shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress

     It’s been four weeks since I announced my retiring as Editor of this weblog and my hope to pass the SHLEP torch to a group of committed persons willing and able to continue its important role in the pro-se/self-help community and movement.  To date, I am sorry to say that no candidates have stepped forward to adopt shlep.  Despite the posting hiatus, we’re still getting about 250 visits a day, most from search engine queries, taking advantage of our deep content.  Please browse the site, and see our prior post and About page, describing why shlep deserves to be an ongoing, frequently-updated weblog, Our high search engine profile also suggests that it would make a great resource as part of a website with complementary goals. 

• If you would like to discuss taking over responsibility for SHLEP, please send an email to: shlep AT localnet DOT com. [no spaces in the actual email address]  I will do all I can to make the transition as smooth as possible.

  If shlep were active over the past month, it surely would have informed you of such stories as:

1. Oregon House Bill 2316, which aims to increase the small claims jurisdictional limit from $5,000 to $7,500, and has now passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate. (via April 9, 2007 HALT ejournal)
2. The Edmonton Journal story “Law service shows lay people the ropes: Alberta Justice hopes information centres will reduce backlogs in court” (April 18, 2007), which details the opening on April 2nd of on-site Family Law Information Centres, offering assistance to self-represented litigants in Alberta. (via SelfHelpSupport.org)
3. The companion bills introduced in the New Mexico House and Senate, in the 2007 legislative session, which would rewrite the definition of the practice of law so broadly that they would require consumers to retain the services of a lawyer for virtually any legal need. (via March 26, 2007 HALT ejournal)  

Until shlep is once again updated regularly under new management, check out the SelfHelpSupport.org homepage and the HALT website and bi-weekly newsletter (which you can have delivered free by email) for a bit of news and commentary about pro se and self-help issues.  Meanwhile, if you can help find a good home for shlep, please let me know or urge the likely candidates to step up and grab this opportunity.