Articles Tagged with Legal self-help

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Imagine this: A patron comes into the law library at 4:40 and says “I’m being sued, and I need to file a response before 5:00 today. Do you have the form for that? Oh, and I need help filling it out.” We would really like to help this person, but realistically this may not be possible. Unfortunately, patrons usually do not know what services we provide. Read on for information on what law libraries can and can’t do and how to get the most from your visit.

Don’t leave your research until the last minute. Leave enough time to handle any problems that might arise. In our example, the patron assumes that there is a fill-in-the-blank form that they can use, and that law library personnel can help them fill it out. Oregon does not have many fill-in-the-blank forms and law library employees cannot help patrons fill out forms. We would direct the patron to possible sources of templates that they can use to create their own document, and to resources that might help them to fill out the form. They probably wouldn’t have time to do all that in less than 20 minutes and get it to the court before they close.

Along those same lines, make sure you can devote time to research your questions. Law library personnel can’t do research for you. We can point you to resources that might be useful and show you how to do the research yourself.

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The Washington County Circuit Court has posted informational videos about court procedures for evictions. These are short videos available in English and Spanish that contain general information about evictions and things both landlords and tenants need to know about how evictions are handled in court. The information in the videos is not specific to the Washington County Circuit court, so if your matter is in another county, they are still good resources for information.

For evictions, also see last week’s blog “So you’ve been served with eviction papers. Now What?!” with a video from our Now What?! legal information series.

Oregon Law Help, maintained by the Oregon Law Center, recently posted a Renter’s Handbook on Rent Increases. This short document, available in English and Spanish gives information about the different types of tenancies and how a landlord may deliver a notice of a rent increase. It also provides resources you can look at if you are a low-income renter.

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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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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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Ken Svengalis has published a 2nd edition (2022) of his “A Layperson’s Guide to Legal Research and Self-Help Law Books” — and it’s half the price of the first edition.

“A Layperson’s Guide to Legal Research and Self-Help Law Books” can now be purchased at the Author Reputation Press bookstore. (Paperbound edition ($49.95) and an eBook edition ($24.99).)

Note 1: Please do NOT purchase this 2nd edition from Ken’s former website, NE Law Press, where only the previous edition of the Layperson’s Guide is for sale. (Ken’s 2021, 25th edition, of his “Legal Information Buyer’s Guide” is still for sale from the NE Law Press website.)

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The Oregon State Bar (OSB) is requesting feedback on their proposal on licensing paralegals:

“… to provide some legal services that currently only lawyers may provide….”

Read the OSB summary of the proposal, view the video, and link to the questionnaire:

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Do you need legal help with expungements, DACA renewal, County Circuit Court navigation, legal name and gender marker changes, and other legal assistance, self-help, and referrals?

Check out the Oregon Legal Assistance Resource Guide (from the Washington County Law Library website), which will soon be updated with this PCC CLEAR Clinic, from the PCC (Portland Community College) Paralegal Program, based at the PCC North Portland Cascade campus:

Read about the CLEAR (Community Legal & Educational Access & Referral) Program and Clinics:

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The Multnomah County Library has compiled this list:

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) law help: Legal resources during the pandemic

Supplement that list with a visit to the Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) website, which compiles legal news and legal help resources on Oregon landlord and tenant law.

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A new legal self-help book for Oregon college and university students has been released:

“Oregon’s Legal Guide for College Students,” by Janay Haas, an Oregon attorney and the author of a number of Oregon legal self-help publications including, “Using Small Claims Court in Oregon.”

The author provides updates to both publications at Oregon Legal Guides.

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