The 2013 Oregon Legislature adopted the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts. It will be effective September 1, 2013.
Visit the Secretary of State’s Notary News website to read about the law and proposed regulations.
The Legal Genealogist answers this question in an October 22, 2012, blog post: Cemetery Photos: Permission Required?
If you’ve not read about the Beatitudes Campus model of care for people with dementia, this New Yorker magazine article will change how you look at (and feel about) aging and caregiving:
The Sense Of An Ending: An Arizona nursing home offers new ways to care for people with dementia,” by Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, May 20, 2013.
If you can’t find the whole article on a free website, check your public library for the print or for a copy from one of their news and articles databases. (Or ask a friend with a New Yorker subscription for their cast-off May 20th issue.) (Or borrow mine.)
From the ABA Journal, August 1, 2013, post: “25 greatest law novels…ever!”
“The ABA Journal has been exploring a fascinating romance between lawyers and popular culture. We’ve traced this connection through films and plays and television, and the conclusion is inescapable: Not only do lawyers seem to love pop culture; pop culture seems to love lawyers back.
But this year we’re raising the bar. We’ve attempted to survey the world of literature to find the best portrayals of lawyers and the law…” [Link to full article and list.]
October 2011 ABA Journal article, by Stephanie Francis Ward: “Mr. Small Claims’ Makes a Career on Volume”
(Note: Small claims court $$ limits vary from state to state. In Oregon, it is $10,000.)
Excerpt: ‘Small claims court cases are like any other legal disputes, but minus a zero, says Jordan Farkas, a Canadian lawyer who’s built a practice advising people who have $25,000 or less at stake. “Most lawyers look down at it,” says Farkas, 31. He started small claims work as a law firm associate to pick up litigation experience, and he can be found online as “Mr. Small Claims Court.”….’ (Link to full article.]
How many legislators know how to compile a legislative history? My guess is not many. But they have many skills the rest of us lack, but need. Who among us has the patience to shepherd bills through the state or federal (or local) legislative process without going berserk – and having everyone scream at you day and night? Not I.
Try shadowing a legislator for a day and you’ll see what I mean. (Try shadowing a teacher for a day, too, and see how much like legislating that job is, with just as many people screaming at you.)
Legislative assistants can compile legislative histories and so can government documents and law librarians. For us, legislative history compilation skills are a job requirement, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it, especially if we’re far from the seat of government and can’t visit the official and complete archives where complete bill files can be found.
A citation/abstract database of intellectual freedom news articles and editorials: Joint project of the Oregon State Library’s Intellectual Freedom Clearinghouse and the Oregon Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee
“Currently, this is a citation/abstract database of news articles and editorials related to intellectual freedom issues covered in Oregon community newspapers over the past 65 years. Full text of articles will be added and available for download as permission is obtained from individual newspaper publishers. To request the full text of an article, contact the coordinator of the Oregon Intellectual Freedom Clearinghouse….” [Link to Intellectual Freedom database.]
New marijuana laws in Washington and Colorado raise the bar for dog training: Here’s a blog post from the Gallagher Law Library (UW) blog:
Drug Dogs Going Back to School
The blog post also includes a reference to a recent Oregon Law Review article: “The current issue of the Oregon Law Review (available free in PDF) is a symposium on drug policy. It includes Jane Bambauer, Defending the Dog, 91 Or. L. Rev. 1203 (2013). The author says “This short essay makes the uneasy case for the narcotics dog….”
We get quite a few patrons looking for small estate affidavit forms to use in the Washington County Circuit Court. Patrons often remark that other circuit courts have small estate forms available online, thinking our court will also offer the forms. However, our probate department does not offer small estate forms, but does have great instructions on their website for filing a small estate. Plus, the court will honor any statutorily compliant form. The law changes frequently, and it takes time and money to keep legal forms up to date. So individual circuit courts decide which supplemental forms they will offer, outside of the standard Oregon Judicial Department forms. If you are looking for small estate resources, here are a few places you can find small-estate affidavit forms and information:
1) Check with the applicable circuit court’s website for forms and/or information on filing a small-estate affidavit. Our circuit court does provides information on filing an Affidavit of Claiming Successor, including the related statutes. The following circuit courts offer the small estate forms online: Marion, Deschutes, Jackson, Linn, and Clackamas.
2) A common referral for frequently-used forms is the Stevens-Ness Law Publishing Company. They sell Oregon-specific small-estate affidavit forms for both testate and intestate estates (in paper and electronic formats).
The Oregon Small Claims Court book is out – yay!
You can order a print copy or Kindle eBook from Amazon:
Haas, Janay. “Using Small Claims Court in Oregon
Oregon Legal Research Blog