February 2003 - E-newsletter San Diego County Public Law Library

Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison Dissolves  85 attorneys and support staff in the San Diego office of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison were laid off Friday, Jan. 31st as the San Fransisco-based firm annouced that they were shutting down and dissolving. For more details, see the SignOnSanDiego.com article or go to Law.com' s article.

On-Line Law School Graduates First Class  The first class of the nation's first on-line law school has graduated, and Los Angeles' Concord School of Law expects to add 650 additional students next year. Currently, the virtual law school has 1,100 enrolled and the additional students will make it the largest part-time law school in the nation. Is this the future of law schools? Read the article from Law.com.

New Laws Amend Codes  Recently passed laws affect many California codes. This is a sampling of some of the most important changes. For more information about other changes, check the Civil Litigation Reporter available at Main, East County, and North County at KFC 995.A1 C59. Attorney work product privilege curtailed- amends CCP 2018- Work product privilege is eliminated when an attorney is suspected of knowingly participating in crime or fraud. Stat. 2002, ch. 1059 (AB 2055) Electronic communications protected- amends Evid. 917- Communications between persons in a privileged relationship does not lose its privileged character solely because it is transmitted electronically. States 2002, ch. 72 (SB 2061) New statute of limitations for housing discrimination- amends Govt C 12965- provides for certain situations where the 1 year statute of limitations period for filing suit under the Fair Employment and Housing Act after receiving a right-to-sue letter from the DFEH is tolled. Stats 2002, ch 294 (AB 1146) State law protections available to individuals employed or applying for employment regardless of immigration status- adds Civil Code 3339- for purposes of enforcing state law, a person's immigration status is irrelevant and no inquiry is allowed unless necessary to comply with federal immigration law. Stats 2002, ch. 1017 (SB 1818) New statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse- amends CCP 340.1- actions can be brought after plaintiff's 26th birthday if defendant had notice of abuse and did not stop it. Stats 2002, ch 149 (SB 1779)

Top Verdicts of 2002  Want to know the largest verdicts from 2002? VerdictSearch, part of the National Law Journal, keeps a running tally of the biggest awards. In order to view the cases, though, you have to subscribe and the prices are not cheap: One day subscription: $195 for 24 hours; One month subscription for $395; and an annual subscription for $1,795 However, once you see the cases that you are interested in, you can always pull up the cases yourself using on line subscriptions such as Loislaw.com, which is offered free of charge to our patrons via our in-house computers. Further, the Law Library has many other verdicts and settlements materials available in print, such as California Jury Verdicts Weekly (available at all locations) and the Los Angeles Daily Journal's Verdicts & Settlements (available at Main).

Closed for Lincoln's Birthday, Presidents' Day  In honor of Lincoln's Birthday, all locations of the Law Library will be closed on Feb. 12th. Normal hours will resume on Feb. 13th. Additionally, all locations of the Law Library will be closed on Feb. 17th for President's Day. Normal hours will resume on Tuesday Feb. 18th. Go here to see a listing of other holiday closure dates.

Sanctions Alert- Safe Harbor Provision Tightened  SB 2009 (2002 Stats., Ch. 491) has delayed the repeal of CCP 128.7 until 2006. Accordingly, the new law has also delayed the planned reincarnation of old CCP 128.5 (128.7's predecessor) as CCP 128.6. Newly-extended CCP 128.7 is patterned after Federal Rule 11 and applies solely to misconduct involving pleadings and papers. The legislation extending it also shortens the "safe-harbor" provision of CCP 128.7, subdivisions (c)(1) and (2), from 30 days to 21 days. The safe harbor allows a party to escape sanctions by withdrawing its offending pleading or other paper prior to the noticed hearing date on a motion for sanctions. The revised time period takes away the loophole that allowed some offenders to escape sanctions by withdrawing a pleading after obtaining a judge's ruling on the sanctions issue, but before the safe harbor provision had expired. The old statute, CCP 128.5, contained no safe harbor provision, and it applied to a broad range of misconduct that is outside the scope of newer CCP 128.7. Courts have previously ruled that CCP 128.5 is inapplicable to any case filed after January 1, 1995. But a California Court of Appeal recently ruled that while CCP 128.7 governs misconduct associated with pleadings and papers, CCP 128.5 could still be applied to "other kinds of litigation abuses." Watch for further developments (e.g. depublication or a grant of Supreme Court review) in Olmstead v. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Dec. 20, 2002, A097117), 2002 DAR 14405.

February 2003 Cartoon  Although this cartoon was selected mid-January, it seems especially appropriate in light of the recent news of the closure of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison. This cartoon is one of Stu's Views. These are cartoons by a local lawyer, geared for lawyers. Stu is an entertainment lawyer here in San Diego who represents mostly visual arts creators. As he says in his bio on his home page, "Stu is the lawyer for cartoonists and the cartoonist for lawyers." See other cartoons by Stu at www.stus.com.

