Don’t let your work go unrecognized
The Oregon New Lawyers Division Pro Bono Challenge is a friendly competition to motivate attorneys and law students to provide the highest level of pro bono service. The challenge recognizes pro bono services by all sizes of firms, individual attorneys and law students. The 2003 Pro Bono Challenge is closing in on the end of another successful year. Report your pro bono hours on the OSB fee statement to be mailed in December. The hours reported will be tracked for the Pro Bono Challenge. More information on the voluntary pro bono reporting program is available here.

The 2002 Pro Bono Challenge results reflected a total of more than 20,000 hours of free legal services being reported by lawyers. At an hourly rate of $150, the services would be valued at more than $4.3 million. The numbers are limited only to those participating in the challenge and do not capture all pro bono service in Oregon. Congratulations to the 2002 challenge winners:

Davis Wright Tremaine (large firm): 4,346 total hours, or 49 hours per attorney;

Garvey Schubert Barer (medium firm): 698 hours, or 39 hours per attorney;

Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe (small firm): 199 hours, or 66 hours per attorney;

University of Oregon School of Law (law school): 4,867 hours;

Charles Hinkle (overall individual): 264 hours;

Barbara Jarvis (solo practitioner): 200 hours;

E. Roy Bashaw (emeritus): 320 hours;

James McCurdy and Shannon Draughon (University of Oregon law student winners);

Peter Brandt and Beth Zilbert
(Lewis & Clark law student winners);

Eleanor Beatty and Shawn (Aaron) Young (Willamette University law student winners).

Hunger drive surpasses goal
Oregon Lawyers Against Hunger (OLAH) exceeded all expectations by raising more than $115,000 in this year’s seventh annual fundraiser to benefit the Oregon Food Bank (OFB). Last year’s donations from lawyers, legal professionals and law firms totaled more than $104,000.

OLAH is a non-profit organization comprised of legal professionals in Oregon. Every dollar donation enables OFB to collect and distribute almost $10 worth of food for hungry people in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

This year, more than 50 law firms and hundreds of individual attorneys in the tri-county area and throughout the state participated. For seven consecutive years, Lane Powell Spears Lubersky has won the Silver Barrel Award, which is awarded to the team with the largest overall contribution. This year, Lane Powell Spears Lubersky and Bullivant Houser Bailey each raised more than $21,000, which allowed both firms to share the Silver Barrel Award. Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe received the Golden Can Award, which is awarded to the firm with the largest average per capita contribution, by raising $272.80 per person.

'OLAH’s tremendous success is really a double-edged sword,' said OLAH board president Megge Van Valkenburg. 'The record-breaking results of this year’s drive are testimony to the generosity of our legal community and to its commitment to helping those in need. At the same time, our need to achieve such results demonstrates that the problem of hunger in Oregon continues to get worse.'

Since its inception in 1997, OLAH’s fund-raising efforts have raised $500,353, which has resulted in 5,503,883 pounds of food for hungry persons served by the food bank.

For more information, contact Van Valkenburg at (503) 499-4471.

Notice of reinstatement applications
Two persons have filed applications for reinstatement to be active members, pursuant to Rule of Procedure (BR) 8.1.

Steven Jon Leask of Tennessee, Bar No. 95332, has filed an application for reinstatement as an active member of the Oregon State Bar pursuant to Rule of Procedure (BR) 8.1. Mr. Leask was admitted to the Oregon State Bar on September 22, 1995. Effective January 17, 1996, he transferred to inactive status, and was subsequently suspended for failure to pay inactive dues on July 5, 2000. He seeks reinstatement at this time to qualify for an in-house counsel position with his present company in Tennessee.

Allan H. Coons of Eugene, Bar No.68032, has filed an application for reinstatement as an active member of the Oregon State Bar pursuant to Rule of Procedure (BR) 8.1. Mr. Coons was admitted to the Oregon State Bar on January 12, 1968. On January 29, 1996, Mr. Coons transferred to inactive status with the intent to retire. Upon his reinstatement, he plans to open a private law practice in Eugene.

