Reciprocity Now Includes Alaska
On Dec. 12, 2007, the Oregon Supreme Court signed an amendment to the Rule for Admission of Attorneys 5.05, relating to reciprocity admissions. The new amendment allows active members of the Alaska State Bar to join the Oregon State Bar using the current reciprocity rules. Alaska joins Idaho, Utah and Washington on Oregon’s list of reciprocal states.

Invitation for Public Comment
The current term of the Hon. Frank Alley, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Oregon, expires in January 2009. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is considering the reappointment of the judge to a new term Of 14 years. The court invites comments from the bar and public about Alley’s performance as a bankruptcy judge. The duties of a bankruptcy judge are specified by statute, and include conducting hearings and trials, making final determinations and entering orders and judgments.

Comments should be submitted no later than Monday, March 17 to the following address: Office of the Circuit Executive, P.O. Box 193939, San Francisco, CA 94119-3939, Attn: Reappointment of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alley.

Affirmative Action Program Seeks Fellowship Employers
The bar’s Affirmative Action Program offers two types of public service fellowships. One is through the AAP program, which pays two awardees from each law school $4800 for full time work in public interest during the summer. The other fellowship is through a partial grant from the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (ABA SEER), which pays a fellow $5000 to work in the public interest with environmental issues.

If you, your firm or someone you know wants to have a public fellow, please contact Cheryl Taylor at ctaylor@osbar.org to be listed in an upcoming catalog of employers provided to students for job searches. More information is available online at www.osbar.org/aap.

BOG Special Election Results
January 9 concluded the special election to fill Robert Newell’s region 5 board seat. Kellie F. Johnson was elected to the Board of Governors. Her term began Jan. 10, and it expires Dec. 31, 2010.

2008 OSB and ABA House of Delegates Openings
The Oregon State Bar is currently seeking candidates for the OSB and ABA House of Delegates elections. There are two open seats for the ABA House of Delegates and several openings in all regions for the OSB House of Delegates. The ABA terms are for two years, and the OSB terms are for three years.

OSB House of Delegates 2008 seat vacancies are as follows: Region 1 (2); Region 2 (4); Region 3 (6); Region 4 (5); Region 5 (16); Region 6 (10); out-of-state (11).

The deadline for filing nominating petitions and candidate statements is March 24, 2008. For more information and to print a copy of the Candidates Statement and Nominating Petition go to www.osbar.org/leadership/hod, or contact Danielle Edwards at (503) 620-0222 or (800) 452-8260, ext. 426.

Court Releases Annual Report
The Oregon Court of Appeals has issued the court’s 2007 Annual Report. The Hon. David Brewer, chief judge, explains: "The court’s annual report reflects the court’s commitment to being as transparent as possible about how we perform our work so that we can better serve the public."

The report reviews changes at the Court of Appeals in 2007, including a welcome to the court’s newest judge, Timothy Sercombe. With more than 30 years of experience in the fields of land use and local government law, Sercombe brings vital expertise to several areas of the court’s case load.

The report also includes updates concerning a number of projects that the court has undertaken. Judge Jack Landau presents the recently updated Oregon Court of Appeals Internal Practices Guidelines, which describes the internal workings of the court from case initiation to appellate judgment.

The complete report is available online at www.publications.ojd.state.or.us.

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