2 Trial Lawyer • Winter 2024 By Rob Kline OTLA Guardian Most of us want to get involved in something bigger than ourselves. Something where we can make a difference. As you cast around for new opportunities, here's something that may not automatically appear on your radar: The Council on Court Procedures. I encourage you to consider it. Let me tell you why. Thank you, Judge Deady The Council is a unique Oregon institution charged with maintaining the Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure. Although virtually every civil practitioner is aware of the Council, not everyone is aware of exactly what it does, how it does it and the profound impact it has on our ability to seek and obtain justice for our clients. Council on Court Procedures and you From 1862 to 1977, Oregon had a canon of laws called “the Deady Code,” named for Judge Matthew Deady, a lawyer, politician and judge in the Oregon Territory. (He helped establish the University of Oregon’s law school.) Efforts to improve on the Deady Code and create a better civil procedure blueprint can be traced back as early as the mid1920s.1 In 1977, the Legislature created the Council on Court Procedures, finding that “laws relating to civil procedure designed for the benefit of litigants which meet the needs of the court system and the bar are necessary to assure prompt and efficient administration of justice in the courts of the state[]” and that “[n]o coordinated system of continuing review of the Oregon laws relating to civil procedure now exists.” ORS 1.725. The Council was tasked to “review the Oregon laws relating to civil procedure and coordinate and study proposals concerning the Oregon laws relating to civil procedure advanced by all interested persons.” Id. How it works The Council consists of 23 volunteers: one Supreme Court justice, one Court of Appeals judge, eight trial court judges, 12 attorneys “broadly representative of the trial bar and the regions of the state” and one public member. ORS 1.730(1). Attorney members are appointed by the Oregon State Bar Board of Governors. Members serve a four-year term and are eligible to serve one additional term. ORS 1.730(4). By 1979, the Council had created Rules 1-64. Rules 65 to 85 followed in 1981, creating the design that became Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure.2 Since the original ORCP, “the primary function of the Council has been to amend the ORCP from time to time whenever the need for, or utility of, amendment is demonstrated.” https://counciloncourtprocedures.org/council-history/. The Council works on a two-year cycle, starting the process by considering proposed rule changes from a variety of sources and distributing surveys to Oregon attorneys inviting suggestions for improvement to the rules. The Council sifts through dozens of ideas and then creates committees to study, debate and craft language of the proposals that are deemed worthy of further action. Once a proposal is approved, it is published for President’s Message Rob Kline
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTY1NDIzOQ==