SDCPLL Newsletter November 2005

Honoring the Fourth Witkin Award Winner for 2005-Charles R. Dyer, Esq., Retired Director of SDCPLL This month we are proud to feature our fourth winner of the 2005 Witkin Awards. Charles R. Dyer, Esq., Retired Director of the San Diego County Public Law Library will be honored for his special service in the field of law librarianship and legislative advocacy on behalf of law libraries. Mr. Dyer, known as "Charley" to his friends and colleagues, retired in August after 18 years of service as the chief administrative officer of the Law Library and now resides in Bellingham, Washington. Mr. Dyer received his bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin in philosophy/mathematics and his master's degree in philosophy from Northwestern University. He earned his J.D. and Master's in Library Science from the University of Texas. Prior to working at SDCPLL, Mr. Dyer was an Associate Professor of Law and the Chief Law Librarian at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Mr. Dyer became the Director of the San Diego County Public Law Library in 1987. Under his direction, the Law Library moved forward into the technology age in the early 1990's with its first automated catalog system. In recent years, the Library has introduced a variety of online database services for its users: Westlaw, Lexis, Loislaw, HeinOnline and several others. Under Mr. Dyer's direction, the Law Library also received two Library Service Technology Act grants (LSTA) through the California State Library to develop and teach legal research classes for the public and to provide training to other librarians around the state who were interested in teaching similar classes for their users. During his tenure as Director of the Law Library, Charley served as an executive board (or committee) member on multiple community, public service organizations and law library associations including: the American Association of Law Libraries; the Southern California Association of Law Libraries; the California Council of County Law Libraries; the Serra Cooperative Administrative Council; the Tierra del Sol Regional Library Network; AALL's State, Court and County Law Libraries Special Interest Section; and the San Diego Centre City Development Corporation. Mr. Dyer is well-known for his commitment to improving county law library services to the public. For many years, he has actively worked to strengthen the financial future of California county law libraries by lobbying state legislators on a number of bills. In 2002, he and his fellow law library directors on the California Council of County Law Libraries were instrumental in creating a pilot program which introduced the first interactive legal reference service for online users. This "Ask a Law Librarian" virtual chat reference service was so successful that it is now prominently featured on the California Judicial Council's website on the Self-Help link for self-represented litigants. Mr. Dyer has recently been recognized for his distinguished service to the field of law librarianship by the American Association of Law Libraries, (AALL), which presented him with the Marion Gould Gallagher Award at its annual conference in July 2005. He was also recognized by Southern California Association of Law Libraries' for his special advocacy on behalf of California public law libraries at the 2005 AALL Annual Meeting. Moreover, Southern California Association of Law Libraries recognized Mr. Dyer with the prestigious Rohan Service Award in 1998. Now enjoying his retirement in Washington, Charley plans on remaining active in his field, writing articles, teaching and speaking on behalf of law libraries and public service. An avid guitarist, he and his wife, Bert, enjoy playing and singing the blues with friends and fellow musicians.

Giving Thanks....For New Copiers and Printers! Starting in late November-early December, you'll have something new to be thankful for! Around time, new, easier to use, more accessible copiers from Konica-Minolta will be introduced at Main and all of the branches. But those of you resistant to change needn't fear; some of the tried and true Xerox copiers will still be available at Main and North County through most of December when we'll bid them farewell. Also in December, look for new printers and a new self-serve printer system that will work with both copy cards and cash. These new printers will have more memory and allow for faster printing of large .pdf files from the Library's online subscriptions. One word of caution, though. The Library will only be able to work with the current Xerox-compatible copy cards while the Xerox copiers are here, so be sure to bring in your stockpile of cards in December so you can get all of your balances transferred to the new cards.

