| Oregon State Bar Bulletin — MAY 2012 |
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Is Your Law Office A Partner In Sustainability?
Your law office can become an Oregon State Bar Partner in Sustainability. The OSB Sustainable Future Section’s Partners in Sustainability Program recognizes Oregon law offices of all sizes that adopt certain practices to reduce the energy, resources and harmful chemicals used in their operations.
Apply by June 30 to be included as a founding partner. To see the criteria, review the benefits of being a partner in sustainability and to access the application form, visit www.osbsustainablefuture.org.
OSB Annual Award
Nominations Sought
Every year the OSB honors Oregon’s most outstanding lawyers, judges and citizens but can’t do it without your help. The bar is currently accepting nominations for the following awards:
OSB Award of Merit; Wallace P. Carson, Jr. Award for Judicial Excellence; President’s Affirmative Action Award; President’s Membership Service Award; President’s Public Service Award; President’s Public Leadership Award; President’s Sustainability Award. The Professionalism Commission is also accepting nominations for the Edwin J. Peterson Professionalism Award.
The deadline for all nominations is 5 p.m., Monday, July 16. Nomination criteria, forms and other information can be found at http://www.osbar.org/osbevents. For additional information, contact Kay Pulju at (503) 620-0222 or (800) 452-8260, ext. 402; or email her at khoutary@osbar.org. This year’s awards luncheon is Thursday, Nov. 29 at The Governor Hotel in Portland.
‘The Dream Court’ Sculpture
on Display at OSB Center
In December 2011, the Oregon State Bar received a donation of a bronze sculpture known as “The Dream Court,” depicting a woman attorney arguing a case before nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices. This 3-foot by 3-foot bronze is currently on display at Oregon State Bar Center in Tigard.
The statue depicts Candice DuBoff-Jones, a 27 year old attorney, who was murdered in the Multnomah County Circuit Court on Feb. 13, 1978, arguing a case before nine of the most influential judges in U.S. history. It was donated to the bar by her brother, Leonard DuBoff, who conceptualized the work shortly after his sister’s death. A similar work was donated to the Brooklyn Law School in New York by her other brother Michael DuBoff, and that piece is on display in the lobby of the law school’s library.
This sculpture was created by world-renowned Oregon artist Lorenzo Ghiglieri, whose work appears in numerous museums and public collections, including the Vatican Museum in Rome, the Missouri Historical Society and the Presidential Museum in Washington D.C.
A scholarship fund honoring her memory was established shortly after her death, which continues to provide law student scholarships on an annual basis. The fund was created by donations from lawyers and judges, as well as her friends and family. Additional donations are always appreciated and welcomed. More information can be found at www.cdjmemorialscholarship.org/. To view the sculpture, pay a visit to the bar center, where it is currently on display in the Members Room.
Legal Aid Services of Oregon Appoints New Executive Director
Janice Morgan has been appointed to lead Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO), Oregon’s federally funded statewide legal aid program. Morgan takes the place of Executive Director Tom Matsuda who has resigned to return to his home state of Hawaii. Morgan, a 1983 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, has served as the program director of LASO’s Farmworker program since 1998 and has an extensive background in poverty law, having worked for programs in Michigan and in Washington, D.C. Morgan assumed the position of executive director on April 1, 2012.
Watch for the Latest Economic Survey
The Board of Governors has commissioned an economic survey to be conducted of the membership of the Oregon State Bar. The survey intends to collect valuable economic information for the benefit of the membership and their practice of law. The survey will be similar to the one conducted in 2007. The survey will be conducted by an independent contractor, and those members with an email address on file with the bar will receive it via email. A random sample of the membership can expect to receive the survey in May. The survey results will be printed in the Bulletin later this year.
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.
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.internationallawsection@gmail.com by May 15.
Volunteers Needed for Fee
Mediation Pilot Program
Over the past few months, the bar has been working to build the infrastructure necessary to support a fee mediation pilot program. The mediation pilot program will operate under the same rules as the existing fee arbitration program — the bar will simply offer participants who agree to binding arbitration the option of engaging in mediation before their arbitration hearing. If the parties are able to reach resolution during mediation, the fee arbitration case will be dismissed.
To date, the bar has approximately 75 attorneys on its list of volunteer fee mediators, but we will need many more volunteers to meet the anticipated requests of attorneys and clients. Volunteers — mediators and arbitrators as well — are especially needed from areas outside of the Portland metro area. Interested attorneys should contact Cassandra Stich at cstich@osbar.org or (503) 431-6334 for additional information.
Fee Arbitration Program May Reach More Clients
Historically, the Oregon State Bar Fee Arbitration Program has only been available to Oregon attorneys and their clients, but the Board of Governors recently approved expanding the voluntary fee dispute arbitration program to offer dispute resolution to Oregon clients who employ out-of-state attorneys.
Since 1976, the bar has offered a voluntary program to Oregon attorneys and their clients, as well as Oregon attorneys who are seeking to resolve disputes about how to apportion fees. The program strives to offer lawyers and clients an out-of-court method for fee dispute resolution that is informal, quick, confidential and inexpensive.
The cost of fee arbitration is low — the bar charges a filing fee of $50 for claims of $7,500 or less, and $75 for claims of $7,501 or more to help cover administrative expenses.
More information on the program can be found at www.osbar.org/rulesregs/ feearb.htm.