Oregon Legal Research BlogFind free U.S. court opinions at the FDsys website. This is a pilot project and not yet fully populated, but take a look:
Reported on in:
Published on:
Free Federal Court Opinions in FDsys
Articles Posted in Legal Self-help Community
Published on:
Legal Rights and Legal Answers for Young Oregonians
“My boyfriend is 15 and I’m 17 …” and variations on the theme.
Sometimes the only thing to do is to “Ask a Lawyer.” Sometimes, you can read all the books, read all the statutes, ask all your friends, and you still don’t have an answer.
The Oregon State Bar has a program called Problem Solvers for people ages 11 to 17. They offer free, confidential 30 minute legal consultations. You can contact them:
Published on:
Free Federal Rules Ebooks
Free Federal Rules Ebooks, from the Legal Information Institute (compatible with iPad, Kindle, and more.)
Read: “About our Federal Rules ebooks.
If you know LII, you know free doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice quality. The books are based on LII’s federal rules collections, the premiere, free versions of the federal rules online. Our federal rules ebooks include:
Published on:
Legal Aid funding cuts hit Oregon’s Marion and Polk Counties
“Legal Aid funding cuts hit Marion and Polk Counties,” at the Law for Real People blog, posted 09/06/2011
Excerpt: “…We need to recognize legal aid as a kind of community public health resource, like a free vaccination clinic — because when we ignore the legal needs of the poor, they don’t just magically disappear, they get worse and become far more difficult and expensive to deal with. When society doesn’t fund vaccines for the poor, it’s not just the poor who suffer. Same with civil law. Sure we can shave a few bucks off the legal aid budget every year after year after year — but then we wonder why we, to take just one example, have to spend so much more to try to educate kids who change schools five and six times in two years (because the parent’s inability to defend themselves against an abusive debt collector caused wage garnishment and loss of housing, leading to a vicious downward spiral of unemployment and underemployment, which causes housing and food insecurity, which raises the likelihood of student failure, dropping out, and other social maladaptations)….“ (Link to full post.)
Published on:
Nine Things Pro Se (Self-represented) Litigants Need to Know
Whether you are going into Small Claims Court, Circuit Court, Bankruptcy Court, or into Traffic Court, if you want to win or at least stay in control of your destiny to the extent possible:
- You have to listen, learn, read, get organized, keep good records, stay focused and determined, and above all else keep a healthy sense of perspective and humor.
- Legal research is hard and time-consuming. But it can also be interesting, rewarding, and even fun.
Published on:
Free Law Books Online: Findlaw and Nolo
If there is a particular book you want and you know its title, you can check library catalogs or run a web search or ask a law librarian (who have access to this wonderful resource, Svengalis, “Legal Information Buyer’s Guide and Reference Manual”).
But sometimes you don’t know exactly what you want or even if there are books on the subject you are researching. In addition to checking your local libraries’ catalogs using keyword and subject searches, run a web search using the words free law books. You can also check out these:
1) “Findlaw for the Public,” from the University of Washington Law Library’s Gallagher Blog.
Published on:
Oregon Small Claims Court Limit Raised to $10,000
Please note corrected effective date for this law – and thank you to the lawyers who alerted me to this!
The Oregon Small Claims Court jurisdictional limit has been raised to $10,000.
HB 2710 was signed by the Governor on June 30, 2011. (Chapter 595, (2011 Laws): Some parts effective date July 1, 2011; the Small Claims Court amendments are effective October 1, 2011.)
Published on:
Oregon State Bar (OSB) Legal Links and Finding (free & low cost) Legal Help
The Oregon State Bar (OSB) has a Legallinks TV and video program that covers a wide variety of legal topics and issues. Episodes air on cable channels across Oregon and are also available by streaming video.
Recent programs have been on traffic law, guns in Oregon, child support, and finding legal help. You can find links to the resources at the OSB LegalLinks website announcement for the program.
Published on:
Justia Legal Question and Answer Service
Justia Virtual Chase has a free Legal Question & Answer Service. Answers are provided by lawyers.
Published on:
How to Get FREE Telephone Number Information in Oregon
You can find lots of free telephone and address information from:
1) “The Internet” (your search engine of choice, e.g. google, bing, yahoo, etc.). If you want to find a telephone number and you have internet access, search the business or agency or person by name, for example: if you want the Washington County (Oregon) Watermaster, type this into your search engine: washingon county oregon watermaster. You’ll get up to date contact info (especially if you make sure you click on your search engine’s link to get the most current info).
2) Your local public library information and quick reference lines during their open hours (e.g. Multnomah County public libraries and Washington County public libraries) and don’t forget L-net, the statewide online reference service).