Oregon State Bar Bulletin — MAY 2008
Bar News

Bar Preference Poll Results
April 21 closed the bar’s preference poll for contested judicial circuit court positions in Jackson, Union, Wallowa and Washington counties. Doug McGeary won the position 6 poll for Jackson County’s Circuit Court, and Lisa Greif won the poll for position 8. The poll winner for the 7th position on Washington County’s Circuit Court is Keith B. Rogers. Union and Wallowa Counties’ position 1 circuit court poll ended in a tie between Phillip A. Mendiguren and Daniel Ousley. Additional poll details are available on the bar’s website in the OSB Judicial Candidate Voting Guide.

Nominations Sought for Professionalism Awards
The OSB Board of Governors and the Oregon Bench and Bar Commission on Professionalism are seeking nominations for their annual awards. The bar presents the Award of Merit, President’s Awards and the Wallace P. Carson, Jr., Award for Judicial Excellence. The professionalism commission presents the Edwin J. Peterson Award. Please help us honor our most outstanding lawyers and judges by nominating your deserving colleagues.

Nominations must be postmarked or delivered by 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, 2008, by U.S. mail: Oregon State Bar, Attn: Kay Pulju, 16037 S.W. Upper Boones Ferry Rd., Tigard, OR 97224; or by e-mail: kpulju@osbar.org; or fax: (503) 598-6987. The nomination forms may be downloaded from the bar website at http://www.osbar.org/osbevents/osbevents.html.

Nominations will not be accepted after this date. For further assistance, contact Kay Pulju at (503) 431-6402 or (800) 452-8260, ext. 402.

MCLE Changes Approved by the Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court recently adopted amendments to the Minimum Continuing Legal Education rules regarding elimination of bias credit requirements. The amendments make the following changes:

· Elimination of Bias credits will now be referred to as Access to Justice credits.

· The requirement for members whose reporting period ends on 12/31/2008 will remain the same — members in a three-year reporting period must complete 3.0 Access to Justice credits; members in a shorter reporting period must complete 1.0 Access to Justice credit.

· Beginning with the reporting period ending 12/31/2009, members in a three-year reporting period will need to earn three Access to Justice credits only in every other reporting period.

· Members whose three-year reporting periods end 12/31/2009, 12/31/2010 and 12/31/2011 are not required to complete Access to Justice credits during those reporting periods.

· New admittees admitted after Jan. 1, 2009, will be required to complete a specific three-hour course during their first reporting period.

· Access to Justice credits in excess of the requirement can be carried forward into the next reporting period, but will count only toward the general credit
requirement.

Please call the MCLE department at (503) 620-0222, ext. 368, or e-mail Denise Cline at dcline@osbar.org if you have questions.

Profession Raises $100,000 for SALC
The 15 members of St. Andrew Legal Clinic’s board of directors pulled together to raise more than $100,000 to support legal services for low-income families. This two-month campaign began in November and focused on the Portland-metropolitan area.

Board members worked in teams and participated in a friendly competition to see who could raise the most funds. Winning team members, JoAnn Reynolds of Yates, Matthews & Eaton, Ruth Pekelder of Gevurtz, Menashe, Larson & Howe, and Jack Lundeen, Attorney at Law, raised a collective $25,900.

Funds raised support St. Andrew Legal Clinic (SALC), serving more than 2,000 low-income families in Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington and Columbia counties each year.

ALA Oregon Chapter Celebrates 30th Anniversary
On Jan. 18, 2008, the Association of Legal Administrators/ Oregon Chapter celebrated 30 years of success in providing networking and educational programs to legal professionals.

Proceeds totaling $4,425 from the event’s raffle and silent auction were donated to St. Andrew Legal Clinic. More information on the ALA/ Oregon Chapter can be found at www.oregonala.org.

Oregonians Need Your Help
The Oregon State Bar’s Modest Means program is designed to help Oregonians who can’t afford full-priced legal representation. By signing up, you can make life easier for people facing imminent problems like eviction, divorce and domestic violence. But joining the Modest Means program is not pro bono work – participants pay for the service you provide, up to $60 per hour.

All Oregon lawyers are welcome to sign up, but the need is especially dire in rural areas of eastern and southern Oregon. For more information and to apply for the program, visit http://www.osbar.org/_docs/forms/modestmeans.pdf.

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