OSB Annual Award Winners Announced –
Dinner Planned for Dec. 2

Please join us for the Oregon State Bar Annual Awards Dinner on Thursday, December 2nd at The Governor Hotel in Portland.

The OSB presents the Award of Merit, President’s Awards, and the Wallace P. Carson, Jr. Award for Judicial Excellence. The Oregon Bench and Bar Commission on Professionalism will present the Edwin J. Peterson Award. Oregon New Lawyers Division awards will also be presented.

This year’s award recipients are:

OSB Award of Merit
Gerry Gaydos

OSB President's Affirmative Action Award
Linda Meng

OSB President's Membership Service Award
Mark Comstock

OSB President's Public Service Award
Jess Barton

OSB President’s Sustainability Award
Dick Roy

OSB President’s Special Award of Appreciation
To be announced

Wallace P. Carson, Jr. Award for Judicial Excellence
Hon. Dan Harris

Edwin J. Peterson Professionalism Award
To be announced

Information and a downloadable reservation form is available here. 

Space is limited. The registration deadline is November 19th.

For additional event information, please contact Karla Houtary at (800) 452-8260, ext. 367, or (503) 620-0222, ext. 367 or by email at khoutary@osbar.org.

County Law Library Survey:
Your Input Needed by September 24

The Oregon Council of Law Libraries (OCCLL) is planning for the future. Through a grant from the Oregon State Library, the OCCLL is studying current conditions and how best to improve services throughout Oregon. The grant funds are from the federal Library Services and Technology Act which is administered by the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Please take a few moments to weigh in by completing a very brief (10- question) survey.

MCLE Compliance Reports for the 2010 Reporting Period
Will Be Mailed Soon

Members with an MCLE reporting period ending December 31, 2010 will be receiving an MCLE Compliance Report by November 1, 2010. All credits must be completed by midnight on December 31, 2010. The completed, signed compliance report must be filed on or before January 31, 2011. Frequently asked question and more information on what’s new since your last reporting period are available here.

New Issue of the Capitol Insider Now Available Online

The newest issue of the Capitol Insider, a publication of the bar’s Public Affairs department is now available online here. The newest edition features articles on how declines in revenue might affect the OJD budget, salary cuts that elected DAs are facing and the financial impact of Measure 73.

Bar members can have new issues of the magazine automatically delivered via email by logging in to the bar website and clicking on “Communication Preferences” to choose an applicable email address.  An online library of previous issues can also be found here.

Abandoned Client Funds Appropriated
to the OSB for Legal Services to the Poor

Until this year, funds in a lawyer’s trust account were turned over to the Department of State Lands (DSL) once they had been deemed abandoned.  But new amendments to the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act (ORS 98.302 to 98.436) enacted by the 2009 Legislature have changed how this money is appropriated and disbursed.

Effective January 1, 2010, unclaimed funds held in lawyer trust accounts must be reported to the DSL, but paid over to the Oregon State Bar with a copy of the DSL report.  Funds deemed abandoned as of June 30 of each year are to be reported to the DSL during the month of October of that same year, although earlier reporting may be allowed upon written request.

Pursuant to ORS 98.332, funds held by a fiduciary are deemed abandoned if the owner has not accepted payment of the funds, corresponded in writing about the funds or otherwise indicated interest in the funds within two years after the funds are payable or distributable to the owner.

The money paid to the bar under the act will be appropriated to the OSB for the provision of legal services to the poor under the Legal Services Program.  Questions about forwarding abandoned funds can be addressed to Judith Baker at (503) 431-6326 or jbaker@osbar.org.