Blawgs – Legal Blogs of Note (A Work in Progress)
Adams Drafting blog – http://adamsdrafting.com/system/
Anonymous Lawyer – http://anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com/
Blawg Review – http://blawgreview.blogspot.com/
Common Scold – http://commonscold.typepad.com/commonscold/
Dennis Kennedy – http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/index.html
Ernie the Attorney – http://ernieattorney.typepad.com/
Future Lawyer – http://futurelawyer.typepad.com/futurelawyer/
How Appealing – http://howappealing.law.com/
Inter-Alia, Blog of the Day – http://www.inter-alia.net/
Jim Calloway – http://jimcalloway.typepad.com/lawpracticetips/
Law Biz Blog – http://www.lawbizblog.com/
Legal Underground – http://www.legalunderground.com/
My Shingle – http://www.myshingle.com/
Robert Ambrogi – http://www.legaline.com/lawsites.html
Split Circuits – http://splitcircuits.blogspot.com/
Underneath their Robes – http://underneaththeirrobes.blogs.com/main/
Oregon Lawyer Blogs
Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark Law Professor) – http://bojack.org/index.shtml
Oregon Insurance Law Blawg – http://www.insurancecoverageblog.com/
Legal Research Tip of the Day: My counterpart at the Lane County Law Library writes an excellent Newsletter that is chockful of legal research tips. The latest issue has, among other useful tips, an article on the new ABA Ethics Opinion (06-442) about hidden metada.
Proposed Temporary Measure 37 Rules:
The Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) is considering the adoption of temporary administrative rules that specify information required in a written demand for compensation (a “claim”) under Measure 37.The temporary rules would apply only to claims filed with the State of Oregon after Dec. 4, 2006, and would require that claims based on existing laws include evidence that:
1) the owner has filed a complete land use application with a city or county;
2) the city or county has made a final decision on that application; and
3) the application was denied or conditioned because of a state statute, or an LCDC goal or rule (or a local regulation that implements a state statute, or an LCDC goal or rule).
The LCDC’s M37 webpage is here.
Life is More than the Law – It’s Also Traffic Reports and School Closings:
FlashNews, here. Oddly enough, though, Trimet does not show up as a “Participating Organization.” Check for Trimet Alerts here, though I find the radio and KATU or KOIN are faster. (I travel Trimet 3+ hours a day, so have earned the right to kvetch – and I do!))
Payday Lenders – and the beat goes on: KATU is running this story, “Payday Loan Lenders Find Loophole in New Law.”
New(ish) Oregon Insurance Law Blog: Visit David Rossmiller’s blog, here. It looks good! I marvel at blawggers who can come up with an appealing blog layout and design, not to mention filling it with serious content (and a little humor). All that with family and a day (hah!) job.
My Business Model is in Flux
In any event, take a look at Robert Ambrogi’s blawg, including posts on outsourcing with Law Sourcing, online mock juries with TrialJuries, and the School of Podcasting. Add a visit to Dennis Kennedy now and again, with a smidgeon of FutureLawyer, and an off-road meal break at Jim Calloway’s, and the world’s your legal oyster.
You snooze, you looze.
Oregon State Capitol Now Wireless: Just in time for the 2007 session, the Golden Man is casting a wireless cloud over our Legislative Assembly. See the story from KOIN, here.
Homesteading Whatchamallit or The Perils of Providing Email Legal Reference Service to Non-Attorneys
A posting a while ago on Shlep reminded me of this: Non-attorney patrons often ask for legal information the way I ask for things at the automotive-parts store. We both use the wrong words, lots of gestures, tell confusing stories of things gone wrong, and do our darnedest to communicate a problem in search of a solution to someone who we hope and pray has a clue what we are talking about. (You can see why the Car-Guys are geniuses. They do all this over the phone. They are too smart to try and do it by email so why are we trying? Legal reference, unless it’s of the simple Q&A variety, which it seldom is, is not meant for email, though we continue to try our best.)
For example, I recently had a 3rd-hand email legal reference request from someone who wanted “homesteading forms.” When someone is here in my library, in-person with flesh-and-blood and facial-expression, it can take a little time but we can usually figure out what someone really needs or wants (yes, there is a difference). Second-hand and beyond can get a little tricky, which is why email legal reference work is fraught with all sorts of perils. It’s hard enough explaining to people that seldom are there any easy answers in the law, no irrefutable answers, even fewer checklists, and whether or not the sentence will be 3 months probation or 10 years hard-time or whether or not the statute of limitations has tolled, but to have to translate the question over the “Internet Pipes” 3rd-hand can make even a determined public law librarian’s head hurt. We just want to help, but sometimes it can take a really long time and sometimes there just isn’t an answer. And there we are on the front line, taking the heat for the court, the lawyers, and the legislators who are probably most to blame but the furthest away at the crucial moment.