shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress

    Justice Talking, npr’s “public radio show about law and American life,” has created Talking Justice, a mega-collection of weblogs and discussion forums, that invites you “to get on your soapbox and join the conversation about the tough, provocative issues you care about.   From the war on drugs to the war on terror, the right to vote to the right to pray — share your views.”  If you’re willing to register and be civil, you can comment on the weblog posts and post or reply to messages.  As TJ explains on its Welcome page:

The Talking Justice Blogs include commentaries from a host of distinguished contributors who care passionately about law and justice issues.  There you can also find postings from some of the best legal blogs, websites and newspapers:  SCOTUSBlog, FindLaw.com, the National Law Journal and JURIST. 

     You can find their Latest weblog posts here; and the daily featured weblog here. There is also a full list, with links, to the 30+ weblogs contributing to Talking Justice. The commentary is written by individuals and groups with a broad array of viewpoints and values (from trial lawyers to tort reformers, from Cato Institute to Capitol Steps).   (via Carolyn at LegalBlogWatch)

The Talking Justice Discussion Forums   

The TJ Forums are structured into thirteen thematic groups, covering topics discussed on the Justice Talking radio show.  “It’s the place to give your thoughts on the issues and to tell us your ideas for new shows, what we got right and what we missed in the current ones.”   The themes are: The Supreme Court, Criminal Justice, Civil and Human Rights, The Environment, Economic Justice, Education, Elections and Campaigns, Freedom of Expression, Health Care Policy, Bombs, Borders and International Affairs, Religious Freedom, Science & Technology, and Miscellaneous Issues.  

• The topics covered at Talking Justice will surely interest many shlep readers.  TJ looks like a very good place to stay abreast and get things off your chest.

   “Personal injury lawsuits, also called torts, arise when one individual harms another individual or his or her property.” [See HALT Consumer Alert: Your Personal Injury Lawsuit]  In tv and phone book ads, PI lawyers have long contended that they can get you much more money than if you go it alone, especially against insurance companies.  Nonetheless, most of those same law firms then only take cases involving “serious” injuries [meaning serious money], leaving many injured persons to fend for themselves anyway.  When they do take you as a client, they virtually always insist that you accept the local “standard” contingency fee, on a take-it-or-leave it basis.

• The good news, if you have a personal injury claim, is 1) there are many instances when it is perfectly sensible to handle a PI claim yourself, and there are numerous sources of self-help advice; and 2) if you decide to hire a lawyer, you have the right to negotiate for a fee other than the “standard” fee you will be offered (see below the fold).

The HALT brochure mentioned above gives a brief, plain-English overview of personal injury lawsuits. Although it does not try to show you how to bring your own case, it will help you understand some important concepts, such as Causation and Fault, Damages and Compensation, Defenses, Statutes of Limitation, Procedural Issues such as Proving your case, Presence of Insurance Companies, Lawyer Fees, and Alternatives to suing.  It also has a short “Need a Lawyer?” section, where it suggests several options other than hiring a lawyer to handle every aspect of a PI case (including unbundling the legal services and going to small claims court).  

If you need to handle your claim without a lawyer, or want to consider doing so, you should be willing to do some homework and research (e.g., reading our Should You Go It Alone? page).  FreeAdvice.com is one place to acquaint yourself with some of the basic concepts of person injury law.  For example, it answers the following questions:

• What law governs my ability to recover damages?
• What is a ‘tort?’
• What is ‘strict liability’?
• What is ‘negligence’?
• Can negligence depend on who was doing what?
• What is ‘comparative negligence?’
• What is ‘proximate cause?’
• What is ‘intervening cause’
• How is the amount of damages suffered determined?
• How is the value of property damage determined?

   Nolo.com offers a more extensive look at the issue and process of handling your own personal injury case, with a comprehensive Personal Injury Resource Center, which includes numerous articles and FAQs (by category).  Two very helpful articles for anyone thinking of self-representation are When You Can Handle Your Personal Injury Case and When You Need a Lawyer to Handle Your Personal Injury Claim.  Nolo’s states 

   February 4 – 10, 2007, is the ninth annual National Consumer Protection Week (Federal Trade Commission presss release, Feb. 5, 2007).  This year’s theme is “A Time to Read Up and Reach Out.”   Like shlep, the FTC encourages consumers “to arm themselves with knowledge. By gathering information – and sharing it with their friends and families – consumers can become more confident, savvy, and safe in the marketplace.”

