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 AOC
launches web site for families and courts
The Administrative Office of the Courts' Center
for Families, Children & the Courts (CFCC) has launched a new web
site that provides both court professionals and court users a valuable
source for information on family and juvenile law and the legal
process. The site is located at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/cfcc.
Primary audiences of the new site are judicial
officers, attorneys and court professionals. Information includes
juvenile case law summaries, training opportunities, grant
applications, publications and other research materials.
The site also addresses the concerns of family
members, children and others involved in court proceedings. For
example, site users can learn about court services; visit the FAQs
section; view an interactive activity booklet that teaches children
about the court system; or download online publications on topics such
as foster parenting, juvenile dependency, and divorce.
The Judicial Council also recently introduced a
web site offering free help for the 4.3 million Californians who
represent themselves in court each year. The California Courts Online
Self-Help Center debuted July 17 at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp.
The site offers more than 900 pages of tools,
resources and links for legal assistance in the areas most needed by
self-represented litigants, including divorce, domestic violence,
child custody/support, traffic and small claims.
Chief Justice Ronald George reported the site
received more than a million hits in the five weeks after it began.
Fee arbitrators needed
The State Bar seeks fee arbitrators for its
mandatory fee arbitration program. Arbitrators serve for a minimum
term of two years. Attorney applicants must be active members in good
standing of the State Bar of California for a minimum of five years.
Criminal lawyers are encouraged to apply.
For more information, please contact Jill Sperber,
Director, Office of Mandatory Fee Arbitration at 415/538-2023.
MCLE deadline for Group 3 (last
names N-Z) is Feb. 1
Attorneys who are members of MCLE Compliance
Group 3 (last names beginning N-Z) must complete 25 hours of
continuing education by the compliance deadline of Feb. 1, 2002. Those
who did not complete the previously required 36 hours by Feb. 1, 1999,
have until Feb. 1, 2002, to complete a total of 61 hours.
A late fee of $75 will be assessed March 15 for
those who have not complied.
Questions about MCLE compliance may be directed
to 415/538-2100.
Nominations sought for Aranda
Award
The California Commission on Access to Justice is
seeking nominations for the Benjamin Aranda III Access to Justice
Award. Only three years old, the award honors the judge who has
demonstrated a long-term commitment to improving access to the courts
and who has personally done significant work in improving access for
low and moderate income Californians.
Nomination forms may be downloaded from the State
Bar's website, www.calbar.org,
and must be submitted by Oct. 12 to Mary Viviano, Director, Legal
Services Outreach, State Bar of California, 180 Howard St., San
Francisco 94105-1639.
The award will be made jointly by the Judicial
Council, the California Judges Association and the State Bar and will
be presented at the California Judicial Administration Conference
early next year.
Questions may be directed to Mary Viviano at
415/538-2251.
Sample fee agreements available
for $5 per set
The State Bar offers sample fee agreement forms
for $5 per set. Each set contains two sample hourly agreements (one
for litigation matters and one for non-litigation matters) and one
sample for contingent matters. In addition, the set contains samples
of 11 other clauses that may be of interest.
You may purchase these by sending a check for $5,
payable to State Bar of California, for each set requested to: State
Bar of California - Mandatory Fee Arbitration, 180 Howard Street,
6th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105-1639.
Fee arb training scheduled in
Merced Oct. 18
Recent developments in fee arbitration will be
discussed at a training program in Merced sponsored by the State
Bar's Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration. The free training
offers 2.75 hours of MCLE credit, including one hour of legal ethics.
The training is scheduled for Oct. 18 from 5 - 8
p.m. in the staff dining room at Merced College, 3600 M Street. It is
for arbitrators for the Merced and Stanislaus County bar associations,
as well as interested attorneys from Madera, Tuolumne and Mariposa
counties. State Bar fee arbitrators also are welcome to attend.
Among the topics for discussion are how to write
an enforceable award, conflicts of interest, disclosure requirements
and how to control the proceeding.
To register, call the Merced bar's fee
arbitration committee at 209/723-4633 or 209/723-2137 or e-mail dthelen@elite.net.
For more information, contact Jill Sperber,
director of the State Bar's fee arbitration program, at
415/538-2023.
7th printing for pamphlet: When
You Become 18
When You Become 18, a booklet designed to help
teenagers understand the consequences of breaking the law, has been
updated in a seventh printing. Produced by California Law Advocates,
this survival guide for young adults is provided to schools at the
request of teachers and has reached more than 2 million high school
students.
The updated version includes a new section on
road rage and expanded information about sexual harassment, and also
covers such areas as voting, jury duty, marriage, divorce, child
support, date rape and the illegality of child pornography on the
internet.
The booklet is funded by CLA chapters as well as
grants from foundations including the Foundation of the State Bar.
Information about obtaining copies of When You
Become 18 is available from the bar foundation at 415/538-2168 or by
writing to CLA at P.O. Box 8905, Calabassas, CA 91372.
Comment sought on electronic
communications
The California Law Review Commission seeks public
comment on a recommendation to revise three sections of the Evidence
Code as they relate to electronic communications and evidentiary
privileges.
Full text of the proposal is online at www.clrc.ca.gov;
follow the public comment link.
The commission also is seeking suggestions for
other reforms needed to adapt the Evidence Code for electronic
communications.
Comments should be submitted to the commission at
4000 Middlefield Rd., Room D-1, Palo Alto, CA 94303-4739. The deadline
is Oct. 15.
Antitrust dinner scheduled
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and
Charles A. James, assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of
Justice antitrust division, will address the ninth annual Antitrust
Golden State Institute this month.
Thomas Greene, senior assistant attorney general
for the California Department of Justice, will be honored at the
institute as the lawyer of the year.
Full details about the institute, which will be
held Oct. 18 at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, are online at
http://www.calbar.org/antitrust/index.htm.
For more information, call 415/538-2508.
In addition, the section just released California
Antitrust Law (Second) Vol. II. To order a copy, call 415/538-2554. |
