9TH CIRCUIT COURT HEARINGS HELD
No sooner than last month’s issue of the Bulletin was printed, hearings were scheduled and held on proposed legislation to split the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The question has been on a political back burner since at least 1998, as lawyer and author Lori Irish Bauman wrote in the April 2004 issue, in her article 'Split Over Splitting.' Last month’s hearings were held April 7 by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee of Administrative Oversight and the Courts, which has been studying plans to divide the court. A bill introduced last month by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., would create three separate circuits, including one to serve Oregon, Washington and Alaska.

But observers think it unlikely that Congress will act before the November election. Many Democrats have signaled they would oppose a split, which is generally backed by Republicans.

WHO HAS THE BEST FIRM WEBSITE?
Who has the Best Legal website? That’s what will be determined when the winners of the 2004 WebAward Competition are announced. The Web Marketing Association’s 8th annual WebAward Competition is the Internet’s premier award competition for website development in 80 industry categories.

Past Best Legal WebAward winners include Lane Powell Spears Lubersky in 2002. The competition recognizes the individual and team achievement of web professionals who create and maintain outstanding corporate websites. The deadline for entry is June 30.

The competition is open to all organizations and individuals involved in the process of developing corporate websites worldwide, including interactive agencies, website owners and corporate marketing and e-commerce departments. Eligible websites must have been, or will be, in general use for at least part of calendar year 2004.

Sites are judged on design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, navigation and ease of use. Judging takes place in July and August, and winners will be announced in September.

For more information, see www.webaward.org or contact William Rice at (860) 558-5423 or wrice@ webaward.org.

SUMMER ASSOCIATES INVITED TO MEET JUDGES
The Federal Bar Association and the U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society will co-host the annual Summer Associate Program on Thursday, June 17 noon to 4:30 p.m., at the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse, Portland.

This is a tremendous opportunity for law students to meet informally with the federal judges and clerk’s office staff and get a judge-guided tour of the building. The cost, including lunch is $60 and scholarships are available.

To register or for questions, please contact Kelly Zusman at: Kelly.Zusman@ usdoj.gov or (503) 727-1009.

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Afraid that listing your work or office e-mail address with the bar will lead to a spam-fest in your inbox?

Why not list an alternate address with the bar instead? That way you won’t miss out on any news from the bar or opportunities to vote in online elections.

And to ensure that you only get the e-mail messages you want, you can take some steps to eliminate unwanted mail from your new account.

First, you’ll need to set up a free e-mail address:

To eliminate the amount of e-mail sent to your office or work account, sign up for a free e-mail address through one of many providers. Then, use this e-mail address to receive the information you want to get, and use filters to block out messages you don’t want.

Such services include: www.hotmail.com, www.yahoo.com and www.mail.com.

Depending upon the type of e-mail account you have, you can set up filters to cut down on the amount of junk mail that you get. Picking a specific word to filter out of your e-mail may cut down on the different ads and spam that seem to always fill up an in-box. You can even specify that mail from a certain e-mail address is sent directly to your junk e-mail folder instead of your inbox.

It is possible to only get the mail you want by creating a 'safe list.' A safe list is a list of addresses that you want to get mail from. If an e-mail is sent to you from an address that is not on your safe list, it is sent directly to your junk folder. Most e-mail accounts will automatically delete all files in your junk folder on a regular basis, which means you never have to see them.

If you’d like more help setting up a new e-mail account, or if you’d like tips on how to set up filters, send an e-mail to jcurl@osbar.org.