April 2004 E-Newsletter- San Diego County Public Law Library

SDCPLL Named "Distinguished Organization of the Year" The San Diego County Public Law Library has won the San Diego County Bar Association' s 2004 Bar Service Award for Distinguished Organization! This award is given annually to an organization promotes justice and access to the law. Services the Public Law Library offers include free participatory MCLE credits, an award-winning electronic newsletter (which you are reading!), an excellent website, a free legal clinic in conjunction with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, refresher classes in legal research, and a highly knowledgeable and dedicated staff. The award will be presented at the SDCBA's Law Week Luncheon, which will be at noon at the SDCBA Center on May 7. Hope to see you there!

Tenants Right to Know Ordinance Adopted Tenants are rejoicing, landlords are mourning, and the lawsuits are sure to follow the March 30th adoption of a San Diego ordinance that requires landlords to tell tenants why they are being evicted. However, the ordinance will only apply to tenants who have lived in the same rental property for at least two years. Ordinances become effective 30 days after their adoption, so this one will become effective April 30th. Ordinance O-2004-55 added the "Tenants' Right to Know Regulations" to Chapter 9, Article 8 of the San Diego Municipal Code. (As of publication time, the San Diego City Council's meeting minutes website and the San Diego Municipal Code website have not been changed to reflect this new ordinance). However, the battle isn't over. According to the City Clerk's office, another ordinance is in the works which will modify the Tenants' Right to Know regulations. Stay tuned....

Law Day Celebration May 1st Every year on May 1st and the week after, the San Diego County Public Law Library participates in Law Day. Law Day (officially May 1st) is a nationally recognized day praising the presence and value of law in our government that was originally conceived in the 1950s by Charles S. Rhyne, former president of the American Bar Association and recognized via a Proclamation by President Eisenhower on Feb. 3rd, 1958. The week following May 1st is unofficially known as Law Week. This year, the theme of Law Day is "To Win Equality by Law: Brown v. Board at 50." The Main Library and each branch of the San Diego County Public Law Library will celebrate Law Day by presenting programs, serving refreshments, and hosting free legal advice clinics. The San Diego County Bar Association also has many activites planned for Law Week, including a free legal clinic on May 1st at Kobey's Swap Meet. Here's the schedule of events for the Law Library: Saturday, May 1st- Main Library 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.- Used Law Book Sale (see below) 11 a.m.- noon Screening of The Lemon Grove Incident at Main Law Library. Focusing on one of the earliest school desegregation cases in U.S. history, this film examines a decision by the 1930 school board of Lemon Grove, CA which attempted to create a segregated school for Latino students. 1 p.m.- 2 p.m. Panel Discussion on the impact of Brown v. Board and the future of education law. 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. ACLU presentation on the rights of students in the educational system. Monday, May 3rd North County Branch- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. - Open House (refreshments & doorprizes) East County Branch- 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.- Open House (refreshments & doorprizes) and free legal clinic sponsored by the Foothills Bar Association. South Bay Branch- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. - Open House (refreshments & doorprizes).

Used Law Books- CHEAP!! DON'T FORGET! The Main location of the Law Library is having a used book sale Saturday, May 1st, as part of our Law Day celebration. We already have quite a few books including a complete set of the Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition! Hardbacks are $2 per volume and softbacks are $1 per volume. Don't forget that our branches sell used books year-round. If you have books that you'd like to donate, please contact Amy Hale-Janeke either by phone at (619) 531-4437 or by e-mail.

Get a Half Price Membership or Three Months Free! Starting April 1st, new membership accounts opened between April 1 and June 30 will be half of the regular membership price! Annual memberships run from October 1st to October 1st, and a half price membership will also expire on September 30 of this year. Please remember that this change in rate is only for new acccounts, not account renewals. For current or previous members of the Law Library, renew any time on or after July 1st and your membership will not expire until Oct. 2005, which means you can get up to three months free! New accounts opened on or after July 1st will also get this benefit. Membership in the Law Library entitles you to free participation in our MCLE programs throughout the year,free registration in any of our classes, the ability to check out materials from any of our four facilities and to put books or materials on hold. Save money and renew today by calling (619) 531-3900!

Cartoon- "It's a Good Thing..." 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.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do... I never thought I needed to ask my tax preparer whether they comply with the law and file their own tax returns, but after reading this article in the San Diego Union Tribune, I won't assume that any longer. The article detailed how a San Diego man who runs a business preparing personal income tax returns for others refuses to file his own personal income tax returns. He has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for violating 26 USCA 7203: Willful Failure to File an Income Tax Return. According to a press release from the Office of the United States Attorney in San Diego, "Roosevelt Kyle, who does business in National City as Century One Associates, Century One Marketing Associates, National Electronic Filing Association and A1 Credit Alliance Institute, earned over $300,000 and prepared over 3,000 tax returns during the years 1995 through 1998, but failed to file his own tax returns for those years." In addition to refusing to file his own tax returns, Kyle promoted tax avoidance seminars (at $3,000 a person) where he advised clients that they could permanently stop paying income taxes. He also promoted a book entitled " Vultures in Eagles Clothing, " which claims that the income tax laws were not applicable to U.S. Citizens. IRS investigators examined the tax returns Kyle prepared for others and found no significant errors. Kyle was sentenced in December but is out on bond pending appeal. He continues to prepare tax returns for clients.

