|
LAWYERS TO FACE OFF IN 2ND LAF-OFF Using humor to raise awareness for the Campaign for Equal Justice and Oregon legal aid programs, LAF-OFF will feature up to 10 Oregon legal professionals who will compete in a head-to-head stand-up comedy competition. The competition will be judged by real-life judges straight from the bench. Kerry Tymchuk, state director for Sen. Gordon Smith, is emcee. The money raised through 2005 LAF-OFF will help provide legal counsel to hundreds of people in need. "LAF-OFF is a unique event that brings together all those that work in law firms — associates, partners, administrators and paralegals — to join with the vendor and business community and show their support for Oregon’s legal aid programs in a very festive and humorous evening," said Sandy Hansberger, executive director of the Campaign for Equal Justice. This year’s event is expected to draw 1,000 supporters.
More information can be found online at www.laf-off.org. NEW RESOURCE GUIDE FOR DIVORCE LAWYERS If interested, contact John Lundeen, P.O. Box 1146, Lake
Oswego, OR 97035. BLAME IT ON SARBANES-OXLEY Altman Weil principal Ward Bower is not surprised by the increase. "This is reflective of larger law firm recognition of the need for risk management in our post-Enron, Sarbanes-Oxley environment." Almost one-third (32 percent) of law firm general counsel are full time in the position, up from 26 percent in 2004. Those that are part time spend 36 percent of their total hours on the general counsel function, averaging 753 hours per year, down from 43 percent and 775 hours the year before. According to Bower, large firms are more likely to have full time general counsel. Typically the general counsel reports to the firm chair or managing partner (64 percent). Only 26 percent serve on their firms’ governing committees, down from 40 percent in 2004. Survey data was collected in March 2005 from AmLaw 200
law firms, with 39 percent participating (77 of the 197 firms solicited).
The full report of the tabulated data appears on the Altman Weil website
at www.altmanweil .com/news/LawFirmGCSurvey.cfm. ANOTHER LINK FOR THE WEBROLL The first is The Patent Prospector, found at www.patenthawk.com/blog, from three Oregon patent practitioners. According to the website, the purpose of the Patent Prospector is to share inside information about patents among patent practitioners and the interested public. Content focuses on claim construction, litigation, patents in business, prosecution and the patent system in general. Another is the OrConLaw Blog, brought to you by the OSB Constitutional Law Section – the first bar section to venture into the blogosphere. Section member Erin Lagesen moderates the site; the section’s executive committee will be regular authors. Visit it at http://orconlaw.blogs.com. By the way, if you know of other Oregon-based law blogs, the Bulletin would be happy to pass the information along. Send links to editor@osbar.org. |
New resource for older adults released The fourth edition of Legal Issues for Older Adults: An Oregon Legal Information and Reference Guide has been released by the OSB. This publication provides comprehensive information to guide families through a number of legal topics. In addition, it provides cross-references, glossaries and resource lists to direct readers to other sources of information. It’s
available online for free. |