Articles Posted in General Legal Research Resources

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Non-attorney legal researchers often assume that legal indexes will use the same terms (also known as keywords, subject headings, or simply words) we use in real life. But they don’t! Welcome to my world.

(Databases also often refer to one search technique as “natural language searching.” Ha ha ha. There is little “natural” about each person’s use of the language, and there is even less that is “natural” when talking about the law. So, when you are told, “just use natural language,” I recommend you laugh darkly and do some research to find out a little about the profession’s unique nomenclature.)

When searching for criminal laws in the ORS Index, if your narrow, specific or your common sense search words don’t seem to be doing the trick, try looking under these main subject headings first, and then search using the words you selected:

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I talk to lawyers wanting (and even managing quite successfully and happily) to leave the profession to become teachers (middle school seems the popular among ex-lawyers), legislators, small business owners, and even law librarians. I also know retired lawyers who are still practicing because they love the profession (but now like being selective about the cases and clients they chose to represent).

I read this article (below) recently. I suppose it’s no surprise that lobbyists do things they don’t really believe in (and we’ve all had to at some times in our lives) and those of us in jobs we do believe in are very (extremely) lucky, but it’s still startling to see it in print (or black and white):

“Push to ban smoking in tribal casinos could land in court,” by Harry Esteve, The Oregonian, September 18, 2009 (page 1, Saturday, Sept 19, 2009, print edition)

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Just a reminder that the 2009 Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) will not be available in print or online until 2010.

But you can still read the 2009 Oregon laws enacted by the Legislature and the Governor.

(Note: Oregon “Effective Date of Legislation”: “In accordance with ORS 171.022, “Except as otherwise provided in the Act, an Act of the Legislative Assembly takes effect on January 1 of the year after passage of the Act.”)

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It’s been a busy season for people (and librarians) wanting to find missing documents, from policies and certificates last seen 40 years ago to ones misplaced last month, from trusts, insurance policies, case files, and beyond.

So, here are some important tips:

1) Don’t panic, not now, and not as you keep crossing possibilities off your list.

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This was worth passing on, even though there is no obvious Oregon connection. We have all heard about these types of lawyers (and other Eddie Haskells in our lives).

From the Ralph Losey E-Discovery Team blog:

Court Catches On To Feigned Attorney Cooperation and Client Pays the Consequences

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Please read the information at the Oregon Judicial Department website (click on the What’s New link) and your county Circuit Court website for updated court fee information as quoted below:

“Notice of State Court Filing Fee Changes – Effective October 1, 2009

Notice of State Court Filing Fee Changes
Effective October 1, 2009

Legislative changes in 2009 that become effective October 1, 2009, will significantly change some state court filing fee amounts. (HB 2287, ch. 659, Oregon Laws 2009).

Before filing papers in a state court on or after October 1, 2009, please check the court’s website or contact the court for correct fee amounts.

Fee questions?

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Law librarian colleagues brought a Legal Informatics Blog post to my attention: Susskind on the End of Lawyers.

There are a zillion links to commentary on the book. I found Carolyn Elefant’s 3/24/09 My Shingle blog post and Comments particularly interesting – and practical: And what it means for solos.

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Legal Research Plus has a blog post: Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research (September 3, 2009, by Sergio Stone) that links to the, uh, Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research webpage.

I’m the last person ever to agree that a self-selected “Best” designation is of any use or value, except of course to put the cynics amongst us on guard from the start, but you can decide for yourself if the Best Guide … really is “The Best.” But it is always useful to have a starting place for any specialized research.

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If you’ve read the recent (last week, last year, last decade, last century) stories about relatives, caregivers, and others who are charged with theft, elder abuse, and other crimes against the fragile or elderly people they are allegedly caring for …,

If you ever wondered why public law librarians and lawyers go pale when people use Fill-in-the-Blank forms for things like Powers of Attorney and Advance Directives, to name only a couple …,
Here’s an excellent article from the Oregonian’s Brent Hunsberger’s It’s Only Money column (Sunday, 9/7/09, Business section, p. D-1) that will explain why.

It also has some valuable tips on how to protect yourself and loved ones. (Oregonlive version: Protect yourself now against elder financial ripoffs, Posted by Brent Hunsberger, The Oregonian September 05, 2009.)

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