Just as there are some lotteries you don’t want to win (e.g. airplane crashes), there are also some cheats who aren’t really cheats – not the bad kind, at least.
Ever wonder how good public speakers seem to talk without notes? While some really can, others have tricks. I love these simple ones – and am sure we can think up others:
Another reminder that there are no quick fixes or free lunches in the world of finance, law, consumer protection, or living a long and healthy life:
beSpacific alerts us to two new GAO reports on reverse mortgage consumer protection issues:
1) Reverse Mortgages: Product Complexity and Consumer Protection Issues Underscore Need for Improved Controls over Counseling for Borrowers, GAO-09-606, June 29, 2009
A May 2009 It’s Only Money column at Oregonlive ran an interesting set of stories on health care advocates and on how to challenge health care bills. The article included lots of self-help tips and links.
Health care advocates can, among other things, scrutinize your medical bills for errors the same way legal billing auditors do (though mostly for clients with the money to pay to have their bills scrutinized). The average person isn’t as likely to wrack up huge legal bills the way the average person can wrack up huge medical bills, so do some research before you call in the lawyers.
Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO) also has a brochure on Unpaid Consumer Debt (click on Consumer).
It’s a new month and the funniest judge in the country is still on the bench and online:
Justice Bedsworth, of the California Court of Appeals, returns in July 2009 with his not to be missed Criminal Waste of Space column in the Orange County Lawyer Magazine:
“A Ticket to Walk: Beds takes a look at prison administration“
Summertime, and the living is – not so easy for parents of minors. See the Washington County (Oregon) Curfew Calendar.
Check with your own city to find out its rules. For example, I typed the words Portland Oregon curfew laws into Google and got this link and this recent KATU story.
And, take a look at the new Washington County (Oregon) Juvenile Department webpages, which have lots of useful information. For example:
Oregon State Bar (OSB) Bulletin: June 2009: Duty of Confidentiality: Top 10 Myths, by Helen Hierschbiel, will be interesting for lawyer and client alike. It is another reminder to non-attorneys that you can’t learn the law from watching television shows or reading legal fiction, not that they aren’t fun and I highly recommend you keep enjoying both. But don’t confuse what you see portrayed on the big screen, or the Internet or in a novel, with the actual practice and word of law.
Excerpt: “If there is one duty that virtually all lawyers have ingrained in their psyches, it is the duty to protect their clients’ confidential information. Notwithstanding this basic instinct, myths about the duty abound. In a highly unscientific method called “asking around,” the OSB general counsel’s office compiled the following list of top 10 myths about the duty of confidentiality, and the truth behind these myths….
…
Myth #3: You may reveal your client’s confidences after the client has died.
Contrary to popular belief, the lawyer-client privilege survives the death of the client. The U.S. Supreme Court explained the purpose of this rule in Swidler & Berlin v. United States, 524 U.S. 399, 407 (1998), saying that posthumous application of the privilege encourages full and frank communication with counsel….” (read full article)
Link to Oregon Rules of Professional Responsibility and other sources of information on the regulation of attorneys in Oregon.
The Oregon cell phone bill that became law: House Bill 2377 (or link to the enrolled bill from here): Relating to use of mobile communication device while driving; amending ORS 811.507
When signed, it will show up at the Governor’s webpage and, when given a Chapter number, as an Oregon Law. It will not appear in the ORS until the Oregon Laws are codified by Legislative Counsel, most likely early in 2010. Then, look for the 2009 ORS, online and in print. Until then, you need to read it in its session law form.
The DMV will likely have more information soon about the cell phone law.
Trial Ad Notes has a post about a blog on Pardon Power.
The practice of “pardon law” is fairly specialized. Take a look at Pardon Power’s sidebar. Bloggers and researchers know how much work it takes to build a website like this!
I have blogged before about getting a pardon in Oregon state court.
Public law librarians get a lot of questions about traffic tickets, especially photo radar. Here’s a very brief primer on the subject, the gist of which is, Talk to a Lawyer. They are the real experts.
Most of the “speed measuring device” statutes, which include radar, are in Chapter 810 of the ORS , but you’ll also want to look at ORS 811.
To plead your case, you will likely need to dig deeper than the statutes and into the case law and regulations – and talk to a defense attorney. There are many issues that can arise in photo radar challenges that could affect the outcome of your case, e.g. probable cause, equipment calibration and operation, etc. You will find it helpful to consult a defense attorney has experience defending people with speeding tickets.
If you are a simple soul, and only infrequently need more from your search engine than a blunt keyword search (Oregon legal research, for example), iLibrarian links to this post: 100+ Alternative Search Engines You Should Know.
I especially liked the list of E-Book & PDF Search Engines. These are good complements to a Google’s filetype search. And, sometimes you just need more than one search engine. The Google search is a bit more useful in that the size of the publication can be seen more quickly, and you can choose to view the document in HMTL, as an alternative to the PDF. But these others search engines have their own strengths and you don’t have to be a Super Searcher to make good use of them.
