NSBA News

Retirement Open House In Honor of Rick Allan
Please join us in thanking Rick for 21 years of dedication and service to the Nebraska Lawyers Assistance Program.
Thursday, June 29, 2017 • 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm • Country Club of Lincoln • 3200 South 24th Street

Job Opportunity with the NSBA - VLP Attorney
The Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) is the pro bono program of the Nebraska State Bar Association (NSBA). Created in the early 1980s, VLP furthers the NSBA mission, “Helping Lawyers help People.” VLP creates and coordinates pro bono opportunities that are convenient, rewarding, and impactful for Nebraska lawyers.

Journey To Cuba - April 26 - 30, 2018
This is an exciting time in US-Cuba relations. Recent changes are generating substantial interest from the business and legal communities in America. The Nebraska State Bar Association is partnering with Cuba Cultural Travel (CCT) to give you the opportunity to travel to Cuba. Cuba Cultural travel has organized educational tours for a variety of organizations for the last 15 years.  Please join Kim Robak and Bill Mueller, Tom and Mary Maul, Bob and Dian Hillis and Jane Langan Mach and Jeff Mach from April 26-30, 2018, on this once-in-a-lifetime trip.  Complete Trip Information

Leadership Academy Nominations Now Being Accepted - Deadline August 18, 2017
The Nebraska State Bar Association is pleased to announce the tenth annual Leadership Academy designed to develop and nurture future leaders of the association and profession. Class size is limited to 25 participants in order to ensure a high quality of participation and instruction. The members of the class will participate in a mandatory day and a half retreat on September 14-15, 2017 at the Carol Joy Hollings Camp in Ashland as well as a wide range of seminars during the five month academy starting in November. Schedule and Brochure

The academy is open to active, NSBA dues-paying members that will be in their third to fifteenth year of practice. Tuition of $500 covers the cost of all programs, meals, receptions, graduation dinner and printed materials. Programs offered by the Leadership Academy can fulfill your mandatory continuing legal education credits for the year. Individual participants are responsible for their own travel and personal expenses. Mileage and hotel reimbursement will be provided if you are required to travel more than 150 miles to attend a program session. Limited scholarships are also available and may be requested on the application form.

Complete and return the application form if you wish to apply to become a member of the Leadership Academy.  Please return your completed application form by August 18, 2017 to Sam Clinch, Nebraska State Bar Association, 635 S 14th St. #200, Lincoln, NE 68508.

If you would like to encourage a NSBA dues-paying member to participate in the Academy you can nominate them. Fill out the enclosed nomination form and a formal application will be sent to the nominee for the Leadership Academy.  Please return your completed nomination form by August 1, 2017.

2017 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award
The Outstanding Young Lawyer Award is presented annually to a young lawyer who has made exemplary contributions to the community and to public service, who has actively participated in State and local bar activities, and who stands out in the areas of professional knowledge, skill, integrity and courtesy.

To nominate a young lawyer for this award, please complete and return this form. You may be contacted, confidentially, for more information on your nominee. Nominations must be received no later than September 8, 2017, by the YLS Executive Committee, c/o Leslie Shaver; Simmons Olsen Law Firm, P.C.; 1502 2nd Ave.; Scottsbluff, NE 69361. Nominations may also be e-mailed to lshaver@simmonsolsen.com.

Women and the Law and Young Lawyers Sections’ Reception

• Ever feel that no matter how long and hard you work that you’re always failing at something?
• Ever worry that you are not spending your time on what matters most to you?
• Ever too exhausted or stressed to enjoy your time away from work?
  

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, join attorney-turned-executive-coach Susan Ann Koenig for “Creating Your ‘Stop Doing’ List – A Practical Roadmap for Doing Less While Being More You” on Thursday, July 13, from 1:30 to 3 pm at Creighton Law, followed by a reception. The program is being sponsored by the Young Lawyers and Women and the Law Sections.

We continuously take on more, either because we are asked or because of our own longing to make a greater contribution. When we add something, however, we rarely take anything else off our plates. During this workshop, Susan will help you examine the many roles and responsibilities you have already, and empower you to create a path forward to keep what matters most while developing a plan of action for the rest.

