Oregon State Bar Bulletin APRIL 2012 |
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May 8: BOG Candidates’ Filing Deadline
Four OSB Board of Governors positions are open to active bar members from regions 1, 3, 4, and 5. The board consists of 18 members – 14 active bar members and four members of the public. The election will be held on Oct. 15, 2012. Board terms are for four years and begin on Jan. 1, 2013.
The board holds five regular meetings a year, on a Friday and the following Saturday morning. Nearly half of the meetings are in the Portland area and the remainder at locations around the state. BOG committee meetings are held at the bar center in Tigard, three to four weeks prior to regular board meetings. Board members serve as liaisons to the Professional Liability Fund, bar sections and committees, and numerous other groups.
For more information or to print a copy of the candidate statement go to www.osbar.org and select Board of Governors from the column on the left, or contact Danielle Edwards at dedwards@osbar.org, or (503) 620-0222 or (800) 452-8260, ext. 426.
Public Service Lawyers May Qualify for OSB Student Debt Assistance
Lawyers who work in public service as a public defender, assistant district attorney or for a legal services organization may qualify for the OSB Loan Repayment Assistance Program. If you earn no more than $55,000 and have at least $50,000 in student loan debt, you may apply.
The LRAP program will make a forgivable loan of up to $5,000 per year per program participant for a maximum of three consecutive years. Applications are due at the bar office by April 15. Further information and application forms are available online at http://www.osbar.org/lrap
Feedback Requested from
Multnomah County Attorneys
The Multnomah County Circuit Court is interested in learning about local bar perceptions of civil jury trials and about local attorney familiarity with the court’s recently implemented Expedited Civil Jury Trial (ECJT) program. The court has enlisted the National Center for State Courts to assist in this effort.
If you work in Multnomah County and would like to help inform the court about these issues, please visit www.tinyurl.com/CivilBarSurvey. Your responses are anonymous and confidential. The results will be used to compare the attitudes and experiences of the Multnomah County civil bar community with those of attorneys who participate in the Multnomah ECJT program.
Legislative Roundup — Deadlines and Highlights
Even though the 2012 session just ended, the bar’s public affairs staff are already looking forward toward the OSB’s legislative priorities in 2013. All OSB sections and committees that wish to introduce legislation for the 2013 regular session need to have those proposals submitted to the OSB Public Affairs Department no later than April 2. All proposals will then be discussed at a public forum on April 24.
Contact the bar at pubaff@osbar.org for more details. In the meantime, the bar will be working on putting together our traditional legislative wrap-up of all the major bills that passed out of the 2012 session. That publication will be available free to OSB members on BarBooks Online later this spring.
Calling All Authors, Illustrators, Poets, Etc.
The Oregon Appellate Almanac, a semi-regular publication of the OSB Appellate Practice Section, seeks submissions for the next volume. Past volumes have featured art, humor and scholarly pieces on topics with some connection to appellate practice in Oregon. Direct questions and submissions to Meagan Flynn at meaganf@pbandf.com by May 1, 2012.
Call for Articles for International Law Section Newsletter
The OSB International Law Section is in the process of putting together a section newsletter. The newsletter will include brief articles, case summaries, and news of interest to ILS members.
If you are interested in having your article, case summary, news brief, or other internationally-oriented content published in the newsletter, email osb.international lawsection@gmail.com by May 15.
Oregon New Lawyers Division Continues Practical Skills Training Program
The Oregon New Lawyers Division and Federal Bar Association recently sponsored a two-day training for attorneys interested in Social Security disability law at the U.S. District Courthouse in Portland. The free workshop provided 13.5 CLE hours and featured esteemed plaintiffs’ attorneys Sharon Maynard, Nicole Schneider and George Wall and claimant advocate Mellani Calvin as well as Administrative Law Judges Eleanor Laws and Sue Leise. Topics covered included the disability process and representation and concluded with a mock hearing. Over 70 attorneys participated.
The ONLD and FBA-YLD have launched this program and others, including the Practical Skills in Public Service Program, to help new unemployed and underemployed attorneys enhance their knowledge and expand their professional skills. Another workshop focused on foreclosure defense is planned for May. For more information, please contact ONLD@osbar.org.