The Rules of Procedure require the Board of Governors to conduct an investigation of BR 8.1 reinstatement applications to determine whether applicants possess the good moral character and general fitness to practice law and that the resumption of the practice of law in this state by applicants will not be detrimental to the administration of justice or the public interest.

Any person with information relevant to this inquiry is asked to contact promptly the Regulatory Services Division at the Oregon State Bar, PO Box 1689, Lake Oswego, OR 97035-0889, 620-0222, or 1-800-452-8260, extension 343.

Reciprocity applicant list posted
The Board of Bar Examiners requests that members examine this list and bring to the board’s attention in a signed letter any information that might influence the board in considering the moral character of any applicant for admission. Send correspondence to Marlyce Gholston, executive director, Oregon State Board of Bar Examiners, 5200 S.W. Meadows Road, Lake Oswego, OR 97035.

Gary D. Babbitt (Gross), Douglas C. Berry, Michael George Brady, Brian David Buckley, David Mark Byers, Philip Joseph Carstens, Jr., Loren Dee Combs, Deborah Ann Crabbe, Robin Dale, Kent Michael Fandel, Michael D. Gaffney, Mark Brian Hanson, Stephen W. Horenstein, William Frank Joyce, Dan Roland Larsson, Irene M. McDaniel (Van Belkom), Joseph Perrine Mentor, Jr., Lars Elmer Neste, Gurjit Singh Pandher, Erik DuPen Price, Alan Wade Schulkin, James Michael Shaker, Gabriel Thomas Sheridan, James Harvey Simon, J. (James) Walter Sinclair, Richard Miles Stanislaw, Louis Harold Treiger, James Carl Webber, William Stephen Weinstein, Anthony Isham West, Deborah Susan Winter, James Keith Woods.

Author to speak at OCDLA event
Oregon attorney and best-selling novelist Phillip Margolin will give a talk on 'Writing Legal Thrillers for Fun and Profit' at a special dinner and benefit auction for the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association on Friday, Dec. 5, at the Benson Hotel in Portland. The event is open to the public, and tickets are $45, available by calling OCDLA at (541) 686-8716.

Margolin has been in private practice since 1972, specializing in criminal defense at the trial and appellate levels. He has appeared before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the Oregon Supreme Court and the Oregon Court of Appeals. He has represented approximately 30 people charged with homicide, including several who have faced the death penalty. Margolin was also the first Oregon attorney to use the Battered Woman’s Syndrome to defend a battered woman accused of murdering her spouse.

All eight of his novels have been New York Times best-sellers, including the most recent, Ties That Bind.

On December 5, Margolin will also be honored with a special President’s Award by the president of OCDLA, Philip Studenberg of Klamath Falls, for his generous contributions supporting the OCDLA scholarship fund. Scholarship assistance is given to those attorneys and investigators for tuition to attend CLE programs.

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Spotlight on
OSB volunteers

David W. Hittle:
The only bar member to serve twice on the Board of Governors

By Donna Richardson

If you look up 'volunteer' in Webster’s, you will find:

Vol-un-teer: 1. One who serves or acts of his or her own free will. 2. One who gives help, does a service or takes an obligation voluntarily. 3. Law. One who holds property under a deed made without valuable consideration. 4. A cultivated plant growing from self-sown or accidentally dropped seed. (Select the definition that you think applies).

Dave Hittle is the only member to have the distinction of serving twice on the Board of Governors. He was elected in 1986, and again in 1997 when he was approached by the Board of Governors and asked to serve to replace a Region 6 board member who had resigned. That in and of itself is impressive, but add to that, the following bar service: Current chair of the Appellate Practice Section; current member of the Judicial Administration Committee; Client Security Fund Committee; Civil Rights Section (chair); Indigent Defense Task Force; Oregon Law Foundation (president); Oregon Law Institute; Future of the Courts Committee; Workers Compensation Section (chair); Oregon Trial Lawyers Association board; Marion County Bar (president); author of a dozen chapters for OSB CLE publications.

