December 2009 Newsletter
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Library Holiday Closures
New Resource & Materials Added to the Collection
Upcoming Classes for December & January
California Gov Docs at SDCPLL
Bar Dues May Be Off Calendar
Holiday Children's Book Drive
Free Legal Opinions Available on Google Scholar
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December 2009 Newsletter
Library Holiday Closures

<big>Library Holiday Closures</big>
All branches of the Law Library will be CLOSED on:

Thursday, December 24th and
Friday, December 25th

in observance of Christmas. Normal hours of operation will resume on Saturday, December 26th.



All branches of the Law Library also will be CLOSED on:
  • Thursday, December 31st and
  • Friday, January 1st
in observance of the New Year. Normal hours of operation will resume on Saturday, January 2, 2010.HNY10

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New Resource & Materials Added to the Collection

<big>New Resource & Materials Added to the Collection</big> by Isabel E.

This month's featured resource:
The Complete QDRO Handbook (3rd ed.)
by David Clayton Carrad

This practical handbook was written for attorneys, plan administrators, state agencies using QDRO's to collect child support, and Family Court judges. It provides basic knowledge of the substantive law of QDROs, step-by-step guidance and advanced techniques for the drafting and approval process.

It also provides sample language and clauses with commentary, forms for letters and interrogatories, checklists, and valuable guidance on reading annual benefit statements. The forms are available on the included CD-ROM, as well.

Coverage includes: military retired pay; federal, state, county, and municipal civil service pensions; and non-ERISA plans, such as IRA's and Qualified Medical Child Support orders.

New Materials Added to the Collection
The Law Library regularly adds new materials to its collection. To see the new books added to our collection in the last month, click here.
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Upcoming Classes for December & January

<big>Upcoming Classes for December & January</big> Bookmark and Share

Pre-registration is required for all classes, as seating is limited. Please sign up by calling the appropriate branch location.

For a complete description of the classes and the most up-to-date information, visit our Class Calendar.

Classes are usually free to Law Library members and $5 for non-members. However, because December and January are MCLE crunch time, most of the following classes are open only to our attorney and paralegal Law Library members. Please see individual class descriptions for class offerings open to the public.

*MCLE Participatory Credit hour(s) available for these classes.
The San Diego County Public Law Library is a State Bar approved MCLE provider.

MAIN BRANCH (619) 531-3900
  • Medical Malpractice Nuts & Bolts for the Civil Litigator*
    Wednesday, January 6, 2010
    12:00 - 1:00 pm
    by Kenneth J. Medel, Esq.
    • 1 hour General Participatory credit
  • Ethics*
    Monday, January 11, 2010
    12:00 - 1:00 pm
    by David Cameron Carr
    • 1 hour Legal Ethics Participatory credit
  • Elder Law*
    Thursday, January 14, 2010
    12:00 - 1:00 pm
    by Phillip Lindsley, Esq.
    • 1 hour General Participatory credit
  • Trial Court Writing: What Judges Want to See (but Rarely Get)*
    Wednesday, January 20, 2010
    12:00 - 1:00 pm
    by Randall Christison
    • 1 hour General Participatory credit
  • Consumer Law and the Secrets of Car Buying*
    Friday, January 22, 2010
    12:00 - 1:00 pm
    by John Hanson, Esq.
    • 1 hour General Participatory credit
  • Practical Legal Research
    Saturday, January 23, 2010
    2:00 - 4:00 pm
    • Open to everyone: free to members,
      $5 for non-members
  • Ethics*
    Tuesday, January 26, 2010
    12:00 - 1:00 pm
    by David Cameron Carr
    • 1 hour Legal Ethics Participatory credit
  • The Native American Contribution to
    American Constitutional Law*
    Thursday, January 28, 2010
    12:00 - 1:00 pm
    by Prof. Brian Wildenthal, Esq.
    • 1 hour General Participatory credit
  • CRAM DAY
    Thursday, January 29, 2010
    • Defining Substance Abuse and Recovery* (2008 DVD)
      9:00 - 10:00 am
      • 1 hour Detection/Prevention of Substance Abuse
        Participatory credit
    • Elimination of Bias: Age Discrimination in Law Firms* (2008 DVD)
      10:15- 11:15 am
      • 1 hour Elimination of Bias in the Legal Profession Participatory credit
    • Ethics: Common Questions and Practical Answers* (2009 DVD)
      3:00 - 4:00 pm
      • 1 hour Legal Ethics Participatory credit
    • Professionalism: A Useful Guide* (2009 DVD)
      4:15-5:15 pm
      • 1 hour Legal Ethics Participatory credit
NORTH COUNTY BRANCH (760) 940-4386
  • Ethics: Useful Suggestions for Handling
    Common Dilemmas Pt 2    * (2008 DVD)
    Tuesday, January 5, 2010
    12:00 - 2:15 pm
    • 2 hours General Participatory credit
  • Mediation Preparation and Participation*
    by Joseph L. Stine, Esq.
    Thursday, January 7, 2010
    12:00 - 1:00 pm
    • 1 hour General Participatory credit
  • Using OnLAW*
    by SDCPLL Staff and CEB Rep. Suzanne Smith
    Tuesday, January 12, 2010
    12:00 - 1:00 pm
    1 hour General Participatory credit
    • Open to everyone: free to members,
      $5 for non-members
  • Buy Sell Agreements and related tax issues for
    the closely held business Pt 1*     (2009 DVD)
    Thursday, January 14, 2010
    12:00 - 2:00 pm
    • 1.75 hours General Participatory credit
  • Buy Sell Agreements and related tax issues for
    the closely held business Pt 2*     (2009 DVD)
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010
    12:00 - 1:45 pm
    • 1.5 hour General Participatory credit
  • Professionalism: A practical explanation* (2009 DVD)
    Thursday, January 21, 2010
    12:00 - 2:00 pm
    • 1 hour General Participatory credit
SOUTH BAY BRANCH (619) 691-4929
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California Gov Docs at SDCPLL

