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Your local law library may provide some online resources you can access at home. Below are some examples from Washington County, Oregon. You can check with your local county law library to see what they offer.

The Washington County Law Library offers LexisNexis Digital Library. Patrons can sign up using an online form. Once registered they can access the digital titles subscribed to via a web link or the Digital Library app. LexisNexis Digital Library is relatively easy to use, and they offer robust online help to navigate the platform. It is important to remember this is an eBook platform, not a legal research platform. Among the titles patrons can access are Oregon Evidence, Employment in Oregon, LexisNexis Practice Guide: Washington Family Law, Military Family Law, Understanding Bankruptcy, The ABA Spanish Legal Phrasebook, and Trial: A Guide from Start to Finish.

The Washington County Law Library also subscribes to HeinOnline. Anyone with a Washington County Cooperative Library Services library card can access it remotely via the WCCLS HeinOnline page. If you don’t have a WCCLS card you can sign up for their digital card. HeinOnline has a large collection of law journals, federal legal materials, and subject specific collections (such as LGBTQ+ rights or gun laws).

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How did we answer that?

By Paula Simon

We had a younger patron come into the library who was interested in the process to become emancipated from their parents. What is emancipation? According to the Washington County Juvenile department, emancipation means “that a 16- or 17-year-old person can be given certain rights and responsibilities of an adult or 18-year-old person.”

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How did we answer that?

Sometimes someone comes in and what they want is outside of the scope of what we offer, or we have a very limited ability to help. So, what do we do when that happens?

I had a patron come in a couple of weeks ago wanting to know if the person named in a case was the same person he knew. He had found an appeal online where the name matched someone he knew. The appeals court was in a small Midwest area not highly populated and the name in the case was not common to the area and he was wondering if there was a way to confirm an identity match. He had all of the vital statistics of the individual including an address.

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A patron came in wondering if bankruptcy was right for them. Obviously we can’t answer that question, but we offered to show them resources that explain bankruptcy, and how to find bankruptcy attorneys.

The first thing we made sure they understood is that bankruptcy is governed by federal law and is handled by federal bankruptcy courts. In Oregon that would be the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Oregon. They have some helpful information on their website, including rules, forms, and general information.

We showed them books in the Washington County Law Library that discuss bankruptcy, including a practice guide by the Oregon State Bar and a Rutter Group practice guide. We also pointed out our Nolo self-help books that discuss bankruptcy – these can also be found through your local public library or the State Law Library’s online access to Nolo.

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How Did We Answer That?

We had a patron whose mother died in Kentucky. This was during the pandemic so travel from Oregon to Kentucky was not very practical. His sister still lived in the area, so he contacted us asking for ideas on how to help his sister with the estate. He wanted to do some research on finding a lawyer, being an executor of the will, and if there was anything he could do to help remotely.

Even though he was interested in Kentucky procedures, there were still some things we could point him to here in our library that he could read and let his sister know about. There are many NOLO books (which both law libraries and public libraries usually carry) dealing with wills and estate planning. Since NOLO books are not state specific these were a good primer for the patron and his sister. In Oregon we have access to NOLO books online thanks to the State of Oregon Law Library. A public library may have information about a similar problem in another state.

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How did we answer that? #NeighborLaw #FenceReplacement

We had a patron come in asking if a neighbor could compel the other neighbor to pay for half a fence. According to our patron, there was an old fence on the property line but it wasn’t in bad condition and didn’t need replacing. However, the neighbor replaced the fence without talking to our patron and now wants our patron to pay for half of the cost. Our patron was wondering what their rights were and if they would have to pay.

So, how did we help? Most of the situation our patron was describing was around the subject of neighbor law. We started our patron on the Nolo book called Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise. Nolo Press titles are excellent resources because they present legal information with easy to read and understand language. While they are not Oregon specific, they provide a good foundation for further research if needed. They also explain legal language and terms so that when using more technical resources, it makes those more understandable. Nolo titles are available in many law libraries and public libraries as well as through the State of Oregon Law Library as ebooks.

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A patron came in who had lost her father. She knew she needed to do something about his estate but had no idea where to start. A friend had told her she might not need to file anything with the court. She wanted to know what to do and if the court needed to be involved.

First, we pointed her to resources, such as law dictionaries, to explain a couple basic terms.

  • Probate is the court process of appointing, and overseeing, someone to administer an estate, identify heirs, inventory assets, pay debts, and distribute the remaining property. This process is handled by the Probate Department of the court.
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The number one question on the Oregon Legal Research website has for many years been “When Can I Leave My Kids Home Alone?” The last time this was updated was in 2011, so I thought I’d update that page.

Oregon does not have a law specifically stating the exact age when children can be left home alone. However, the child neglect statutes do offer some guidance, along with cases that interpret those statutes. It is also helpful to look at the information provided by government agencies. If you read the updated Q&A you will find the text of the statutes and links to helpful resources.

 

 

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How did we answer that? #StatuteOfLimitations

We had a woman come into the law library and ask us about how to sue a doctor for a medical injury (sometimes called malpractice). Through follow-up questions, we were able to determine that she was not looking for resources about the legal process or how to file suit. Instead, she was wanting to know how long since the injury occurred did she have to initiate a lawsuit, also known as a statute of limitations.

Conveniently, the Oregon State Bar has a book called “Oregon Statutory Time Limitations.” Like their other publications, there is a convenient index in the back. We showed this book to the patron and she was able to find the entry about medical injury. In the book, it referenced a specific ORS (Oregon Revised Statute, the legal code for the state of Oregon).

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We were recently asked about finding previous versions of the Oregon Administrative Rules and the Oregon Bulletin.

The Oregon Administrative Rules Compilation is an annual online publication containing complete text of Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) effective January 1 of the compilation year. The Secretary of State ceased print publication after 2017.

The Oregon Bulletin is a monthly online supplement containing rule text adopted or amended as well as Notices of Proposed Rule­making and Rulemaking Hearing. The Bulletin also includes certain non-OAR items when they are submitted, such as Executive Orders of the Governor and Opinions of the Attorney General (Oregon Bulletin, 2017).

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