Oregon Legal Research BlogStop the presses! It’s all online!
Wait. I don’t think so, yet, assuming also that you could even afford the online version.
When “it’s all online,” which version of a Court Decision will “Rule” the Day?
Articles Posted in General Legal Research Resources
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How Do I Get Copies of My Divorce Records?
We’ve been receiving numerous calls lately from people wanting copies of their divorce records. The first step is knowing which county would have the records (where did the divorce occur?). From there, you need to contact the applicable circuit court. The Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) provides links to each circuit court (left-hand side of the page in a drop-down list under “Circuit Court Websites”). OJD also provides these instructions for finding copies of court records or information on court cases. Note, your court records may be in the court’s archives or another off-site location, affecting the amount of time the request will take. Some courts handle record requests both in person and by mail. See the Washington County Circuit Court Records Department webpage for information on obtaining Washington County court records (the page also provides information on the difference between copies, certified copies, and exemplified copies). You can find more information on divorce and family law matters in Washington County at the law library’s divorce/family law page.
If you are looking for information on finding copies of Oregon marriage licenses, see Laura’s blog post from June 2009. The law library’s divorce/family law page also has information on filing and finding vital records.
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Libraries and the Internet Quotation: Another View of the Cathedral(s)
Every once in a while we run into a memorable Library-Internet quotation:
From: “At Your Service,” by Robert Leo Heilman, OLAQ, Vol. 17, no. 3, p. 9 (2011), (author of “Overstory: Zero: Real Life in Timber Country“)
“.... Both the internet and the library are sources of information. The difference is that the virtual help offered by the worldwide web is impersonal, while libraries have librarians. When you walk in the door of your local public library, there is someone there who is ready to help you. Librarians aren’t there to run a scam on you, nor to try to turn a profit, nor to deceive you—all common enough occurrences in this, the so-called “information age.” A librarian is more than just a specialist but rather a sort of friend to one and all, someone with nothing more than your own good at heart ….” OLAQ, Vol. 17, no. 3, p. 9 (2011).
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Law Librarians, Lawyers, Legal Publishers, and the AALL Consumer Advocacy Caucus
If you are new to the Law Librarian Consumer Advocacy Caucus discussion (and Petition) and want some history and to enter the conversation:
1) For law librarians and law library managers: there is a Petition being circulated by the Consumer Advocacy Caucus (including Comments)
2) There are several websites/blogs where you can find of information on the Caucus and the Petition – see below for a list.
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Statutory Interpretation: It’s Not Your Gramma’s Grammar (but maybe it should be)
The next time someone says, “It’s not your grandma’s world, anymore,” you might want to respond, “what a pity, my grandma was a smart cookie.”
The 9/8/11, blog post at Legal Research Plus, “How to Use Legislative History to Teach Grammar,” cites and links to Prof. Susan J. Hankin’s “Statutory Interpretation in the Age of Grammatical Permissiveness: An Object Lesson for Teaching Why Grammar Matters“
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Burning Legal Questions
People ask the darnedest questions, but sometimes other people create the darnedest problems. This post maybe should be classified under “legal humor,” and it will be, but it’s also based on fact.
See, especially, their regular Burning legal questions and Things you can’t do on a plane posts.
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October 1, 2011 OJD Circuit Court Filing Fees
I’ve been informed that OJD hopes to have the Oct 1, 2011, court fee announcements ready to go shortly after September 16th. I’m not sure when the Oregon Circuit Courts will post the filing fees with their own adjustments, but we do expect those fee-notice postings by September 30th, 2011.
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Oregon Lawyers Celebrate Punctuation Day (with a side of interrogatories)
The Oregon State Bar (OSB) August/September 2011 Bulletin has a lot of interesting news. We’ll start with the Fun (to librarians, lawyers, and writers, at least):
Thank you to Suzanne Rowe, the University of Oregon Law School Director of Legal Research and Writing and author of the book(s), “Oregon Legal Research,” now in its 2nd edition, we find out from her “The Legal Writer” column, “Let the Festivities Begin!” column that September 24th is:
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Oregon Base Fines and Illegal U-Turns
I was looking at the 2011 OJD Base Fines Instructions and Charts and the 8 x 10 color glossies with circles and arrows and the word U-TURNS caught my eye.
Does anyone follow this law – anyone who hasn’t been dinged by it?
2009 ORS 811.365 (check for current ORS and any interim session laws if necessary):
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How to Find Oregon Appellate Court Cases
You will not find a link (as of today) to Oregon appellate court cases at the OJD Self-Help website.
You will find a link from the OJD homepage, their Appellate Case Info page, or their Publications page.
This is not a horrible thing. Really!