 “[C]onsumer information can help people recognize a rip-off, smell a scam, or find a fraud. ”  It can help you avoid a consumer problem or find a solution to a consumer complaint on your own (by going to the seller or to the appropriate consumer adovcacy agency or group).   Here are some useful sources:

• At the NCPW 2007 website, you’ll find an extensive, annotated list of Consumer Info links and a short Business Info list.  
• At the federal government’s Consumer Action Website information can be found by topic, and you can order a copy of the free Consumer Action Handbook 2007 
• “Heloise” has put together a package of 15 consumer information brochures and booklets, and has an online order form.

 Here’s some info for the consumer of law-related weblogs: Diane Levin of the Online Guide to Mediation hosts Blawg Review 94 this week.  Her theme is win-win negotiation, and the comprehensive posting is structured around the “seven elements critical for negotiation success: interests, options, alternatives, objective criteria, relationships, communication, and commitment.”  Thanks to Diane for pointing her readers to this weblog today, and on numerous other occasions.

 After a short hiatus, Nolo.com has recently added two topics to its Law in Plain English podcast series:

• Second Homes: What Should You Know?  (Jan. 28, 2007, 11 min.)  “This interview with mortgage expert and Nolo author Craig Veneiza (Second Homes: Income, Getaway, Retirement)  includes information about choosing a second home location, interest deductions, and financing methods for second homes.”  In September 2006, second homes were also discussed in the podcast Should You Co-Buy a Second Home?.

• Disciplining Employees: What Are Common Mistakes? (Jan. 19, 2007; 10 min.) This episode features an interview with Human Resources attorney, Lisa Guerin, who discusses overdocumenting employee records, making promises to employees, disciplining an employee with a disability, and more  A transcript is also available. Prior podcasts on employment issues include: How Can Job Descriptions Trigger Lawsuits?  (Aug. 13, 2006, with Margie Mader-Clark, author of Nolo’s “The Job Description Handbook“) and What are the Legal Rules When Hiring Employees and Independent Contractors? (4/23/2006, excerpted from ‘Whoops!  I’m in Business’). [You can also find extensive materials on hiring and managing employees at Work.com]

Note: Nolo has changed its podcast feed. You can subscribe to the new feed by visiting the Nolo podcast site, www.nolocast.com.

Thanks to a pointer from SelfHelpSupport.org, I spent some time yesterday at the website Illinois Legal Aid Online and found a few resources I’d like to tell you about.  ILA’s December 2006 eNewsletter describes two useful services:

• The video “Going to Court on Your Own“, which helps to demystify the court process for pro se litigants.  Because “Going to court on your own can be very confusing and intimidating,” the short instructional video “introduces those who cannot afford an attorney to the court process and instructs viewers on the basics of going to court pro se. The video is intended to help pro se litigants better understand the steps and procedures involved in going to court and familiarize them with the clerk’s office, the court room and the different people they will encounter at the courthouse.”  It was developed and produced by the Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association, The Chicago Bar Foundation and Illinois Legal Aid Online [which is a pleasant change from the Illinois State Bar’s campaign to educate the public against using a “lawyer in a box”].
• The development of Automated Forms Online for Legal Aid and Pro Bono Attorneys is also discussed in the eNewsletter, with links to the materials.  The forms, pleadings and documents can be found on www.IllinoisLegalAdvocate.org and www.IllinoisProBono.org. “Automated forms make it easier and faster to draft documents because the user is presented with only a series of questions to answer using a computer. When all of the questions are answered the user clicks a button, and the completed forms appear on the computer screen and can be saved or printed.” The first forms for attorney users are now live on the websites:  Power of Attorney for Health Care; Power of Attorney for Property; Resignation of Agent for Power of Attorney; and Notice of Revocation of Agent for Power of Attorney. Divorce pleadings, adoptions forms, and eviction defense forms are expected to be online soon.

Note: We discussed document assembly online in a posting last October, where we described the National Public ADO (Automated Documents Online, or NPADO), which can be used by individual consumers or their advocates, and is ”a proven facility for delivering interactive interviews and document generation to self-represented individuals and advocates alike, from a web-connected browser, anywhere and anytime, using industry-standard software” — for free!  For more on automated document services, see yesterday’s posting about LegalZoom.

