Articles Posted in General Legal Research Resources

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Fastcase offers free webinars to subscribers; some include free CLE credit.  Check at the Fastcase webinar webpage and use the drop-down menu to find Oregon.
OSB members: Please double-check with the Oregon State Bar to make sure you can claim CLE credit for the webinar(s) you attend.
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We need to update our “How to Find Oregon Appellate Court Briefs” guide.  You can find the “latest” version in our document list (under B for Briefs).
(We’re also updating our NOT Online list so feel free to check that out. (That one is under N for NOT in that same documents list.))
Let us know if you find any errors or omissions – thank you!
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Yes, Virginia, lawyers can follow their bliss.
I noticed a reference to the Portland Law Collective and it got me thinking about the law students and lawyers I have worked with over the past 25 years, and my own musings over “what can one do with a law degree?”
The list is endless – and exciting:
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Do you have what it takes not only to enjoy law school classes, but not to fall asleep when you hear someone talk about indebitatus assumptsit, a conditional devise, malum in se, expiation, scienter, asportation, or chattel paper?
(It gets worse: You have to read statutes drafted by legislators and decisions written by judges. Torture, indeed, unless of course you are a budding Clarence Darrow or David Boies.)
If you want to learn a little about the law, try some free online seminars, from:
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It will be many years before you can do all your legal research online all the time.

Librarians get daily requests for documents that aren’t online or are behind firewalls or are available only to subscribers of particular databases.

You can find a “Not Online“ guide for Oregon legal researchers at the Washington County Law Library Document Index website.

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There are many free, publicly accessible, legal research databases in Oregon County Law Libraries.  We update the Oregon County Law Libraries Legal Research Databases directory at least twice a year.
It’s called the “Oregon County Law Libraries Legal Research Database Grid,” and you can find it at the Oregon Resources webpage of the Washington County Law Library.
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The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) has a webpage with “Brochures for Older Consumers.”  It’s an excellent list of resources.
There is one brochure called INTERNET RESOURCES: Helpful Consumer and Elder Law Web Sites that is particular useful, especially for librarians seeking to find that One Resource that might help the distraught person standing at the reference desk who has a unique problem not otherwise covered by the usual list of referrals and resources.
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The Oregonian published an interesting AP article describing grandparent visitation law and practice around the country.
This is a complex area of law.  While everyone is welcome in the law library to research the subject and their specific question, we recommend you consult with a family law attorney in your state.
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While most government documents are in the public domain, not all of them are.  Here’s a story about some copyrighted state legal forms and the state (Montana) that sued a company that violated that copyright.  The defendants were charging someone lots of money for the forms – when state residents could have used the forms for no charge at all in their own court cases.
 
This happens in Oregon, too.  Before buying legal forms online, find out if there are any free, official Oregon legal forms available.  You can ask at the Oregon State Bar, at an Oregon county law library, or you can post the question to L-net.
 
“State Law Library of Montana Wins Legal Forms Case,” by Judy Meadows, State Law Library of Montana
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