We Can’t Do It Without YOU

The Board of Governors is now accepting applications for appointment to bar boards, committees and councils. The bar is able to provide services to the public and its membership because of lawyers like you who volunteer on more than 35 bar groups. If you would like to help build a stronger bar and make a difference in the profession and the legal system, submit your volunteer application by July 31.

More information and relevant forms are available here.

Oregon Supreme Court Seeks Input on Proposed Rule

The Oregon Supreme Court is seeking member input on a proposed rule change concerning reciprocity, also known as ‘admission on motion.’  The change would allow reciprocity with 37 other states. 

For more information on how to provide feedback, please visit here.

DOJ Warns of Attorney/Collection Scam

The Oregon Department of Justice would like to warn all bar members about a scam currently being aimed specifically at attorneys in the U.S. – with at least one confirmed victim in Oregon. 

Law firms are contacted via email by clients (or sometimes a ‘referral firm’) who claim that they wish to engage the firm’s services for collection of overdue accounts, most of which are larger than $420,000.  Once communications begin, the ‘debtor’ contacts the targeted firm to tell them they will pay what they owe.  The scammers then send a counterfeit cashier’s check via UPS or FedEx, most often drawn on CitiBank, which is supposed to be deposited in the firm’s trust account.

After the bank has provided a provisional loan for the value of the check, the target is asked to send the money to the other law firm to pay off the overdue account.  When the bank discovers that the check is counterfeit, it holds the law firm responsible for the entire amount and the scammers disappear.

It is important to always be careful with your clients’ money and your trust account, but please be extra cautious when conducting any business using cashier’s checks.  Make sure these transactions are completely cleared by the bank before considering sending money on to a third party. 

OSB Award Nominations Due July 31

Every year the OSB honors Oregon’s most outstanding lawyers, judges and citizens, but we can’t do it without your help. The OSB is currently accepting nominations for the following awards:

OSB Award of Merit
Wallace P. Carson, Jr. Award for Judicial Excellence
President’s Affirmative Action Award
President’s Membership Service Award
President’s Public Service Award
President’s Public Leadership Award

The Oregon New Lawyers Division (ONLD) is also accepting nominations for their Member Services Award and Public Service Award.

The deadline for all nominations is 5:00 pm on Friday, July 31st. 

Nomination criteria, forms and other information can be found here for the ONLD and here for the OSB annual awards.

Washington Reciprocity CLE Program for Oregon Attorneys

On October 17 & 18 the Oregon New Lawyers Division is sponsoring a two-day CLE program to satisfy all of the credit requirements needed for reciprocity admission into the Washington State Bar Association. The program will be held at the OSB Center in Tigard and registration is only $275.00. Space is limited and early registration is suggested. The deadline to register is September 18.

Access the registration form here and confirm that you meet Washington’s reciprocity requirements.

Choose How the Bar Communicates With You!

The bar has created a new communications tool to help you sort through some of the clutter.  Just log in to your account and click on the “Communications Preferences” tab in the left-hand column.  From there you can choose which bar communications you wish to receive and how you wish to receive them.

Please note that while you may opt out of some communications, you cannot opt out of regulatory messages that might affect your member status.  Also note that outside groups may have access to our mailing lists, but they do not have access to the member preferences.  Because of this, you might still receive unwanted communications from these outside groups.

Communications Preferences, including any secondary address information, are not a part of your primary membership record and will not be included generally in routine public record requests for membership data. All OSB data, including the membership database, is subject to the Oregon Public Records law.