New Books- April 2004 Here is a list of some of our newest acquisitions. Please note that while some of these books are located only at Main, books that circulate can be sent to our branches upon a request from the branch. Click on "Availability" at the end of each entry to see which location has the book and whether it circulates. CHECK SHELVES means the book can be checked out. LIB USE ONLY means the book cannot be checked out. If you see a date, that means the item is checked out and is due back on the date shown. Avoiding Malpractice in the Representation Process: Getting In and Getting Out, Program Handbook, CEB, 2004. KFC317 .A96 2004. Availability The Independent Paralegal's Handbook: How To Provide Legal Services Without Becoming a Lawyer by Ralph Warner. Nolo Press, 2004. Availability A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples by Hayden Curry. Nolo Press, 2004. Availability Developments in California Homicide Law, Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review v. 36 no. 4 (Summer 2003). Sections include: homicide law, mens rea (purpose to kill and unintentional), causation, felony-murder doctrine, accomplice liability, conspiracy, self-defense and the insanity defense. Availability Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions, Nolo Press, 2004. Availability

Release the Hounds! Going After Spammers Four of the major Internet providers have filed suit in federal court against six of the most notorious spammers using a federal law that went into effect Jan. 1st called CAN SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act). AOL has gone a step further and has announced they are using a Porsche confiscated from a major spammer as a sweepstakes giveaway for their online users. Sort of a payback to all those people who wade through spam each day, eh? Anyway, the CAN SPAM law (Public Law 108-187) allows fines and jail time of up to five years upon conviction. ISP providers note that they expect to be able to trace spammers using technology similar to the kind used by the music industry to successfully ferret out the identity of users and prosecute them for copyright violation. However, not everyone is in love with the CAN SPAM legistlation. California's own Attorney General Bill Lockyear has said it is disempowering and other critics point out the CAN SPAM has preempted stricter state laws against spammers. On the bright side, the CAN SPAM law does require the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the use of spam bounty hunters- i.e. people who track down spam law violators and turn them in for a monetary reward. The FTC's report isn't due until later in the year, but they are taking comments on regulations regarding CAN SPAM until April 12th.

Spring Web Links- April 2004 Spring has sprung and that means lots of green- both in terms of filing tax returns and landscaping! So this month's links deal with finding tax info, reputable companies to help you deal with the green season, and ways to save energy as we head into summer. Tax Section- Librarians' Index to the Internet. This well organized tax area has info on e-filing, state and federal forms and instructions, volunteer tax assistance, tax charts, and calculators. CA Landscape Architects Technical Committee- part of the California Architects Board (CAB) that regulates landscape architects, which are different from landscape contractors or designers. Go here to see if your landscape architect is licensed. Consumer Energy Center- CA Energy Commission This page provides links and information about incentive programs that encourage Californians to save energy by offering rebates for energy efficient appliances and improvements.

Reference Question of the Month- Finding an Attorney's Stats Q. Can you tell me the name of the best attorney to hire for my problem? How can I find an attorney's win/loss ratio? A. First, the Law Library doesn't recommend specific lawyers. We are neutral and do not advocate any particular attorney or firm. Second, sports figures such as baseball players have statistics that reflect what kind of player they are, but attorneys do not because the work an attorney does cannot be boiled down to statistical numbers. For example, an excellent criminal defense attorney might not have a lot of "wins" on her record, but that could be because she negotiates excellent plea agreements for her clients so only very few cases go to trial. Thus, simply looking at her record of "wins" in cases that have gone to trial would be misleading. Some companies do attempt to rate attorneys, though. The three major ones are Martindale Hubbell, Chambers & Partners USA, and Best Lawyers in America. Here's a short intro to how each work. Martindale Hubbell uses a system of ratings by peer review to determine an attorney's competency and ethics and says that an individual is not required to have a paid listing in their directory in order to be rated. Ratings are usually issued after an attorney has been in practice for at least five years. Chambers USA describes their ratings system as one that yields more objective and independent results than just peer review. They based their system on specific research methodology in addition to in-depth interviews with clients and with other attorneys about an individual's "technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial awareness/astuteness, diligence, commitment, and other qualities most valued by the client." Best Lawyers in America also use a peer review system, but it also breaks down the listings into 30 specialties (such as family law, litigation, etc). It says that its ratings are "compiled through an exhaustive peer-review survey in which thousands of the top lawyers in the U.S. confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 10th edition of Best Lawyers (2003-2004), is based on more than 350,000 detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers." All three are searchable online, but the Martindale Hubbell directory has more flexibility in searching as you can search for attorneys by area of practice, what firm they belong to, zip code, languages spoken, or what law school from which they graduated. Chambers USA, on the other hand, has more limited categories (only 17) but the descriptions of the attorneys and their work is more specific than Martindale's. Best Lawyers in America does allow searching within their 30 categories without paying the annual subscription fee ($100) but it doesn't give any editorial comment. It simply shows listings of lawyers who have agreed to pay for a link on the Best Lawyer's site. We have purchased the current print edition of Best Lawyers in America and expect it to arrive soon. Remember, attorney ratings can only take you so far. You may need a lawyer who specializes in an area of law that isn't rated by any of these services or you may not have any "officially" rated lawyers in your area. What do you do then? Try contacting your local bar association's attorney referral service to get some names of lawyers who practice in the area in which you need advice. The California Bar Association lists all attorney referral services for San Diego County. Once you find an attorney, you will need to interview an attorney and determine if you are comfortable working with them. No matter which source you use, always finish your research by making sure the attorney is still an active member in good standing with the California Bar. A good resource to use to prepare yourself is a book entitled " Smart Questions to Ask Your Lawyer. " Good luck in your search!

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