Registration is FREE for members of the Women and the Law and Young Lawyers Sections and law students; registration is $10 for all other attendees.

Opportunities for Dues-Paying Members to Use Their “2 Free Hours of Ethics” Member Benefit
June 28: Lying and the Law: A How (Not) To Approach Webinar
11:00 AM  - 1:00 PM
Lawyers, liars, and lunatics! This class focuses on why some people (lunatics) think that lawyers have a problem with lying. We go to the top of our profession – good ol’ Honest Abe – to see what he has to say about honesty in the legal profession. Do we have a problem with honesty? And if so, what can we do to fix it? In this class, we look at the various model rules requiring honest legal practices, such as 3.3, 4.1, 7.1 and 8.4, and then look at case examples where attorneys have been disciplined for dishonest activities. And, of course, we end by vowing to not do likewise.

Joel Oster, Esq., is a seasoned litigator who is currently in private practice in Kansas City, specializing in constitutional litigation, campaign finance, sports law and appellate advocacy. He has also delivered presentations to thousands of attorneys across the United States and has learned from their successful and unsuccessful legal practices. Oster earned his J.D. in 1997 from the University of Kansas School of Law. He is admitted to the bar in Kansas, Missouri, Florida, and numerous federal courts.

Super Section Benefit
One great benefit of being a member of NSBA sections is receiving Lexology Newsstand.  It’s an e-zine that provides case law and other updates from the US and around the world.  You can tailor it to suit your practice areas (e.g. family law, IP, criminal, etc), jurisdictions included, and delivery frequency.  Many lawyers report appreciating this fast way to see what’s new in their practice areas.  This is a free benefit of being a member of most sections.  Remember it’s never too late to join a section.  If you have questions or would like to see a sample of Newsstand, contact NSBA Section Facilitator Lorrie Benson.

Recent Supreme Court Opinions

Week of June 23, 2017

Week of June 16, 2017

For a complete listing of recent opinions, visit the Nebraska Judicial Branch Website.

NLF News

14th Annual Greater Nebraska Golf Scramble
On June 2nd, 70 golfers met at the Dismal River Golf Club near Mullen, Nebraska, for the 14th Annual Greater Nebraska Golf Scramble. The golfers played the Red Course, which has been named “Best New Course” by Golf Magazine and is nationally ranked in several top publications.

After the golfers ate lunch and warmed up, they hit the course to raise money for the Volunteer Lawyers Project. In 2016, the Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) helped more than 6,000 low-income Nebraskans get access to a lawyer and our system of justice. Volunteers helped 2,800 people through services at the six Help Centers located in county courthouses or through full- or limited-representation in civil cases. Most cases involve issues affecting basic human needs—safe living arrangements, child-parent relationships, and financial support. VLP assisted 4,000 people who called, emailed or visited the VLP office by providing helpful information and resources. VLP is often a place of last resort for these individuals who, without VLP programs, would be left to navigate a complex court system on their own.

After the tournament, the golfers met in the clubhouse to thank the 40 law firms and companies that sponsored the tournament. Because of their support, more than $10,000 was raised for the Volunteer Lawyers Project.

The winners of the Championship flight were Nate Bruner, John Icenogle, Greg Rickey and Justin Bash. The winners of the first flight were Mike McCarthy, Lowell Moore, Janie McCarthy and Scott Daniel.

Articles

Marketing Fees Paid to Avvo Violate New Jersey Lawyer Conduct Rules, Ethics Opinion Says
By Debra Cassens Weiss, Originally Published in ABA Journal
Lawyers in New Jersey can’t participate in client-linking services offered by Avvo because of ethics issues stemming from the company's "marketing fee," according to a joint ethics opinion by three New Jersey Supreme Court committees.

The fee paid to the company violates the ban on lawyer-referral payments and the ban on sharing fees with nonlawyers, the June 21 opinion said. The New Jersey Law Journal (sub. req.) has a story.

