Prime Interest Rates

Update of Prime Interest Rates

Since we are coming up on January 1, 2011 when the State Commissioner of Financial Institutions adjusts the rate of interest on judgments (not provided by contract, or otherwise by law, or specified in the judgment), I thought I would update our links to the Judgment Interest Rates. There is a link to the Prime Interest Rate (pdf) in the Financial Institutions Index (left navigation bar) on the Financial Institutions Division page. The Washoe County Court also provides the rates.

Approved Landlord/Tenant forms

The Access to Justice Commission has put new landlord/tenant forms out. You can find them on the Access to Justice Commission webpage. Scroll down toward the bottom of the page.

Application for Association of Counsel Under SCR 42

Supreme Court Rule 42 allows for the practice of attorneys not admitted in Nevada. The State Bar of Nevada has established a procedure in accordance with SCR 42 and has posted a packet on its website (links are halfway down the right-hand column) containing the application form (.pdf) (.doc).

Pro Bono Week

National Pro Bono week is October 24-30, 2010. The State Bar of Nevada has event details on its Access to Justice Commission page.

VARN is sponsoring free legal aid fairs in northern Nevada: in Carson City on Saturday, October 23; in Fallon on Wednesday, October 27; and in Winnemucca on Thursday, October 28. Details are available on VARN's website.

For folks in Reno, Nevada Legal Services, Washoe Legal Services and the Washoe County Senior Law Project are jointly sponsoring a legal education fair at the Meadowood Mall on Tuesday, October 26.

Lastly, for folks in Clark County, there are a number of events including the Family Law Self-Help Center Computer Lab grand opening on Monday, October 25; several ask-a-lawyer sessions on Tuesday; and "survivor island" for seniors on Thursday.

Presumptive Maximum Amounts of Child Support: July 1, 2010-June 30, 2011

Each year on or before April 1 in accordance with NRS 125B.070, the Administrative Office of the Courts determines and issues presumptive maximum amounts of child support effective for the next fiscal year. The presumptive maximum amounts for July 1, 2010-June 30, 2011 may be found on the Supreme Court's website under Documents and Forms | Self-Help/Pro Se | Family Division Forms. PMAs back to July 1, 2003 are also available from the court's website.

Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions

Recently a patron asked for a sample living will form. It took me a while to find one (PDF), so I am posting a link here for others who are interested.

The Nevada Center for Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Nevada Reno hosts NVLivingWill.com. The Forms/Downloads section includes a form and planning documents (in English, Spanish and a translation prepared by the Filipino Outreach Committee) as well as a link to the Nevada Secretary of State's Living Will Lockbox. For those of you who like doing things online, NVLivingWill.com also includes a free (registration required) online durable power of attorney for health care generator.

For more information on living wills, the ABA Commission on Law and Aging prepared a Consumer's Tool Kit for Health Care Advance Planning.

Forms from the First Judicial District Court

The First Judicial District Court continues to add forms to its website. Recently additions include a Family Court Information Sheet and a Statement of Legal Aid Representation.

Supreme Court Nominations Research Guides

Georgetown Law Library has a complete guide to the Supreme Court nominations process, including links to information on nominees from Harriet E. Miers to Elena Kagan (with Roberts, Alito and Sotomayor in between).

Additionally, the Library of Congress has a guide to Supreme Court nominees, as well as one with citations on Kagan.

Finding case law on Google Scholar

The May 2010 newsletter of the Wisconsin State Law Library has a good article on using Google Scholar to do legal research as well as links to video tutorials.

Legal clinics Thursday at Carson City Sheriff's Office | NevadaAppeal.com

Nevada Legal Services will be hosting two legal clinics this Thursday, March 25th at the Carson City Sheriff's Office on Musser Street. The first clinic is on completing forms and the second is on bankruptcy/debt reduction. Call 334-3045 to register.

For more info, check out this story in the Nevada Appeal.

2009 NRS Reprint

The Legislative Counsel Bureau just posted the 2009 NRS Reprint online. Remember, the online NRS does not include case annotations. Also, you have to check the Supreme Court's site for orders amending court rules.

Supreme Court Library Domain Change

The Supreme Court Library's webpage address is http://lawlibrary.nevadajudiciary.us/. The content remains the same.

Service of Process Questions

We often field queries about Service of Process (NRCP Rule 4) at the reference desk. The folks at the First Judicial District Court in Carson City have developed a nice handout called Service of Documents that addresses many of those questions.

Nevada Court Rules

Nevada court rules are available on Nevada Legislature's website. The legislature's version conforms to the print edition of the NRS, which as of today's writing is the 2007 Reprint with 2008 Revision 2 replacement pages (notated (2008) R1 in the footer of each replacement page).

Court rules are not searchable, but they are indexed in the Nevada Revised Statutes. The index is quite voluminous, but here's a trick to navigate it. To find the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure, select a section of the alphabet, such as "C" for civil procedure and when the page loads, click on Edit Find, type a text string such as CIVIL PROCEDURE in all capital letters in the box, and click on the "Match Case" check box (in Firefox) or click on Edit Find and then click on the "Options" drop down list (in Internet Explorer) to jump to that index term. In this case, the Rules of Civil Procedure are not on the C index page, but there is a "see" entry with a link to the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure.

CIVIL PROCEDURE, NEVADA RULES OF (See NEVADA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE)

Since the Court Rules on the legislature's page are only as current as the print NRS, researchers are advised to check the Court's website for administrative orders amending the rules. In the NRCP example, there four orders (ADKTs 276 order dated 2/6/09; 426 order dated 2/6/09; 405 order dated 4/29/09 and 388 order dated 11/17/09) which have not yet been incorporated in the legislature's online version.

Motion to Show Cause

We've had an upswing in requests for sample motions to show cause. The Washoe County Family Self-Help Center has a form (M-8) but it only available from the Self-Help Center (and is not on the website). Fortunately, the Clark County Law Family Self-Help Center also has a sample motion (Packet 110) available on its Custody page, under "Custody Motion Packets."

As always, this information is provided as a courtesy only and private counsel is recommended for legal matters.

Changes coming to Westlaw and Lexis

West and Lexis have been revamping their services. West debuts WestlawNext on February 1st and New Lexis will be released later this year.

Attorney and legal blogger Robert Ambrogi had the opportunity to use WestlawNext and says:

This is no mere cosmetic redesign. WestlawNext completely changes the search interface and the search engine behind it. In fact, the change is so dramatic that West has given its new search engine its own name: WestSearch. This new search engine does not just look at the terms you enter, a West executive said. Rather, it tries to identify the issue of law based on the terms you searched.

Less is known at this point about New Lexis. The February ABA Journal has an article on both Westlaw and Lexis and includes the following regarding New Lexis:

“Our new search engine is radically different,” says Marty Kilmer, vice president for new product strategy at LexisNexis. “Under the old system you had to know what you wanted to search. You had to drill down to find the right databases.”
....
An early preview of the New Lexis opens with a simple query box. Boolean search terms—like “Roe and Wade” or “Scalia or Roberts”—are a thing of the past. Users can type a simple query with natural language, a la Google or Yahoo. Queries can be filtered by jurisdiction, type of content or other restrictions. The search engine, like Google, has artificial intelligence that will help pull more relevant results.