KCLL Klues: Washington State Legal Research

What with the rapture scheduled for tomorrow (May 21), I’ve been thinking about other disasters (zombies, hurricanes, American Idol) and how we should all have a disaster plan in place.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently hopped (or perhaps stumbled haltingly with arms outstretched) onto the zombie bandwagon with a tongue-in-cheek guide to preparing for a zombie apocalypse. 

King County has an excellent disaster preparedness site, www.3days3ways.org.  Here you can learn about the three steps you can take to prepare for a disaster (amazingly, planning for zombies is not much different than earthquakes or floods):

1. Make a Plan (plan a meeting spot, pick an out-of-state contact)
2. Build a Kit (put together a kit for your home and car)
3. Get Involved (follow the news, take a class to help yourself and others)

And in case you’re visiting the law library and we have to shelter-in-place due to marauding bands of the undead (or a chemical spill on I-5), you can take comfort in knowing that we have created a disaster plan and stocked the library with food, water and other essentials.

We are offering a new class in June called “I Know I Need a Lawyer. Now What? Tips on Getting Legal Help and What to Expect.” This information session will cover various topics, including tips about finding free legal resources, legal clinics, attorney referral services, communicating with your lawyer, standard billing practices, and how to address concerns about your lawyer.

The class is being presented on June 13th from 12-1 pm at the Public Law Library of King County. It is free, but space is limited. Pre-registration is required.  Call the library at (206)296-0940 or stop by the Information Desk to register.

Divorce is a sensitive personal matter and no one process is right for everyone.  Many couples find that the no-court process known as Collaborative Divorce a welcome alternative to the often destructive, uncomfortable aspects of traditional divorce.  On May 25th, the library will be hosting a class from 12-1:30PM on this topic called “Collaboration: A Respectful Divorce Process”.  The class will be held in our Seattle location and presented by a member of the bar who practices in the field of collaborative divorce.  You can sign up today by calling the library at 206-296-0940.

The Washington State Law Library may have to close if it does not get adequate funding from the State Legislature.   Please see this editorial that ran today in the Tacoma News Tribune. It outlines the State House and Senate budget proposals, and tells how the Senate proposal would mean the end of the State Law Library.

The State Law Library has a complete set of Washington State Supreme Court and Court of Appeals briefs.  The library has a modestly-priced document delivery service.  You can borrow books — the library will send them to you.  Also, the State Law Library oversees the live chat reference service that this library participates in.  And, the State Law Library subscribes to a number of legal databases and will send materials from those databases to any Washingtonian. 

You can read about the State Law Library at its website.

Sweet! It's Construction Law! Photo by Annah Ray

Every year since 2005, the American Association of Law Libraries hosts a photo contest titled “Day in the Life” which gives librarians and library staff an opportunity to photograph their daily tasks.  This year, our photograph titled ”Sweet! It’s Construction Law,” by Annah Ray, placed third in the category Librarians as Expert Researchers. 

This is KCLL’s third win in the “Day in the Life” contest, having recevied the overall prize and another third place award in 2005 for photos taken by Tina Ching.

The King County Law Library Board has announced that it is changing its name to Public Law Library of King County and that it has appointed Rita Dermody as Director, effective May 1, 2011. As Director, Ms. Dermody will oversee operations and direct all activities of the library.

The library’s Board of Trustees chose the new name based on a recommendation from its Advisory Committee. Judge Mary Yu, President of the Board of Trustees, remarked about the change, “We just want to be known as widely as possible for what we are—a reliable public library that emphasizes legal resources. We wanted to be sure that non-lawyers feel comfortable utilizing our resources.” The library’s new name is intended to dispel the perception among self-represented litigants that it is only for lawyers or court personnel and emphasize the public nature of this resource, in hopes of making the public feel invited.

As the new Director, Ms. Dermody is dedicated to promoting the library as the first stop for members of the public who need legal help. She is devoted to ensuring access to legal research and is eager to represent the Public Law Library in the greater librarian and legal communities. Ms. Dermody joined the Law Library in 1998 and has served as branch librarian,

Collection Access Services Librarian, and Interim Director. After working in virtually every type of law library, she sees her appointment to this position as the culmination of her experience and passion for helping people. She strongly believes in the importance of this facility and wants to use her position to “touch more lives and have more impact on legal research.”