When asked why he continues to volunteer for bar activities, Hittle said, 'I get as much back as I have given. It facilitates the feeling of being a professional person. Some lawyers just practice law and become ‘sour.’ Volunteering makes you feel refreshed and involved. You meet fascinating people from the entire state. There’s not a city of the state that I can go where I don’t know someone that I have served on a committee or board with.'

Court council to meet
The next meeting of the Council on Court Procedures will be held on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., at the Oregon State Bar Center in Lake Oswego. Meetings usually last until noon.

Future meeting dates may be accessed at the council’s website, www.law.uoregon.edu/
programs/OCCP.

Suggestions or questions should be forwarded to Maury Holland, executive director, at 1221 University of Oregon School of Law, Eugene, OR 97403; fax: (541) 346-1564; or phone: (541) 346-3834.

Law school auction date set
Public Interest Law Project (PILP) of Lewis & Clark Law School will be hosting its annual fundraising auction on Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 at the law school in Portland.

PILP hosts an annual fund-raising auction to finance its summer stipend program, enabling students to take jobs with public interest organizations that do not traditionally have the resources to hire summer clerks.

This year’s auction is titled 'Realizing the Ideal.' Contact Andrea Poole (apoole@lclark.edu) or Parna Mehrbani (parna@lclark.edu) for more info.

Business Law to give award
The Business Law Section will hold its annual meeting during the lunch break at the section’s 'Fundamentals of Business Law' CLE seminar.

The luncheon speaker will be Peter J. Bragdon, chief of staff to Gov. Ted. Kulongoski.

During the annual meeting, the section will present the 2003 James B. Castles Leadership Award, which was established in 1998 by OSB Business Law Section to recognize an Oregon business lawyer for excellence in the practice of business law, professionalism among fellow business lawyers and outstanding community leadership.

To order lunch at the annual meeting, contact the Order Desk at the Oregon State Bar: (503)684-7413, or (800) 452-8260, ext. 413.

The Oregon Paralegal Association has elected new officers for 2003-04.
Elected were: Barbara A. Baughman, president; Michele M. Davis, vice president; Tina Dent, secretary; and Sandra Entler, treasurer. Elected as board members were: Kary Bahr, Heather Munday and Mary McCourt. Deanne Snedeker and Kristen Kotka-Abram were elected primary and secondary representatives, respectively, to the National Federation of Paralegal Associations. Ingrid Steinkoenig was elected associate representative.

First out-of-state Shepherd scholar named
The Bill & Ann Shepherd Legal Scholarship Fund of Equity Foundation announced its scholarship recipients for the 2003-2004 academic year.

Tiffany A. Dickson of the University of Oregon School of Law, Victoria L. Larson of Northwestern School of Law, and Frances A. Crockett of the University of New Mexico School of Law are the recipients. Each will receive $4,000 from the Shepherd Fund.

Shepherd Scholars are law students in their last year of study, dedicated to passing the bar exam in whatever state they intend to practice, and donating part of their legal expertise to oppose bigotry and discrimination against sexual minorities. The scholarships were presented May 21 at 'A Class Act,' an annual spring concert benefiting the Shepherd Fund, which featured classical music and a dessert bar.

WUCL announces essay winners
Willamette University College of Law has announced the winners of the 2003 National Undergraduate Student Writing Competition of the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Peterson Prize, offered by the law school’s Center for Law and Government, is an annual national competition open to all full-time upper division students enrolled in an undergraduate institution and awards $5,000 for the first place winner, $3,000 for second and $2,000 for third.

Willamette adds professor
Terrance O’Reilly has joined the Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Ore., this fall as an Assistant Professor of Law. O’Reilly practiced law for five years with the New York law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell. He clerked for Judge Richard D. Cudahy of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Louis F. Oberdofer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

O’Reilly taught at New York University School of Law prior to moving to Oregon. Professor O’Reilly teaches Federal Income Tax, Corporate Finance, and other related courses. O’Reilly has published articles on taxation and economics in the Virginia Law Review, Journal of Public Economics, and American Economic Review.