Oregon Legal Research BlogPress release from the U.S. Department of Transportation
Alcohol Impaired Driving Fatalities: report from Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)
Articles Posted in Legal Subject Area Guides
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Self-Help: Towing Problems in Portland, Oregon
Here’s a story about a man who was wronged – and how it took him 5 months to right the wrong.
(We see a lot of people in the law library who want quick fixes for the wrongs done to them. It’s a hard lesson for them to learn — that fixing many wrongs can take time, persistence, patience, and forbearance, and sometimes all to the power 10.)
“Portland man gets refund, and he wasn’t the only one wrongly towed,” by Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian, Tuesday September 23, 2008:
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Ethics Rules for Oregon Lawyers Serving on Corporate Boards
New and experienced lawyers alike wonder about these issues and the The OSB Bulletin’s Aug/Sept 2008 issue has a terrific primer on the subject:
Managing the Dual Roles: The Ethics of Serving on Corporate Boards, by Helen Hierschbiel:
Excerpt: “It is increasingly common for lawyers to serve on the boards of directors of for-profit and non-profit corporations. The reasons vary. Some lawyers are interested in expanding their contacts within the community; others are committed to the mission of the organization; still others desire to strengthen a relationship with a client corporation. Both for-profit and non-profit corporations seem to appreciate having lawyers become “partners” in the business and develop a better understanding of the activities of the operation. Particularly with non-profits, there is often an expectation, spoken or unspoken, that the entity will enjoy the benefit of the lawyer’s professional expertise.
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Zombie Debt: Know Your Statute of Limitations and Other Debt Collection Laws
***Update: See the 4/2/12 post on recent Court of Appeals cases related to the statute of limitations for debt collection in Oregon***
We’ve been getting a run of questions from people who want to know the statute of limitations on their consumer debts, but the length of this blog post got away from me once I realized how interesting (and relevant!) this subject is in these tumultuous days of “lendor industry meltdown,” though the little guy, once again, may be getting short shrift.
If you are contacted about a debt (paid or unpaid), our recommendations:
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Traffic Law: How to Beat (or Transcend) Your Ticket
My blog post about How to Beat Your Ticket has been very popular and now, with the generous help of the Oregon State Bar (OSB) Bulletin editors, writers, and lawyer contributors, I am sure to surpass that value with this new post.
The OSB Bulletin’s Aug/Sept 2008 issue has an, I dare say phenomenal, article on traffic law: Traffic School: What Every Lawyer Needs to Know, by Janine Robben. It even includes one of those beloved Checklists – hurrah! (My law library patrons and I do love our checklists.)
So, if you have a traffic ticket you want to challenge and don’t read this article in addition to the quick-pick resources from my blog post, then I have nothing else to say to you.
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Nolo Blogs about: Estate Planning and Home Buying Tips
Public law librarian bloggers just have to love Nolo Press, especially Nolo Blogs. They do so much of our work for us! (But not all of it, I may say – and a good thing too 🙂
Check out the latest info at the Nolo Blog, on Estate Planning (especially the blawg post on cleaning out the clutter (which may be another person’s treasure!), and on Real Estate Tips (especially the post on, wait, they are all interesting!)).
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Oregon Social Service Safety Nets
I posted here with information about people wanting to know if there were laws prohibiting utilities from turning off power or water (Power to Children and the Poor). In the post and in the comments I made it clear that we sometimes have to become quite assertive when seeking assistance. In addition to the resources in your local community, the ones I listed in the post, there is a statewide clearinghouse to help you locate additional services.
Oregon Safenet (800-723-3638), which is provided by 211Info (just dial 211 on your telephone).
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How Do I Find Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Briefs?
A complete answer to this question depends on where you live. IF you are in a city with a federal court library or, lucky you, in a city where a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Library is located, you may have a few other options.
You may also have access to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (official name) briefs that are available on Westlaw or Lexis.
In time the briefs may appear on PACER (and a few may be there now, but I’ve not ever seen one there myself).
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Can I tape record a conversation without someone knowing it?
Please read the Nov. 11, 2011, update to this post.
And a couple other variations library reference staff hear a lot:
Is it Lawful to Record Someone Without their Knowledge?