Finally, I discovered that Illinois Legal Aid has created self-help and informational materials for defendants or respondents (which will be noted at our posting on help for the pro se defendant).  Along with many other general or plaintiff-oriented self-help articles, you’ll find links to the following pieces in the SideBar of this Illinois Legal Aid Online webpage:

•  How Do I Respond to a Lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County?
   How Do I Settle an Eviction Case with My Landlord? 
   How to Defend Against a Default Judgment If Your Landlord is Trying to Evict You
   How to Get More Time after You Are Ordered to Move Out by a Judge 
   How to Help Defend a Foreclosure Case
   How to Respond to a Petition for Rule to Show Cause
   I am Being Sued in Kane County for an Amount of $10,000 or Less
   What Can I Do If I Am Sued for Mortgage Foreclosure?
   What Can I Do If My Landlord Wants to Evict Me?
   What To Do When You’re Sued by Mistake

 Rick Georges, a member of Team Shlep, had an interesting posting last week at his Future Lawyer weblog about LegalZoom Online, which calls itself a “Legal Documentation Service.”   Saying “We can help you take care of common legal matters – without an attorney,” LegalZoom explains that you can “Save time and money on common legal matters! . . . [and] create reliable legal documents from your home or office. Simply answer a few questions online, and your documents will be prepared within 48 hours.* We even review your answers and guarantee your satisfaction.”  (via Oregon Legal Research, Jan. 17, 2007)

After taking a look at LegalZoom, Rick says “lawyers who don’t use technology will not be able to compete.”  He explains:

“We need to offer legal advice AND document drafting at a competitive price, or we will not have to worry about law practice anymore. It will be gone. There is no subsitute for a competent lawyer’s advice. However, we need to give the public value, or they will go elsewhere.”

Many publications have written about LegalZoom, but Rick’s nudge got me to spend some time at the website over the weekend.   It is an impressive enterprise, offering document creation services in the following areas: Copyright, DBA, Divorce, Immigration, Incorporation Services, Limited Partnership, Living Trust, Living Will, LLC, Name Change, Patent, Power of Attorney, Pre-nuptial Agreement, Real Estate Leases, Small Claims, Trademarks, Will.  

 Furthermore, the advantages that they boast about — reviewing your answers for correctness and completeness; having assistance available at a tollfree number; using advanced provisions that are not found in simple “do-it-yourself” kits or manuals; printing out the documents themselves on good paper stock; “per project” and “lawyer-free” pricing that is far below what a lawyer might charge using hourly fees (they say up to 85% and give an estimate of the savings for each service); and a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee — would surely appeal (if only they knew about it) to many legal consumers who want to save money and keep control of the project, but are wary of, or don’t have time for, acting on their own.

LegalZoom also has an Education Center/Library, that “allows you to access the information you need to research your legal questions and make informed decisions” (e.g., FAQs, Legal Topic articles, Glossary, and Non-Legal Resources).  For example, see the Prenuptial Library.  The materials are available to anyone and seem like helpful introductions to the many topics covered.  In addition, you can fill out the LegalZoom questionnaire for each procedure for free and “At the end, you may decide whether or not you wish to purchase.”   That process may help many consumers decide whether they can go it on their own — using forms and information prepared by a court or by a self-help publisher — and/or need the direct advice or (unbundled) services of a lawyer.

I can’t endorse LegalZoom as a product, but I can say that it appears to be worth considering by consumers who need lawyering services.  The apparent success to date of LegalZoom is, I believe, an important milestone in the market for legal services.  Americans like to use a product or service that they have heard about and that has a track record; and entrepeneurs are much more likely to enter the market with competiing services (perhaps focused on a particular state or legal subject) if they see a model that works.   As Rick Georges suggests, lawyers — especially those serving the everyday, common legal needs of the average consumer or small business — may find themselves at a great disadvantage if they do not figure out a way to offer comparable value to their clients (in service, results and price).  Document-creation technology will surely be a part of that value package, allowing fees to be lowered because far less time will be spent with each client.

Having said that, I am not at all certain that the change — a revolution that brings true price and service compeition to the lawyering marketplace, and creates more viable choices for consumers — will benefit a large percentage of consumers any time soon.  Under the fold, I have excerpted a posting from my weblog f/k/a, “Internet Lawsites Encounter the Profession’s Guild Mentality” (Sept. 16, 2003) that discusses why the legal profession’s “guild mentality” has kept if from adopting new techology and responding to competitive forces, as lawyers try to hold on to income, control, and status, in the face of a new breed of consumer.