Stephen Ellis, Vice President of the Board of Trustees, stated: “Rita successfully served the Public Law Library as its Interim Director and when it came time to appoint a permanent Director we realized, following a thorough evaluation process involving trustees, staff and third parties, that we had no need to conduct a formal search. Our Director was already in place and performing well.” Judge Yu echoed the sentiment, “The Board has total confidence in Rita’s ability to take the Public Law Library to the next level. Rita is a leader and known for her collaborative style. She works well with all of our partner agencies and customers, and her commitment to fostering access to justice is exactly what we need at this time. We are grateful that she accepted the position.”

For further information, contact Judge Mary Yu, President of the King County Law Library Board of Trustees at 206.296.9275. Interviews with Rita Dermody may be arranged by calling her directly at 206.205.6101.

Trustees of the Library are Stephen Ellis, Patrick McIntyre, Jim Brewer, Judge Andrea Darvas, and Judge Mary Yu.

As part of our National Library Week celebration, we would like to refresh your memory about the many custom databases we provide to support your research.  Use of all of these is free to anyone who visits either of our branches.  If you choose to print your results, the charge is 15 cents per page.

Westlaw — our custom subscription includes full-text access to all State appellate-level decisions, cases from all Federal district and circuit courts, all cases from the US Supreme Court, and the legislative and administrative codes from all fifty states.  It also includes full-text access to our State’s legal encyclopedia Washington Practice, broad-based legal encyclopedias such as American Jurisprudence 2d, AmJur Proof of Facts and AmJur Trials, Washington jury verdicts and West’s citator service Keycite.

Lexis — our custom subscription focuses on Washington State and Washington Federal resources including all decisions from our State Courts of Appeal and Supreme Court, cases originating in the Federal district courts in Washington and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Annotated Revised Code of Washington, and all three of our State’s law school publications, Washington Law Review, Seattle University Law Review, and Gonzaga Law Review.  It also includes access to Lexis’ citator service, Shepards.

Fastcase – the newest addition to our database lineup includes cases and statutes from all 50 states, federal statutes and cases, links to federal and state regulatory materials and specialty databases such as IRS Revenue Rulings,  Board of Immigration Appeals, United States Tax Court and U.S. Court of Federal Claims.  It also includes access to FastCase’s Authority Check system to help you quickly locate additional decisions related to your research.

SupportCalc — our subscription to this specialized software enables you to fill out, save and print child support and support-related documents for Washington State without having to manually calculate rates and figures.

HeinOnline — our subscription to this valuable resource provides access to full-text articles from hundreds of the nation’s leading law reviews and bar journals, the Code of Federal Regulations and United States Code, a variety of Congressional documents including the Congressional Record and the Congressional Record Daily, and legal classics such as Blackstone’s Commentaries.

The American Library Association’s theme for this year’s National Library Week is “Create Your Own Story@ KCLL.” KCLL is celebrating the week with free Family Law classes and cookies! We will also be offering prizes to patrons who visit us at noon during the week. 

 The library is excited to announce a new class: Family Law Resources.  This 1 hour class is targeted at non-attorneys to help them find resources for family law matters such as divorce, child custody or child support.  During National Library Week, we will be offering this class in Seattle on April 11 from 12-1pm and in Kent on April 14 from 12-1pm.  To register, please call 206-296-0940.

 Please note that our Kent branch will close early at 11:00am on Friday, April 15 for staff training.

Because of the possibility of a “shutdown” of the federal government, “Passport Day in the USA” will not be held on Saturday, April 9, in King County. You can read the announcement here. The United States State Department canceled the event nationwide.

In 2010, a change in law took effect that requires all U.S. citizens to present a valid passport book when entering or re-entering the United States by air. Those entering from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, or Bermuda at land borders and sea ports-of-entry must present a passport book, passport card, or other travel documents approved by the U.S. government.

For one day, Saturday, April 9, King County will open two Community Service Centers to accommodate residents who might not otherwise be able to apply for a passport in person during the work day standard hours.  No appointment is necessary and expedited services will be made available for an additional fee. 

For time and locations of these Community Centers, you can find additional information here.