Uniform Jury Instructions Supplements Coming Soon

jury instructions, scales of justice and gavel on law books with bookshelves in the backgroundThe uniform jury instructions committees are charged with the task of developing uniform jury instructions for use in civil and criminal trials. They must also promote better coordination of activities between the two committees to insure a uniform approach to judicial instructions to juries. They continually update existing jury instructions to comply with case law, legislation, and useful suggestions from sections and the legal community, as well as raft instructions in plain language maintaining the goals of clarity and accuracy.

This important charge kept both the civil and the criminal committees busy in 2023.

Uniform Civil Jury Instructions

In 2023, the Uniform Civil Jury Instructions Committee completed their review of the User’s Guide, amended ten instructions, withdrew three instructions, and added three new instructions. The committee also updated the comment to 44.03 (Professional Perfection Not Required), which was withdrawn in 2022 after the Court of Appeals found it to be an incorrect statement of the law. The Supreme Court has since reversed the Court of Appeals and the committee plans to review this instruction again in 2024.

The Committee updated the User’s Guide to reflect amendments to statutes and rules where necessary, edited the guide to include more gender-neutral terms, added case law, and updated and expanded the section on exceptions.

The committee withdrew UCJI 44.06 and 44.07 dealing with agency in the hospital context. UCJI 30.04A and 30.04B, which address actual and apparent agency in general, were both updated in the comments to add recent case law affecting agency in the hospital context. In the area of domestic-animal liability, the committee updated an instruction, combined two instructions into one, and added four new instructions providing definitions of domestic animal, wild animal, and keeper. The committee also added instructions to address liability for dogs adjudged to be potentially dangerous. Finally, the committee amended several instructions to update statutory citations that the legislature had recently renumbered.

Uniform Criminal Jury Instructions

Considering some appellate court opinions regarding mental states and how they apply to particular elements of crimes, the 2023 Uniform Criminal Jury Instructions Committee had plenty of work to do. The committee’s big accomplishment was revising all the assault instructions. Many of those instructions had to be split in two, creating separate instructions for the “knowingly” version of the crime and the other mental-state versions. Among other things, the committee also updated some of the homicide instructions, the bias-crime instructions, and some criminal mischief instructions, and it wrote a new instruction for the aggravating factor of committing a crime with a firearm.

Overall, the 2023 Supplement contains 52 revised instruction and 20 new instructions.

Available for Preorder

Both of the supplements, and the full books including the supplement instructions, are now available for preorder on the online bookstore in both print and digital formats. Both formats include the MS Word documents of the instructions. All eBook preorders will ship in February and print book preorders will ship by early March.

BarBooks™ Wins International Award

The Road to Relaunch

ACLEA Award of Professional Excellence in the Technology Category for BarBooks RelaunchOn June 8, 2022, the BarBooks™ online library relaunched on a new, more user-friendly platform called Qweri by Lexum, Inc. The relaunch was the culmination of several years of work by the Legal Publications Department.

Lexum, Inc. was among the exhibitors at the 2018 ACLEA (Association for Continuing Legal Education) Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. After viewing the demo offered, Linda Kruschke, the OSB Legal Publications Manager, began the process of exploring whether Lexum’s Qweri product was the best option for a new BarBooks platform. Lexum provided links to other resources that were offered on Qweri, answered a myriad of questions, and even set up a test site for OSB to upload books to Qweri to determine if it was a good fit.

In August 2021, the OSB signed a contract to move forward with the project with a tentative launch date of 2Q 2022. BarBooks was relaunched on June 8, 2022, on time and in budget, on the Qweri platform. Continue reading

Workers’ Compensation in Oregon 2023 eBook and Individual Chapters Now Available

The first revision of this important publication since 2008, the 2023 edition of Workers’ Compensation in Oregon has been reorganized, updated with new case law and statutes, and includes three brand new chapters. The complete eBook is 2 volumes and is now available at the online bookstore. In addition, every individual chapter is also available in PDF format. These chapters include: Continue reading

Combined Conditions in Workers’ Compensation

The 2023 edition of Workers’ Compensation in Oregon is due out in June. It includes a new chapter on combined conditions. This useful, 22-page chapter was written by Daniel Walker with SAIF Corporation in Salem.

This post is an excerpt from the introduction to that chapter. The full chapter can be accessed via the full print book available for pre-order here, purchased as a stand-alone eBook here, or viewed on the BarBooks™ online library. Continue reading

Longshore Added to Workers’ Compensation Book

The 2023 edition of Workers’ Compensation in Oregon is due out in June. The first revision of this important volume since 2008, the 2023 edition has been reorganized, updated with new case law, and includes two brand new chapters. One of those new chapters is on the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. This comprehensive, 70-page chapter was written by Norman Cole, who is Of Counsel with Brownstein Rask LLP in Portland. Because this is such a specialized area of practice, the editorial review board brought in guest editorial reviewer James R. Babcock with Babcock Holloway Caldwell & Stires PC in Lake Oswego to peer review the chapter before in-house editing.

This post is an excerpt from the introduction to that chapter. The full chapter can be accessed via the full print book available for pre-order here, purchased as a stand-alone eBook here, or viewed on the BarBooks™ online library. Continue reading

Oregon Evidence Code—A Brief History

Adoption of the Oregon Evidence Code

The current Oregon Evidence Code was adopted in 1981. See Or Laws 1981, ch 892. Prior to 1981, the evidence rules in Oregon had not seen a major overhaul since 1862. For a thorough history of the law of evidence in Oregon, culminating in the Oregon Evidence Code, see Laird C. Kirkpatrick, Reforming Evidence Law in Oregon, 59 Or L Rev 43 (1980), and Robert E. Jones, An Overview of the Oregon Evidence Code, 19 Willamette L Rev 343 (1983). Continue reading

Making the Most of BarBooks Notes

The BarBooks™ online library provides Oregon State Bar members, law students, and libraries with a wealth of information. It comprises 48 legal treatises, most of which are published by the OSB Legal Publications Department in conjunction with a myriad of volunteer authors and editorial review boards.

We can revise our treatises only as often as Bar staff resources allow. However, the new BarBooks platform has given us a tool to provide more frequent updates to our books: the Notes feature. Continue reading

Important Updates to Criminal Jury Instructions

The 2022 supplement to the Uniform Criminal Jury Instructions is now available for preorder. The Uniform Criminal Jury Instructions Committee had its work cut out for it in 2022, resulting in 35 amended instructions and two new instructions. Culpable mental states and delivery of controlled substances were just two of the topics the Committee tackled in response to appellate case law. Legal Publications Attorney Editor Dean Land, who is OSB’s liaison to the Committee, has provided the following insight into the Committee’s work. Continue reading

NEW! Criminal Law in Oregon 2022 eBook and Individual Chapters

The ninth edition of Criminal Law in Oregon incorporates new material on sentencing and a variety of other topics in light of major court decisions and new legislation. This deskbook is essential for Oregon lawyers who practice criminal law. Topics covered in this comprehensive resource range from search and seizure to postconviction proceedings, plus a chapter on victims’ rights. Drawing on the wisdom of the experts in criminal law in Oregon, this book will save you time and resources. In addition to serving as the chief reference guide on criminal law for Oregon judges, defense lawyers, and prosecutors, Criminal Law in Oregon is also an invaluable resource for civil practitioners who handle the occasional criminal law case. Continue reading

BarBooks by the Numbers

BarBooks graphic of tablet screen and books.The BarBooks™ online library is one of the highest rated member benefits that the Oregon State Bar offers to its membership. Members can also purchase subscriptions for their support staff. Continue reading