  The Jan. 16, 2007 edition of HALT‘s bimonthly eJournal gives a summary of the legal reform group’s accomplishments in 2006.  Included was the publication of three new Citizens Legal Guides. In addition to one on Small Claims Court, and another on Living Trusts, HALT produced a 7-page online brochure “Lemon Laws: What Do I Do If My Car Is a Lemon? ” (2006, pdf version)  It’s a great place to go for an introduction to the laws that protect you when you’ve purchased a new vehicle with defects that prove to be unrepairable (apparently, about 1% of all new cars). The guide can “help you determine if your car is a lemon, tell you what you can do about it, and direct you to resources for additional information.”

The HALT brochure reminds us that “Each state has enacted its own ‘lemon law, which entitles consumers to a replacement vehicle or a refund for a defunct car. These laws are based upon the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and the Uniform Commercial Code.” Generally, you’ll need to know:

• the criteria your state uses for deciding whether a car is a lemon;
• when and how consumers must give notice to the manufacturer; and
• the remedies you have as a consumer if the manufacturer is unable to repair the vehicle within a set number of attempts.

If you aren’t able to reach an agreement with your auto dealership, the next step is arbitration.  HALT briefly explains the process and says “Hiring a lawyer is not necessary for the arbitration as long as you are organized and prepared.”  If you are unable to resolve the dispute with the manufacturer through arbitration, “you can file a claim in civil court.  Although it isn’t required, you may feel more comfortable hiring a lawyer before going to court.”  If so, HALT recommends finding a firm that specializes in lemon law disputes and sets out questions to ask to help determine if a firm is likely to represent you well.  The last page of the brochure has many good sources with additional information on lemon laws.  The guide concludes with good advice:

  “Regardless of how you end up taking action, careful preparation and patience will increase your chances of making a successful claim under your state’s lemon laws. These laws are on your side to help, but you’ll need to be organized and follow the procedures required by your state.”

State Laws:  Your rights will depend on the laws of the particular state where you live or where you bought the car.  One place to look is Lemon Law America, which has links to each state’s lemon law, as well as contact information for “affiliated” lawyers around the country who are experienced with lemon law claims.

Other Recources: You can find more Lemon Law information, and more links to helpful resources at Nolo.com, in the article “Your Rights If Your Car Is a Lemon.”  

  Consumers (especially anyone wanting to act without a lawyer) and consumer advocates should also consider purchasing ($16) Return to Sender: Getting A Refund or Replacement for Your Lemon Car, by Nancy Barron, which the National Consumer Law Center says “provides practical advice on how consumers can successfully enforce this right through their state lemon law, either on their own or with the help of a lawyer.”  

More generally, the Federal Trade Commission has compiled a lot of online materials for consumers relating to buying (and financing) a new or used car.

• update (Feb. 12, 2007): See Mary Whisner’s fuller treatment of information about buying vehicles in her shlep post Getting Wheels (Feb. 11, 2007)

Here are a few more quick q.s. blurbs from shlep headquarters:

 SelfHelpSupport.org just posted a pointer to the New Hampshire Judicial Branch Self-Help Center, saying “an excellent website.”  As advertised, the site’s “pages provide basic, practical information about the New Hampshire court system, how it works, and what the procedures are for bringing a case to court.” It’s Getting Started page is a very good idea, and well constructed to help the pro se party decide what needs to be done; so is the FAQ page.  Two suggestions from us: a) now that unbundling is available in all civil lawsuits in NH (prior post), the topic of unbundling needs to be addressed prominently; and b) the NH Bar Association’s LawLine program, which has volunteer lawyers giving legal advice over the phone to anonymous callers (described here) deserves a direct link, and not just a mention.

  The Out of the Jungle law librarian weblog has a pair of useful postings:

• Net Neutrality will surely continue to be in the news a lot this year.  OoJ‘s Betsy McKenzie points to several discussions of whether the new Congress is likely to be a friend or foe to Net Neutrality.  It also links to a plain-language Guide to Net Neutality from Google, for those who want to understand the concept and/or join the legislative debate.  
• Jim Milles’ post this morning (Jan. 12, 2007) has a lengthy excerpt from NY Attorney Malpractice Blog, that gives good advice about the kind of letter to write to someone who is trespassing on your property, when you don’t want to help the trespasser prove adverse possession lawsuit.  (LegalAdvice.com has a nice, brief description of the adverse possession concept.)

