Oregon State Bar Bulletin JANUARY 2008 |
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Some Court Fees Changed Jan. 1
On Jan. 1, 2008, some state court fee amounts changed. New rate information can
be found at www.ojd.state.or.us/courts/circuit/
2007feenotice.htm.
These changes do not affect filing fees for diversion petitions. For circuit courts, there is no single "circuit court fee schedule," as circuit court fees vary by county depending on local fee assessments. Check the website for the court where you plan to file. If the court has not posted its fee schedule online, then contact the court directly for information.
Nominations Needed: 2008 ABA Awards
for Public Lawyers
The ABA Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division’s awards
program is designed to recognize the extraordinary achievements of public
lawyers and to inform the general public about the outstanding work performed
and the positive impact made by our nation’s public lawyers. Nominations
for the division’s 2008 awards are due March 31, 2008.
Three awards are given: the Dorsey award, for outstanding legal aid or public defender; the Hodson award, for sustained outstanding service or a specific extraordinary accomplishment by a government or public sector law office; and the Nelson award, for outstanding contributions to the ABA by an individual government or public sector lawyer. See www.abanet.org/govpub/annual.html for more details.
Use Casemaker’s Hyperlinks
Did you know that Casemaker utilizes SuperCODE to identify
changes to statutes and codes? SuperCODE is the exclusive Casemaker
feature that identifies session laws which may affect the documents
that users view. SuperCODE appears on the right-hand side of the screen
and displays hyperlinks to session laws that reference the document
currently being viewed. By clicking on the hyperlink (if present) the
user is immediately transported to the segment of the legislation that
deals with the current document. Users can then quickly determine if
the new law will apply to the salient portion of code of interest.
Retirement Policy and Opinion Survey
In the newly released Altman Weil Flash survey on lawyer
retirement, only 38 percent of lawyers agree with the enforcement of
mandatory retirement provisions in law firms. However, 50 percent of
respondents report that their firms currently have mandatory retirement
policies.
In all firms where retirement is mandatory, 38 percent mandate retirement at age 65, 36 percent at age 70, six percent at age 67, and five percent at age 68. In smaller firms (50 to 99 lawyers) that have mandatory policies, the most common retirement age is 70, while in all other size categories, firms are most likely to mandate retirement at 65.
The desire to continue in the practice of law is inversely proportionate to the size of firm in which a lawyer works, according to the survey. Sixty-seven percent of lawyers in firms with 50-99 lawyers plan to continue practicing either full- or part-time. The same is true of 44 percent of lawyers in firms with 100-249 lawyers, 38 percent of lawyers in 250-499 lawyer firms, and only 34 percent of lawyers in 500+ lawyer firms.
The full report appears at www.altmanweil.com/LawyerRetirement.
NALP Analysis: Minority Women Still
Underrepresented
Minority women constitute just 1.65 percent of partners in
the nation’s major law firms. This group is particularly underrepresented
in the partnership ranks, even more so than minority men, who account
for just 3.74 percent of partners. These findings come from the National
Association for Legal Career Professionals’ recent analyses of
the 2007-2008 NALP Directory of Legal Employers, the annual compendium
of legal employer data published by NALP.
The analysis also reveals that representation of minority women among partners varies considerably by geographic location, with firms in Miami reporting the highest level of representation at 5.99 percent. This contrasts with more than 15 cities where minority women make up fewer than one percent of partners.
For more information visit www.nalpdirectory.com.