The Best Legal Research Tools at Your Fingertips

Posted on 09/26/2016 by beverlym

If you’re an Oregon lawyer, the best legal research tools are only a mouse-click away on the OSB website. Best of all, they’re free thanks to the revamped BarBooks platform.

From the Member Login link on the OSB home page, select Enter BarBooks, and choose Explore. In addition to the familiar OSB Legal Publications – 44 books that cover everything from Administering Oregon Estates to Worker’s Compensation – you will also find:

Other OSB Publications

Disciplinary Board Reporter (1998 – 2015)
Oregon Formal Ethics Opinions (2016 rev.)
Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct Annotated (2016 edition)
Oregon Legislation Highlights (2005 – 2016)
UPL Advisory Opinions (2013-2014)

OSB Seminar Handbooks

A whopping 132 handbooks from OSB CLEs. Here are just a few of the topics covered:

Advanced Estate Planning
Advanced Topics in Nonprofit Law
Bankruptcy Basics: The ABCs of Filing Chapter 13
Basic Estate Planning and Administration
Broadbrush Taxation
Business Law
Constitutional Law
Defending DUII Cases in Oregon
Deposition Techniques and Strategy with David Markowitz
Drafting Family Law Documents
Elder Law
Evolving Issues of Labor and Employment Law in the Modern Workplace
Fundamentals of Oregon Civil Trial Procedure
Intellectual Property Review
Legal Ethics—Best Practices
Litigation Institute and Retreat
Northwest Bankruptcy Institute
Real Estate and Land Use Fall Forum
Technology Law

Click the nifty download button to save any of these publications or handbooks to your desktop.

Don’t Forget About Fastcase

All of this is in addition to Fastcase legal research, a good starting point for any research project.

Trust Accounting and Practice Management

While logged into BarBooks, you can also search the Oregon Statutory Time Limitations Handbook from the Professional Liability Fund (PLF). BUT, the best place to download PLF handbooks is still the PLF website, where you have four to choose from – all available at no cost to Oregon lawyers:

A Guide to Setting Up and Running Your Law Office
A Guide to Setting Up and Using Your Lawyer Trust Account
Oregon Statutory Time Limitations Handbook
Planning Ahead: A Guide to Protecting Your Clients’ Interests in the Event of Your Disability or Death

Even More Online Resources for Lawyers

The OSB Internet Resources for Oregon Lawyers page offers links to more free resources:

Oregon Law – links to courts, cases, statutes, legislative history, and rules
US Federal Law – links to cases, statutes, rules, and publications
Government – links to Oregon OnLine/Oregon Bluebook, BOLI, DOJ, and more
Libraries – links to all three law schools + law library values

Take advantage!

It’s All About Branding and Marketing

Posted on 12/09/2013 by beverlym

How can you highlight your unique abilities to attract potential clients? Easy! Take tips from the expert! Personal Branding in One Hour for Lawyers tells you all you need to know. Check out this blog post from Law Technology Today. (Save money when ordering Personal Branding in One Hour for Lawyers by using the PLF’s ABA discount Promotional Code PAB8EOSB.)

Even better, the November/December issues of Law Practice Magazine and Law Practice TODAY are all about marketing. Feature articles include:

The icing on the cake? The Professional Liability Fund has recently added a collection of checklists, worksheets, and marketing guides to our Web site:

Checklist – Create a Marketing Plan for Your Small Law Firm
Checklist – Law Practice Business Development Goal Setting
Marketing and Business Development Worksheets
- Assessing Your Law Firm’s Competition Worksheet
- Choosing a Niche Target Market Worksheet
- Crafting an Elevator Speech Worksheet
- Law Practice Marketing Budget Worksheet
- Law Practice Target Markets Contact Worksheet
Marketing Plans – Sample and Completed
Marketing and Business Development: Crucial Skills – by our own Sheila Blackford

To access these documents from the PLF Web site, select Practice Aids and Forms > Marketing.

Our thanks to the Institute of Continuing Legal Education for graciously
permitting us to use their forms.

