law libraries have access to the courts’ Oregon eCourt Case Information Network (OECI). That would allow you to browse documents. If you need a copy, you would need to then go to the court records department.

If you want to search for cases without knowing a party or case number, then you need to use a different tool. OECI does not offer a broad search function. Databases like LexisNexis or Westlaw do allow docket searching. This allows you to search through the dockets for key terms. However, you might not be able to view the documents. You would need to get the case number or party name and pull up the case on OECI. Your local law library can help you with this process.

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The Washington County (OR) Law Library now offers remote access to select titles from the LexisNexis Digital Library. LexisNexis eBooks are a convenient way to do legal research from home or on the go from any internet connected device.

Some of the titles that are in our collection include the ABA Spanish Legal Phrasebook, Employment in Oregon, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure Annotated and Trial: A Guide from Start to Finish.

Books check out for a period of three days and you can make notes and add highlights to a book that will be available the next time you check it out.

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How did we answer that? Guardianship of a Minor

I had a patron come in looking for information about becoming the legal guardian of their grandchildren. The parents were no longer available and the grandmother was looking to get legal guardianship of the children, to be able to make legal and medical decisions, and to enroll them into the local school.

In Oregon, the Oregon Judicial Department puts out some forms. The OJD forms are accepted at any circuit (county) court. Additional forms may be available depending on the county/local court. For Guardianship, the state has extremely limited form options. Every county has the option of providing additional forms, guidance, or instructions. As we are in Washington County, our circuit court’s guardianship (called probate guardianship) options are pretty much the same as the state.

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The Oregon State Bar recently launched Free Legal Answers in partnership with the American Bar Association that uses volunteer Oregon attorneys to answer legal questions for free for qualifying patrons.

The site can help get answers to questions on Oregon topics such as family law, eviction, and consumer law. If you are interested in getting a question answered the website will guide you through the process. After the disclaimers on the first page, you will be taken to a page that gives more details on who qualifies and what is done with your information. This site is geared to help low-income patrons so be prepared to provide income information and to answer other questions. You can submit your question if you qualify.

There is a limit of 3 different legal questions per year and you must meet the qualifications each time you use the websites.

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How did we answer that? Legislative History

I had a woman come in asking for help doing a legislative history. She didn’t get into details with what she wanted beyond needing to know the history of one of the statutes about whistleblowers.

When doing a legislative history, the first thing to do is find which statute you want to know the history of. In this case, the woman already knew the exact statute. I got her onto one of our legal databases (there are many options out there, but at WCLL our main ones are Lexis and Westlaw). Conveniently, the statute she was looking at only had one bill to research for changes. Had there been more, she would have done the same following steps, but repeated for each bill.

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Finding a good lawyer – Answering patron questions about finding a good lawyer in Oregon

A common misconception about law library services is that we can help with lawyer referrals. Many people come in thinking we have a list of lawyers in the area and that we know if they are good or not. As wonderful as it would be to have this information available and to be able to point people towards “the best” lawyer, this is outside of our wheelhouse. However, there are resources we can point people to that have some of that information.

One way to find a lawyer is to ask for a referral from someone you know and trust. Even if that referral is a lawyer who practices in another area of law, they may still be able to make a referral to the specialist lawyer needed.

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