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Watch Those Timelines – and Those Court Rules:

From the Nov 1st OJD Media Release (full case here):

Mary Lee Husted, Respondent, v. SCI Oregon Funeral Services, Inc., Appellant. Landau, P. J.Plaintiff prevailed on a claim against defendant, and a general judgment was entered on May 18, 2005. On May 23, 2005, the trial court signed an amended general judgment, but that amended general judgment was never entered. On June 7, 2005, plaintiff submitted a statement of costs, disbursements, and attorney fees. Defendant objected on the ground that the statement had not been filed within 14 days, as required by ORCP 68 C(4)(a). The court concluded that the amended judgment had been entered on May 24, 2005, and, as a result, plaintiff’s statement was timely filed. The court entered a supplemental judgment awarding the attorney fees requested. Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in concluding that plaintiff’s statement of costs, disbursements, and attorney fees had been timely filed. Held: Under ORCP 68 C(4)(a), plaintiff had 14 days from entry of judgment to file the statement of costs, disbursements, and attorney fees. The record shows that a general judgment was entered on May 18, 2005. It shows that no other general judgment has been entered. Plaintiff therefore had 14 days from that date to file her statement. She filed well beyond that deadline. Her filing therefore was untimely. Reversed.

Fresh Bedsworth: A new Bedsworth is always worth the wait. The current one is here. A selection of previous ones are here. (And if you are so moved and can bear it, the Creighton case is reported on here and here and, oh heck, just go to your favorite search engine and type, “creighton pennsylvania mckeesport microwave.”)

Book Thieves: Among other books in my law library, our latest Foonberg has been stolen (and people wonder why library staff keep (or itch to keep) books “behind the desk”). I’ve heard that Foonberg’s, “How to Start and Build a Law Practice,” is among the most commonly stolen books in law libraries. What does this say about certain lawyers? One thing it says is, look out for this person when s/he appears on the other side of the table in a lawsuit, and check out his/her claims, sources, information, etc. They may be about as “clean” as this book-thief’s hands are.

Oregon Bankruptcy Attorneys C.A.R.E.: Did you know that the OSB Debtor-Creditor Section attorneys participate in C.A.R.E., which means that they travel from high school to high school talking to students about credit card use and abuse, among other debtor-creditor issues. The latest issue (Fall 2006) of the section’s Debtor-Creditor Newsletter has more details, but it’s not online (sigh). I do have a copy in my library, the article is by Laura Walker, and there’s a list of schools visited, attorneys who volunteered, and more.

It’s 10 a.m. Do You Know How Reliable Your Legal Database Is? Read this from Shlep, “… Best Legal Information,” and don’t forget the Comment(s).

Too Busy?: One of the most popular types of books we have in my law library is the sort we all know as, “1,001 ways to save time” or the equivalent. Logic has it, and who am I to disagree, that if you pick up even ONE new trick, you’re ahead of the game. (We even have a couple of these books that give Oregon attorneys MCLE credit – doesn’t get much better than that, does it.)

So my tip of the day is, if you are too busy to track all your favorite blogs, and even if your RSS is getting out of hand, give yourself a mini-vacation and try reading just your top 3-4 blogs, the ones that summarize the best of the best or have the best new tips themselves. For me, they are Stark County Law Library, Jim Calloway, My Shingle, and Robert Ambrogi. You get to pick your own. (Crazy librarian that I am, I have my Daily and my Daily Quick Blog lists, Weekly and Monthly ones, and more. Sad, isn’t it.) Sure you’ll miss a some good stuff from the other bloggers, but this team covers an awful lot of ground, especially for solo and small law firm practitioners, the group I most aim to please.

“One Toke Over the Line” at WW: The Willamette Week, in a story by Ian Demsky on 10/25/06, “One Toke Over the Line” reports on the Oregon Legislature’s [moderately successful] attempt to make selling pot “the ‘king’ of drug crimes.” WW story here, WW issue here, state law here (look for 2005 Regular Session, SB 907 or Laws, Chapter 708).

Victims of Paternity Fraud, Pop-Up Pops, and Other Tales from the Family Law Trenches: The past two issues of ABA Family Law Section’s “Family Law Quarterly” have been quite interesting. Spring 2006 was on “Family Boundaries: Symposium on Third-Party Rights and Obligations with Respect to Children,” and the Summer 2006 on, “Symposium on Fathers and Family Law.” You need to be an ABA and a Family Law Section member or a subscriber to receive the hard copy, but if you are neither contact your local law library to see if they have a copy you can read. Section link is here and the tables of contents are here (as of this posting only the contents of the Spring 2006 issue was posted, not the Summer issue).

Rabies Alert – Vaccinate Your Pets: Portland metro area and beyond: If you don’t think this has anything to do with the law, think again:

“A joint coalition of Portland metropolitan area animal services and welfare agencies, public health officials, and veterinary professionals are alerting cat, dog, and ferret owners to protect themselves and their pets by getting rabies vaccinations for their companion animals. This advisory is a result of a recent increase in animal rabies cases, specifically in bats and foxes, in Oregon.”

Forfeiture Manual: beSpacific links to government documents that have sometimes been tough to find and that are now at The Memory Hole, including the “Asset Forfeiture Policy Manual,” among others.