  Laura Orr’s Oregon Legal Research weblog has a bunch of good points and pointers, as usual:

• The AARP Bulletin, Laura says, is just chock full of useful information about government, consumer issues, law, finances and much more.  Its Ask the Expert column deals with many topics and is archived.
• This Unshelved comic strip just might have the antedote for our Overlawyered society — the oblivious MP3 generation.
• Click for the Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer’s Guide to Adjustable Rate Mortgages.
• Laura points to the Washington U. Law Library’s page on Low-Cost Legal Research Sources.

 Thanks to the Modern Woman’s Divorce Guide weblog for featuring shlep today and putting us in its select list of Favorite Weblogs.  It’s a well-designed and good-looking site. Check MWDG‘s Features links in its SideBar, which offers access to a lot of good information, from Courtroom preparation to finding out about Mediation, finding Experts, and more.  This old divorce mediator and children’s lawyer gives MWDG a big thumbs up.

A Latin abbreviation that this Editor should consider using more often is q.s. – which stands for quantum satis or quantum sufficit and means “as much as suffices.”  Doctors sometimes state the dosage of a medication to be taken by a patient as q.s.   Some items that are worth posting here at shlep don’t need a lot of space to be effective.  Others deserve a fuller treatment but aren’t likely to get it any time soon — for them, a small dose seems better than a stale one or none at all.   

Today’s blurbs come from both of those categories:

   Payday Loans: With holiday shopping bills hanging over their heads, a lot of people with poor credit ratings are tempted to turn to so-called payday loans – which appear to be structured to keep people in debt.  Jeff Sovern at Consumer Law & Policy Blog noted recently that they are a hot topic in the media these days; he links to several articles, including one from the New York Times, “Seductively Easy, Payday Loans Often Snowball” (Dec. 23, 2006).  According to the Center for Responsible Lending,

“Payday lending (sometimes called cash advance) is the practice of using a post-dated check or electronic checking account information as collateral for a short-term loan. To qualify, borrowers need only personal identification, a checking account, and an income from a job or government benefits.” 

The Center offers an excellent Overview of the topic, as well as a list of the Nine Signs of a Predatory Payday loan, Payday Policy Recommendations, and more.  Check out the Georgia’s Payday Loan Law, which is considered a model for prevending such predatory loans.

 Similar complaints are being raised about Paystub and Holiday Refund Anticipation Loans [RALs], which are short-term loans secured by the taxpayer’s expected tax refund, but are especially risky, because they’re calculated prior to filling out the borrower’s income tax forms. See Pay Stub and Holiday RALs: Faster, Costlier, Riskier in the Race to the Bottom (pdf), by Chi Chi Wu, National Consumer Law Center, and Jean Ann Fox, Consumer Federation of America (Nov. 2006); and MSNBC/AP, “Tax-refund loan seen costly,” Jan. 11, 2007.

  Court Facilitator programs in Washington State:  Like California, Washington State uses “courthouse facilitators” in family court matters. [via SelfHelpSupport.org]  If you’ve ever wondered just what a facilitator does to help pro se litigants, take a look at How Courthouse Facilitators Can Help, which also has links to other related topics covered at the Washington courts website. 

  “Estate Planning for Persons with Less Than $5 Million” (March 2007), is a lengthy paper available at SSRN, that is aimed at the needs of “people of moderate wealth” (viz. net worth of one to five million dollars).  It’s written by two lawyers and a professor (Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Jonathan G.; Georgiana J. Slade; and Bridget Crawford). The article explains that lifetime transfers are among the most effective ways to reduce estate taxes, and “details and evaluates eleven strategies that may apply to clients in the modest wealth category.”

 New  Year legislation: The National Conference of State Legislatures says at least 32 states had new laws going into effect on January 1, 2007.  They are listed by topic in New Laws Ring in the New Year (Dec. 22, 2006). 