<big>California Gov Docs at SDCPLL</big> by Janet L.

California documents are now easier to find at SDCPLL. Locked away in storage for years, this large and valuable collection has been relocated to the publicly-accessible, first-floor stacks. State Assembly and Senate Hearings and Reports have been cataloged so that they can be found in the Library's online catalog where you can limit your search to "CAL GOV DOCS" using the Material Type field in the Advanced Keyword Search section. You can also find these documents searching the Worldcat database linked on our home page.

Many State agencies discontinued printing reports, decisions, and other documents during the 2002-2003 legislative session and are now providing only online access to documents. The Library catalog records have been enhanced with links to the online documents which are available from home or office.

Annelise Sklar, UCSD Librarian for Political Science, Law & Society, and State, Local & International documents, has recommended our collection to researchers and writes, "Thanks for doing this project - and for providing a law library open to the public!"
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Bar Dues May Be Off Calendar

<big>Bar Dues May Be Off Calendar</big> By Debra M.

California attorneys may get a brief reprieve on their bar dues, ordinarily due by February 1, 2010. Governor Schwarzenegger recently vetoed SB 641, the Bar Dues bill authorizing the assessment and collection of dues, sending the message that "the State Bar cannot continue with business as usual."

"As the organization charged with regulating the professional conduct of its members, the conduct of the State Bar itself must be above reproach," Schwarzenegger wrote in his veto message. "Regrettably, it is not."

The Governor based his veto on two issues: a July audit regarding salary increases; and confidentiality issues raised by the Commission on Judicial Nominees.

A similar veto by then Governor Pete Wilson in 1997 resulted in the bar assessing each active member a $77 fee and asking lawyers to pay the full freight ($458) voluntarily. For more information, click here.
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Holiday Children's Book Drive

<big>Holiday Children's Book Drive</big> By Barbara T.

San Diego Area Law Libraries (SANDALL) and SDCPLL are partnering for a children's book drive to benefit UPLIFT's "Kids at Heart" program.

UPLIFT offers tutoring and mentoring for low income and racially diverse children in grades K-12. Many of these children struggle in school because of language barriers and poverty. Through UPLIFT's tutoring programs, their overall reading levels have increased an average of 83.5% in the last two school years.

Bring your new or gently used children's books to any branch of the San Diego County Public Law Library during the month of December.
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Free Legal Opinions Available on Google Scholar

<big>Free Legal Opinions Available on Google Scholar</big> by Tina J.

Google Scholar now offers free case law! You can find and read full-text legal opinions from U.S. federal and state courts, including district, appellate, and supreme court opinions, through Google Scholar. Opinions can be searched by case name, subject topics, or other queries that you are interested in.

To conduct a search, go to Google Scholar, click on the "Legal opinions and journals" button, then enter your query. Your search results will include links to complete opinions.

The "Advanced Scholar Search" options allow you to set your default search on your computer to: all legal opinions and journals; only US federal court opinions; or whichever state(s) you wish, such as "only California."

You can explore cited and related cases using the "Cited by" and "Related articles" links on the search result pages, too. As you read an opinion, you can even view other cases to which it refers by clicking on the linked citation within the opinion.

You can also see how individual cases have been quoted or discussed in other opinions and in articles from law journals. Browse these by clicking on the "How Cited" link next to the case title.

This would be useful if you are unable to visit our library to use our free access to Lexis and Westlaw. Give it a try and see what you think.
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We're hard at work on the next edition. In the meantime, please visit us online at www.sdcpll.org or stop by one of our four locations.

For more information or to send comments about this newsletter, contact Tina Jagerson, Media Coordinator and South Bay Branch Manager.
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