Oregon Legal Research BlogOREGON’S FINAL PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY LIST RELEASED BY SECRETARY ATKINS
“Voters have until April 26th to decide to participate in a major party primary.” [Link to Secretary of State’s media release.]
Articles Posted in Legal News & Commentary
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Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) (see also this view of the TPP, among others) would become FEDERAL law, not STATE law, so you should start your research with your Oregon Congressional Delegation. This is not to say you shouldn’t also talk to your Oregon state representatives, who should be conversant on the subject of the TPP anyway, if only because any national trade laws will affect you locally, your business, you as consumer, and all of us (most of us) as taxpayers.
A brief tutorial:
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Oregon State Bar (OSB) Discipline System Review Committee Reports
Publicly published official documents from the 2015-16 Oregon State Bar (OSB) Discipline System Review can be found at the OSB website and via internet searches. You can also search for news stories about the Review using these words and limiting your search to the past year (unless you want previous years’ reports): Discipline System Review Committee Oregon State Bar
Currently, you can read the OSB documents from their publicly posted Discipline System Review Committee PDF.
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Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability: Report on Judge Vance Day
The Oregonian has posted the Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability report to the Oregon Supreme Court on Marion County Circuit Court Judge Vance Day.
You can find the report’s link at their 1/25/16 article:
“Judge Vance Day should be ousted from job, in part for refusing to marry gays, commission says,” by Aimee Green, Oregonian, January 25, 2016.
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Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Adds Online Citations to Dockets
According to a recent announcement “[t]he United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is taking further steps to ensure that information derived from the Internet and cited in official court opinions remains available even if the original online resource ceases to exist or is altered.” As of January 4, 2016, they automatically add PDF files of websites cited in documents to the case docket, accessible through their online case management/filing system and PACER.
From 2008 through 2015 the Ninth Circuit Library created and maintained an online collection of PDF files of Websites Cited in Ninth Circuit Opinions. This change will make the relevant files more apparent to researchers looking at a case docket.
Source: Online Citation Sources Added to Docket, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Jan. 1, 2016.
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Too Big to Sue, (new-ish) Tort Reform, Arbitration Clauses, the Supreme Court and You
If you haven’t seen these 2 articles in your news feeds then you’re not doing your consumer law education reading:
New York Times articles, by Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Michael Corkery, November 2015:
Beware the Fine Print, Part I: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice
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Amazon Sues “Fake” Reviewers (follow-up lawsuit) in King County
On October 16th, Amazon filed a a follow-up to its King County Case No. 15-2-08579-4 SEA (filed April 8, 2015): King County Superior Court, 15-2-25395-6 SEA, for:
Breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and other causes of action.
BBC News story: Amazon targets 1,114 ‘fake reviewers’ in Seattle lawsuit
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Coming Soon to a Lawyer’s Website Near You, .Law Domains
As of yesterday, .law domains are available for purchase, but only by licensed attorneys. This new top level domain is an attempt to provide verification to lawyer websites. For the first week the domains will be costly, although the price drops significantly each day. So expect to see big law firms gobble up the prime “real estate” first. Solo practitioners and small firms will likely get in the game as prices go down.
If you’re a lawyer, you can purchase through an authorized registrar. If you’re seeking a lawyer, you’ll see these domains pop up over the following weeks.
Source: “New .Law Domains Go on Sale Today – Here’s How to Buy One” by Robert Ambrogi.
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Oregon Lawyer Ethics: When Lawyers Sue Lawyers for Ethical Breaches (The Bee, Editorial)
“Ethics and the Law in Oregon, spotlighted by a local lawyer,” editorial, The Bee, July 2015 (Vol. 109, No. 11)
Excerpt: “We have heard comments for quite some time, from folks in the legal profession, suggesting that large law firms in Oregon get preferential treatment by the Oregon Bar Association over the small firms and individual practitioners. Comments like that are easy to dismiss as simply sour grapes – but now, a lawsuit claims the same thing.
In a news report dated Friday, February 27, 2015, and filed by reporter Annie Ellison under the headline “Federal Suit Against Oregon State Bar Alleges Favoritism and Discrimination”, it is stated that “Software developer and former VP of Marketing for Oracle Corp. James Reilly and Victoria Jelderks filed the suit Feb. 26 against the Oregon State Bar Association and general counsel Helen Hierschbiel. ‘If you are from an influential firm in the State of Oregon, you can do whatever you want and the bar can dismiss it,’ Reilly said. ‘As a consequence, these big firms are breaking the law with impunity.’”.…” Link to full editorial at The Bee.