    Just Cancel the @#%$* Account! is an article in the Dec. 22, 2006 edition of PC World. [via ConsumerWorld.org]  Author Tom Spring noticed that many free trial offers on the web are very difficult to cancel.  To evaluate how difficult canceling an online service can be, he signed up for and then canceled 32 accounts, each at a different site (they are listed and rated). His results?

About a third of the services in my sample made the seemingly simple goal of canceling very hard to achieve (see the “Big Hassle” entries in “Want to Cancel That Service?“).

Not all of my experiences were negative. Services such as a monthly New York Times TimesSelect online subscription and a monthly Consumer Reports Online account took only minutes to cancel and without lingering strings. But some others made me feel as though I’d joined the Sopranos’ family business: Once I signed up, there was no quitting!

TVCAlert reported yesterday (Jan. 9, 2007), that “BRB Publications, the leading publisher of public record information in the U.S.,” started BRB’s Public Record Blog in December.  The weblog “provides information about new government databases, changes in law or procedures for retrieving public records, pertinent lawsuits, proposed relevant new laws, and more.” [update (Feb. 26, 2007):  PRB’s Public Records Blog offers a useful Essential Checklist When Using Public Record Retrievers.  The list will help you clarify just what you’re looking for and help make sure your expectations and those of the hired retriever are in sync before the research begins. TVCAlert points out “Of course, the one big question not on this list that you will want to ask the retriever is ‘what is the cost?’  This answer cannot be determined until the ten items are clear to both parties.”]

  If you want to learn more about doing public records searching (or virtually any kind of research online — especially legal), shlep suggests that you take advantage of the resources available at The Virtual Chase, which is sponored by Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, and under the direction of Genie Tyburski.  The Virtual Chase Introduction to Public Records Research has an important word of caution about using public records:

“[P]lease note that the online records often contain much less information than what you can find on-site in the supporting documentation. According to BRB Publications’ Public Records Online, 5th edition, only 35 percent of public records are available online, and many of these contain insufficient information for verification purposes. Moreover, data in the online records is often erroneous. To be certain you have found information about the right person, you should verify it with the source.”  

That said, you can find extensive, annotated links to Tools for Finding and Actual Sources of Public Records and Public Information at The Virtual Chase website.  Their Editor’s Choice for finding public records is the BRB Free Resource Center, which describes itself as “a comprehensive and searchable list of free public record sites along with additional tools to locate sources for civil records, criminal records, driving records, real estate records, public record vendors, record retrievers, legislation and more.”  TVC lists and describes many other public records tools and data bases, many of which charge for access to informaiton.

p.s.  Jeff Severn at Consumer Law & Policy Blog recently asked “Should Data On Complaints About Auto Safety and Defects Be Publicly Available?”  (Jan. 8, 2007)

To make it easier to find collections of links that shlep has produced on specific subjects or areas of the law, we now have a permanent Topics (a to z) Link in our SideBar, near the top of the homepage.   Since the list is made by hand and culled by the Editor, please excuse any oversights (now or in the future).

 As we say on that Topics Page: Please note: This is not a listing of every topic or area of law that has been covered on this weblog.  Our Search Box can help you locate particular subject areas, as well as additional treatment of topics listed on the Topics Page.

My web travels today brought me to a number of glossaries that looked worth sharing with shlep‘s readers.  It seems like a good time to bring together all of the glossaries that have already been mentioned at this weblog.  

Specialized Glossaries 

• Accounting Terms Every Businessperson Should Know – from Nolo.com
• Antitrust Glossary by Charles E. Mueller
• Antitrust/Competition Glossary – the EC Directorate-General for Competition
• Bankruptcy Dictionary [Canada] – by bankruptcyCanada.com 
• Community Association Glossary [condo, coops, etc.] – from Community Associations Institute
• Family Law Glossary – by the Montgomery Law firm, Cary, NC
• Financial Glossary – from MoneyGlossary.com
• Payday Loan glossary of terms – from Payday Loan Times
• Privacy Online Glossary – from BBB OnLine
• Real Estate Terminology (18-pp pdf) — from the Federal Trade Commision
• Wills and Estate Planning Glossary – from Nolo.com

General Legal Glossaries and Dictionaries

• California Self-Help Center Glossary of Legal Terms –
• Law.com’s Legal Dictionary –  
• Duhaime’s Canadian Law Dictionary –
• Multilingual Legal Glossary [Canada] – Vancouver Community College; thousands of plain-language definitions of terms used in court (in English, Chinese, Farsi, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese — from science to cop jargon, to drug slang)
• NY CourtHelp‘s Glossary of Common Legal Terms –
• Everybody’s Law Dictionary – from Nolo.com –  (hundreds of plain-English definitions, “from the common to the bizarre”)

 p.s. As always, we invite readers to use our Comment feature to tell us of relevant resouces to add to our list.

