OREGON LEGAL RESEARCH: What Oregon Legislators Need During Public Testimony

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OREGON LEGAL RESEARCH

The Oregon Legal Research (OLR) Blog explores the world through the mind of an Oregon public law
librarian. Legal research tips, advice to the legal blawger/blogger, commentary on reading material, not a
small amount of humor, and a few digressions will be included. A regional flavor will prevail, primarily
Oregon and Portland-metro area, though the OLR bloggers reserve the right to post about places once lived
and experiences savored – all with a legal research connection, of course.

JAN 31, 2010 About Me

What Oregon Legislators Need During Public View my complete

Testimony profile

On the countdown to the 2010 Legislative Session, I offer this:

While listening to a particularly interesting Oregon Legislative

Committee hearing (yes, they can be interesting), I noticed how
wide-ranging the questions from Legislators were. So, I made a list of Legal Research - Free
the types of information that were asked about during this single
hearing: Cornell Legal Information
Institute
(See also, How To Testify Before a Legislative Committee.) Find a Case
Findlaw
1) Be prepared with detailed facts on the issue at hand - very
Georgetown Guide to Legal
detailed - know your subject inside and out, upside and downside.
Research Databases
(Make sure your notes are very well organized on that laptop or in
that binder. There will always be some fact you won't remember.) Google Scholar (Legal Resources)
Hein Online (Need Wash. Co.
2) You may have to become a teacher on the spot, so be prepared to library card)
educate legislators, quickly and clearly. Assume legislators know
Justia databases
nothing about how your business, agency, or program operates. Some
may, but never all of them. Legislators have to cover a whole lot of LexisONE
ground in a very short span of time and cannot become experts in Open Jurist
everything (nor can we!). Each Legislator is probably an expert in
Oregon Laws
something, but they each get to vote on everything and need to
learn fast. Really good handouts and charts may be useful, but keep Public Library of Law (PLoL)
Mr. Tufte mind. No eye-crossing diagrams, please! (In my world this Researching Companies Online
means not assuming all legislators know how cases are adjudicated,
Topical Legal Databases
let alone how they are filed, how litigant navigate the judicial
system, how county law library system or any public library system
Legal Research - Low Cost
operates, how OJD is distinct from DOJ, etc. Your business before
the Legislature may be even more complex than mine.) Georgetown Guide to Legal
Research Databases
3) Comparisons (compare and contrast): Be prepared for questions Google Scholar (Legal Resources)
that come from all sides of the issue. Be prepared with analogies
University of Washington guide
and examples. Pretend, if you must, that you are preparing a
presentation for a “town hall meeting.”
Oregon (and Beyond) Law Library
Web Sites

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OREGON LEGAL RESEARCH: What Oregon Legislators Need During Public Testimony

4) What other options were considered to achieve the ends you are
Oregon: Lewis & Clark Law
seeking and why were those options rejected in favor or the one you
School Library
are putting on the table for the Legislators to support?
Oregon: Willamette Law School
5) What are the costs and benefits of your proposal - actual costs of Library
actual service, administrative costs, benefit to whom, etc. Use real Oregon: University of Oregon
and realistic numbers, whether they are dollars or statistics, and be Law Library
prepared to explain and justify them.
Oregon: State of Oregon Law
Library
6) What are the opportunity costs and no-action costs, i.e. what
won't or can't be done if time and money are spent on this project Oregon: Multnomah Law Library
rather than on something else and what are the anticipated if not Oregon Council of County Law
the actual results of no-action? Libraries
Washington Association of County
7) Are you prepared for good follow-up on your program/budget Law Libraries
expenditure? For example, if the Legislators fund a study or
Council of California Law
program, will there be adequate follow-up and follow-through. Be
Libraries
prepared to discuss your program’s evaluation plan and timetable!
American State, Court, & County
8) Align your proposed program activities and presentation with the Law Libraries
exact language of the bill on the table.
State Law Links
9) Legislators are fully aware that local control is important to Oregon Judicial Department
Oregonians, but they also know we are all on the same team -
Oregon Revised Statutes
Oregon. Be prepared to address your issue(s) from all angles and
perspectives. Oregon State Bar

I’m sure there is more, but this is a start. Go forth and testify! Oregon Law Schools
Participating in law-making, while frustrating and aggravating, can Lewis & Clark Law School
be invigorating.
U of O Law School
Willamette University College of
By Laura Orr at 2:15 PM Tags: Advocacy, Oregon legislature
Law

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