Two other services linking clients to lawyers, LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer, appear to be offering legal services plans that would pass muster under those ethics rules—if they were registered with the courts’ administrative office, as required by such rules, the opinion said.  Full Article

On-Demand Lawyering Is Our Future: What Will It Look like?
By Dan Lear, Originally Published in ABA Journal
Recently, I saw a TV ad recruiting Uber drivers. It showed a young guy, apparently a family man, seamlessly moving back and forth from earning money driving to “chilling.” Whatever you think about ride-booking services in general, or Uber in specific, it certainly made driving for Uber seem like an easy way to earn some money.

This got me wondering what on-demand lawyering might look like. You wake up, fire up the laptop or tablet and voila! Six new matters are waiting for you. Making money on these new matters is a snap. You click, read about the client’s issues and get cranking. Full Article

The Benefits of Mindfulness in Our Profession
By Marie T. Clemens, Originally Published in ABA Law Practice Today
Do you have a pre-conceived notion that mindfulness involves a hippie way of life, like tuning out the world and living in a temple at the top of a mountain? Do you think it’s a fad with no supporting evidence of its benefits? Or, like many people, do you think mindfulness can only be found in shavasana?

Although I hope to inspire you to practice mindfulness (as the benefits far outweigh the investment), I know many of you may take a quick glance at this article and simply continue on with your busy, stressful and demanding day.  Full Article 

Resources

Casemaker Weekly Update

My Settings

Clicking on My Settings from the homepage allows you to customize Casemaker in several ways. You can set the primary email you would like to send cases to. You can set the default jurisdiction for your searches. You can also set preferred document types and page formatting as well. In addition, you can set the preferred sort method of your results from this page if you wish.

Seeing more with the Combined Link

While you are browsing administrative code, statutes, rules and other materials you may sometimes notice an italicized chapter or section title with the word combined at the end in parentheses. Clicking on this link will give you not just one statute or rule, but all the statutes or rules in that chapter or section. This is helpful if you wish to print the entire chapter or section. It is also useful if you simply do not want to be forced to navigate to each individual statute or rule and would like to view them together.

“What else cited this?”

You may notice the Citing References tab in the gray bar at the top of the case you are viewing. Citing References provides a list of every case in Casemaker that has cited the original opinion. The citing references list also shows you if any of the cases which have cited the case you are viewing have, themselves been treated negatively in subsequent cases.

Emailing Documents

Have you have been viewing a document in Casemaker and wanted to just email it to your client or colleague? Casemaker allows for just that! To email a document to your client, your colleague, or even yourself – you first need to click on the envelope icon located in the upper right-hand corner of the document in the dark gray bar. A pop-up window will appear giving you a number of options to choose from. You can select the document format. You can choose to send a PDF, Word or WordPerfect document as well as chose dual or single column format. You can also decide to include your notes or any highlighted terms. If you would like, you can attach the list of citing references and any negative treatment found as well. Make your choices then enter the recipient's email address (or addresses), a subject for the email, and a short message if you wish. Then hit the blue email button and Casemaker will email the document for you. It is that simple!  

Getting Help Using Casemaker

Sometimes you just need a little help! Casemaker offers plenty of options to get you going. At any time you can click on the Help link in the upper right corner of Casemaker to find these options. Support is available between 8 am and 8 pm Eastern Standard Time, Monday- Friday. If you would like to speak with a Customer Support representative simply call 1-877-659-0801. You can email for assistance at support@casemakerlegal.com. Casemaker offers a live chat service during support hours as well by clicking on the Live Chat link in the upper right corner of Casemaker. Free webinar training is offered regularly as well. To sign up click on the webinar link in the upper right-hand corner of Casemaker. Training webinars are free and you can take them as often as you like. You can also find a user guide by clicking on the Help link in Casemaker if you prefer to learn at your own pace. 

 Statutes and Administrative Code by Citation

Below the search bar, you will find a series of small labeled circles that are called radio buttons. They are Keyword, Citation, Party, Section, and Docket. If you click on the radio button for Section you can then enter the citation for not just statutes as you might expect, but administrative codes as well, and Casemaker will pull up the code section you are seeking. Of course, you can always browse administrative codes, statutes, and other materials by clicking the appropriate link under the state or federal library of your choosing.