Choosing Legal Billing Software

Posted on 05/28/2013 by beverlym

Should time and billing be integrated with your practice management software? Or are you better off with a stand-alone program? Before deciding, do your homework. Here are some useful links and posts:

Software Comparison Charts and Buying Guides

Time and Billing Software Comparison Chart – ABA Legal Technology Resource Center

Buyer’s Guide to Legal Billing Software – Technolawyer

Billing and Practice Management Software Integration

Avoid Mistakes with Time, Billing and Accounting Software

System Considerations: Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, Mobile Timekeeping, Auto Capture

Ten Things You Need to Know About Back-Office Systems – ABA GP/Solo

Options for Mac Lawyers

The Fine Art of Getting Paid on a Mac – ABA Law Practice TODAY

Best Practice Tips

Billing & Collections – ABA Law Practice TODAY

ABCs of Best Billing Practices – ABA Webinar

Finance: Timekeeping by the Numbers – ABA Law Practice Magazine

Resources for New Bankruptcy Practitioners

Posted on 09/04/2012 by beverlym

Are you new to bankruptcy practice in Oregon? Take advantage of these resources:

Review “Chapter 7 for the Low Income Consumer” (March 3, 2011) prepared by the Oregon State Bar (OSB) Debtor/Creditor Section, Pro Bono Bankruptcy Committee, and Multnomah Bar Association in conjunction with Multnomah County Legal Aid. You can access free training materials here.
Join the OSB Debtor/ Creditor Section and attend the periodic consumer law meetings. A list of Section resources is available here.
Attend CLEs. The “Fundamentals of Bankruptcy” and the “Northwest Bankruptcy Institute” are offered annually by the OSB. These programs are recorded and accessible online or on CD/DVD. The Oregon Law Institute and Multnomah Bar Association are also good resources for bankruptcy-related CLEs. Check the Professional Liability Fund (PLF) Web site for additional CLEs.
Familiarize yourself with possible malpractice traps by perusing past articles from the PLF publication, In Brief. From the PLF home page, select In Brief, then click on the link to the Index of Articles. Articles and Cases of Note relating to bankruptcy will be found under the heading “Commercial/Debtor-Creditor.”
Spend some time reviewing the resources on the United States Bankruptcy Court Web site. Local bankruptcy forms are also available. To learn more about electronic case filing (ECF), click on the ECF navigation link on the home page:

Consider contacting a bankruptcy resource lawyer. A list of bankruptcy resource lawyers may be found on the debtor/creditor section website.

Oregon Foreclosure Checklist Updated

Posted on 08/23/2012 by beverlym

The Professional Liability Fund Trust Deed Foreclosure Checklist (August 2012) has been updated to incorporate specific requirements related to SB 1552. Practitioners are encouraged to review the Foreclosure Mediation Requirements in tandem with the checklist. Download the Trust Deed Foreclosure Checklist and Foreclosure Mediation Requirements on the PLF Web site > Practice Aids and Forms > Real Property.

Oregon Law Practice Management

Practice Management Tips for Oregon Lawyers

Tag Archives: Resources

The Best Legal Research Tools at Your Fingertips

Other OSB Publications

OSB Seminar Handbooks

Don’t Forget About Fastcase

Trust Accounting and Practice Management

Even More Online Resources for Lawyers

It’s All About Branding and Marketing

Choosing Legal Billing Software

Software Comparison Charts and Buying Guides

Billing and Practice Management Software Integration

System Considerations: Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, Mobile Timekeeping, Auto Capture

Options for Mac Lawyers

Best Practice Tips

Resources for New Bankruptcy Practitioners

Oregon Foreclosure Checklist Updated

Other OSB Publications

OSB Seminar Handbooks

Don’t Forget About Fastcase

Trust Accounting and Practice Management

Even More Online Resources for Lawyers

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Software Comparison Charts and Buying Guides

Billing and Practice Management Software Integration

System Considerations: Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, Mobile Timekeeping, Auto Capture

Options for Mac Lawyers

Best Practice Tips

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