New Books- Feb. 2003  Here is a recent roundup of some newly arrived books. Please note that while many of these books are located only at Main, those that circulate can be sent to our branches upon a request from the branch. THE 2002 UPDATE OF THE DLSE ENFORCEMENT POLICIES AND INTERPRETATIONS MANUAL, California. Dept. of Industrial Relations. Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, 2002. Available at Main at KFC557 .C35 2002. CALIFORNIA LIEN CLAIMS IN WORKERS' COMPENSATION CASES by Judge Pamela W. Foust, 4th ed, James Publishing, 2002. This plain English practice guide helps you navigate through the law and procedure of lien claims and also includes pattern forms and fact patterns. Available at East County at KFC592 .F68 2002. CALIFORNIA POWER OF ATTORNEY HANDBOOK: WITH FORMS by John J. Talamo., 2nd ed., Sphinx Publishing, 2001. Available at East County at KFC336.Z9 T35 2001. CIVIL ACTIONS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES, ITS AGENCIES, OFFICERS, AND EMPLOYEES, 2nd ed. West Group, 2002. Available at Main at KF9065 .C58 2002. COVENANTS NOT TO COMPETE: A STATE-BY-STATE SURVEY by Brian M. Malsberger (ed.), 3rd ed. Bureau of National Affairs, 2002. Available at Main at KF898 .C68 2002 CREDITORS' RIGHTS IN BANKRUPTCY by Patrick A. Murphy. 2nd ed. West Group, 2002. Available at Main and North County at KF1524 .M87 2002. PRIVACY TORTS by David A. Elder, West Group, 2002. This looseleaf book, written by torts scholar Professor Elder from Northern Kentucky University College of Law, analyzes many different types of privacy torts, including misappropriation, intrusion upon seclusion, and public disclosure of private facts. Available at Main at KF1262 .E54 2002.

INS and Labor Links  Every issue of our e-newsletter will contain information about useful web sites that we run across in our daily reference activities. As professional researchers, law librarians are quickly able to evalute the usefulness and authenticity of web sites and pass that information onto you. Here are some you may not know about: INS Case Status Can Now be Checked Online- The Immigration & Naturalization Service now offers the ability to check the status of immigration applications online. U.S. Department of Labor- Employment Law Guide- This site, from the U.S. Department of Labor, describes the statutes and regulations that affect businesses and workers, and is designed mainly for those needing information to develop wage, benefit, safety and health, and nondiscrimination policies for businesses. Each chapter lists the specific DOL agency that handles the issue, as well as contact information for that agency. You can also download the whole guide in PDF format. This is a handy tool! Labor Contracts Database- from the Institute for Labor and Employment, UC Berkeley, this site is a one-stop public on-line clearinghouse for cataloged and digitized complete text of union contracts. Contracts can be searched by state, union, or represented occupations.

New Classes at the Law Library  Two new classes are making their debut this month at the law library! The first, called "Breaking the Ice: An Introduction to California Civil Appeals", will be held on Feb. 15th from 12:30-3:30 p.m. This class will discuss standards of review (how to think like an appellate judge) and briefing (the most important part of communicating with the court). Additionally, course materials entitled Civil Appellate Practice and Procedure for the Self-Represented from the staff of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One will be provided. It is recommended that participants have taken a class in basic legal reseach before taking this class. Fee for this class is $10. To register, please call (619) 531-3900 or sign up at the circulation desk. The second class, called "Internet and On-line Database Use: A Class for Self-Represented Litigants," will take place on Feb. 20th from 1:00-3:00 p.m. It will focus on using free Internet sites to do effective legal research. Also covered in this class are the usage of databases LoisLaw and Shepard's via Lexis. The class fee is $10. To register, please call (619) 531-3900 or sign up at the circulation desk.

Free MCLE Programs a Success!  Over 60 local attorneys saved tons of money and got free participatory MCLE credits in January at the Law Library. These programs, co-sponsored by the Superior Court, allowed current members of the Law Library the opportunity to accumulate over 15 units of free participatory credit. This is our second year of our free MCLE programs in January and due to its popularity, we will continue to have these programs in Janurary in the foreseeable future. Additionally, the Law Library has many audio tapes available for self-study MCLE credit all year round! Go here to see the titles the Law Library offers. California attorneys can fulfill up to half of their MCLE requirements with self-study credits. Checkouts of these materials are limited to current members only.

Reference Question of the Month- Reselling Tickets  Not surprisingly, after Superbowl weekend we received a slew of phone calls from people who received citations for violating San Diego Municipal Code section 57.14. They wanted to know what that code says so they could figure out why they had been cited. That section is the city code against illegally reselling tickets in public places. Another popular citation that was handed out over Superbowl weekend was Municipal Code 59.0103( k), which specifically prohibits reselling of tickets on Quaalcom grounds.

We hope you've enjoyed our newsletter. We're hard at work on the next edition. In the meantime, please visit us online at: http://www.sdcpll.org/. And come see us in person at one of our locations. For locations and hours please click here: http://www.sdcpll.org/location.htm. For more information contact: Amy Hale-Janeke ahale@sdcll.org Media Coordinator / Reference Librarian (619) 531-3900