If you know the concept, but not its legal terminology or nomenclature, you might try the OneLook Reverse Dictionary.

A couple of weeks ago I saw that a friend had written about my book (Practicing Reference: Thoughts for Librarians and Legal Researchers) on the SIU Law Library’s blog (Law Dawg Blawg). (The friend is Diane Murley, the coauthor of the self-help law bibliography we’ve mentioned here.) That’s nice, I thought. And then I thought: why don’t I tell people about it myself? I’m a blogger too, aren’t I?

I haven’t written before because I try to stick to the mission of the blog, and my book is not on the surface about self-help law. But I am pleased that it’s out — and, come to think of it, parts of it are quite relevant to shlep. So I will go ahead and blow my own horn.

The book is a collection of my columns from Law Library Journal. As it happens, the very first one I wrote, “Golf Buddy Reference Questions” (chapter 8 of the book) was about the policy most law librarians have of not giving legal advice. We don’t tell people what the law is, but help them use the library’s resources (and online resources) to look it up themselves. That policy can be baffling to members of the public. After all, if you call your local public library and ask how tall Mt. McKinley is, the librarian will look it up and tell you 20,320 ft. Why are legal questions different?

Other chapters would be helpful for people who help the public find legal information — not just reference librarians, but also court support staff and others. Chapter 1, “Finding Out What They Want to Know” is a good place to start. And Chapter 4, “On Asking for Help,” discusses reasons why some patrons are reluctant to ask for help and how librarians can help them anyway. Chapter 9, “On Having a Bad Day,” talks about the lives of reference librarians — but it’s applicable to everyone really.

The last third of the book discusses research techniques, challenges, and sources. Anyone who does legal research could find these chapters helpful. Chapter 24, “When Judges Scold Lawyers,” explores cases when judges chew out attorneys for sloppy research or bad writing, and the lessons there are equally applicable to the self-represented. And since we’re all online, I’ll also mention Chapter 22, “Cool Web Sites.”

Most of the columns are available on Law Library Journal‘s website as they were originally published. So why bother with the book? It brings them together in one place, and they’re updated them with some new material.

So, there it is, my little bugle call — ta-daaa! I have a book out!

HALT has created a free, 9-page, online guide Living Trusts: A Primer to help you decide whether a living trust is a good fit in your estate planning.  Property placed in a living trust passes directly to your beneficiaries without first having to go through probate. “This brochure explains how trusts work, describes different kinds of trusts and mentions things you should keep in mind when considering whether to create a trust for your assets.”

The topics covered include:

• What is a living trust?
• Should I create a trust?
• What are the major benefits of a revocable living trust?
• Will a living trust reduce taxes?
• What information is included in a living trust?
• How do I put my assets into a trust?
• How will my assets be distributed?
• Does a trust shield my assets from creditors?
• What are special-purpose trusts?
• How can I create a living trust?
• Does a living trust cover all my estate planning needs?  

 Note: The HALT brochure gives an appropriate warning about “Living Trust Mills” and Scams:

“While living trusts are great estate planning tools, they’re not for everyone.Take your time making your decision and base it on information you get from a reputable source such as one of the do-it-yourself living trust products recommended by HALT, a financial advisor, or an estate planning attorney. If you have been a victim of a living trust scam or someone is pressuring you to purchase a trust, contact your state or local consumer protection office, a local office of the Better Business Bureau, or the Federal Trade Commission at 877-FTC-HELP. 

You can learn more about Living Trusts at Nolo.com, where you’ll find a Living Trust FAQ, and information on how and why to avoid probate.  

p.s.  You may not need a living trust, but everyone needs a Living Will — to make your end-of-life care wishes known in writing.  Even if you aren’t the “New-Year’s-Resolution-type” of person, shlep urges you to resolve to create (or, if needed, amend) a Living Will and Health Care Proxy before Valentine’s Day, for your own peace of mind and that of your loved ones.  To make it easy, HALT has brought together links to forms for every state.