Parenting Coordination Seminar Dec. 12
Child Centered Solutions, a non-profit organization based in Portland that focuses on the rights and needs of children involved in the domestic relations process, will host a full-day presentation on parenting coordination on Friday, Dec. 12. This class will held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the World Trade Center in Portland; 6.5 hours of CLE credits are pending.

For more information, call (503) 546-6383 or e-mail info@childcenteredsolutions.org or visit www.childcenteredsolutions.org.

2008 LERA Awards Will Be Presented Nov. 18
The Oregon chapter of LERA, the Labor and Employment Relations Association, is sponsoring a conference, "Ethics in Collective Bargaining: Building Trust in the Workplace," on Nov. 18 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Along with the conference, the chapter will hold its annual meeting and 2009 board election, and the 2008 LERA Awards will be presented.

Ethicist Doug Wallace will give the keynote speech concerning two approaches to ethics: absolute principles and action/consequence.

For more information, contact Oregon LERA via fax at (503) 524-0997 or by e-mail at oregonlera@aol.com.

Holiday Card Idea
The Bulletin’s cartoonist, Arnie Glick, has a number of holiday-themed law cartoons that can be used to create greeting cards for the upcoming holiday season. For a sample of cartoons and licensing information, contact him at aglick@rrf-law.com.

OCDLA to Give Lifetime Achievement Award
Retired Multnomah Circuit Court Judge Linda L. Bergman has been selected to receive the Ken Morrow Lifetime Achievement Award by the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. A tribute to Judge Bergman will take place following a banquet dinner on Friday, Dec. 5, at the Benson Hotel. The event is open to the public; for ticket information, call OCDLA at (541) 686-8716.

Judge Bergman retired in 2007 and this year served as the interim director of Metropolitan Public Defenders during the search to hire a new director following the retirement of Jim Hennings. Providing a tribute to Judge Bergman will be attorneys Emily Simon and Steve Houze and the Hon. Nan Waller.

20th Annual NAPABA Convention
to Be Held Nov. 20-22 in Seattle
The National Asian Pacific Bar Association (NAPABA) will hold its 20th annual convention on Nov. 20- 22 at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel, Seattle.

The 2008 theme is "Building On Our Legacy: 20 Years of NAPABA." The three-day convention will celebrate the accomplishments of Asian Pacific American leaders in the legal profession and the many advances made by the Asian Pacific American community over the past 20 years. More than 1,200 legal professionals and guests from around the country are expected to attend.

In addition to two days of CLE programs, the convention also features break-out sessions for committees.

For more information or to register, visit NAPABA’s website, http://www.napaba.org.

Harris Poll Finds Public Confusion
Over Role in Judicial Elections
A new nationwide Harris Poll, conducted with input from the American Bar Association, shows that while a majority of members of the voting-age public think state court judges should be elected, they don’t want party labels or special interest money involved in the process. For federal court judgeships, respondents think citizen committees should review nominees’ backgrounds and qualifications.

When queried about federal court judges, more than two-thirds of the respondents, or 67 percent, said it’s a good idea to involve citizen committees in screening federal judicial nominees. The ABA calls for using citizen advisory commissions to review the qualifications of potential federal court nominees and make recommendations for the president’s consideration.

When asked who should serve on such committees, 55 percent of poll respondents said "people like me," 43 percent opted for people who are active in community groups, 32 percent approved other judges and 24 percent said lawyers should be represented. Only 19 percent thought elected officials should play a role, and the same number said business owners or executives should participate. Respondents could choose as many categories as they wished, but 20 percent were unsure who should participate.

The poll of 2,315 U.S. adults also showed 42 percent are unsure whether their own state judges are elected or appointed, but 55 percent think elections should be used. In fact judges are elected for their first term in office in 24 states, and appointed judges face retention elections in 15 states.

Full results for respondent answers to these and other questions on the survey are posted at http://www.abanet.org/media/harrispoll_judicialselection.pdf.

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