New Sexual Harassment Training Law for Supervisors-Effective January 2006 Before December 31st, California employers with greater than 50 employees are required to conduct a 2 hour sexual harassment prevention training for its supervisors. Please note that independent contractors, part-time employees and temporary workers are counted toward a company's total number of employees. This law, AB 1825 was passed in 2004 as Chapter 933. Cláudia Schwartz, the UCSD Professor of the Human Resource Management Leadership Program and founder of the consulting firm, HR Results, commented in a recent conversation that "AB 1825 requires employers to invest significant resources in periodically training their supervisors. The return on that investment should go beyond compliance. When the training is offered by a professional with extensive experience (e.g., a combination of Human Resources management, sexual harassment and gender discrimination EEOC consent decree implementation, investigations, expert witness services, and teaching applied employment law), supervisors gain practical knowledge that directly supports the company's success." Specifically, the bill requires that all California employers complete this training within one year of January 2005. All supervisors employed as of July 1, 2005 must be trained before January 1, 2006 unless these supervisors hired or promoted during the past two years. Moving forward, supervisors were hired or employees promoted into a supervisory position must receive training within 6 months of their date of hire. In addition, this law requires that employers provide 2 hours of training to supervisory employees every two years after January 1st, 2006. Even if an employer provides the training for its supervisors, this training law does not insulate an employer from liability for sexual harassment by its supervisors. According to the California Legislative Digest, "The bill would specify that the statute establishes a minimum threshold for training and education and that employers may provide training and education beyond that required by the statute to prevent and correct sexual harassment and discrimination." In addition, the law also requires that the training be interactive and include discussion with questions/answers. Thus, most video trainings are unacceptable unless an interactive component is added in person by the trainer. Moreover, the training must be led by a qualified person who has knowledge and expertise in the prevention and handling of harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

New Bankruptcy Law Materials in the Library Brown, William Houston., 2005 BANKRUPTCY REFORM LEGISLATION WITH ANALYSIS : COMMENTARY AND HIGHLIGHTED TEXT OF THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY CODE AS AMENDED BY THE THE BANKRUPTCY ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 2005, PUBLIC LAW 109-8 / BY WILLIAM HOUSTON BROWN AND LAWRENCE R. AHERN III. [St. Paul, MN] : Thomson/West, c2005. KF1511.597 .B76 2005. All Locations Resnick, Alan N. THE BANKRUPTCY ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 2005 : WITH ANALYSIS / BY ALAN N. RESNICK AND HENRY J. SOMMER, COLLIER EDITORS-IN-CHIEF.Newark, NJ : LexisNexis, Matthew Bender, c2005. KF1539 .B33 2005. Main Reference Desk Only (until Jan. 2006) Epstein, David G., 1943-, BANKRUPTCY AND RELATED LAW IN A NUTSHELL / BY DAVID G. EPSTEIN. 7th ed.St. Paul, MN : Thomson/West, c2005. KF1501.Z9 E67 2005. Main Library Only BANKRUPTCY REFORM " CHANGING THE GROUND RULES FOR PERSONAL & SMALL BUSINESS BANKRUPTCY PRACTICE : PROGRAM HANDBOOK, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005. Oakland, Calif. : Continuing Education of the Bar, c2005. KF1524 .B36 2005. Main Reference Desk Only Sommer, Henry J., CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY LAW AND PRACTICE : WITH CD-ROM / HENRY J. SOMMER ; GARY KLEIN, CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR AND EDITOR ; JOHN RAO, EDITOR. 7th ed.Boston, MA : National Consumer Law Center, c2004. KF1527 .S65 2004. Main Library Only 2005 supplement discusses the bankruptcy information SELECTED ISSUES IN BANKRUPTCY PRACTICE : (ALMOST) EVERYTHING CALIFORNIA BUSINESS LAWYERS AND LITIGATORS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RECENT CASE LAW AND LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS : PROGRAM HANDBOOK, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005. Oakland, Calif. : Continuing Education of the Bar, c2005. KFC365 .S45 2005. Main Reference Desk Only (until Jan. 2006)

November Legal Links www.military.com allows you to locate a service person, their rank and branch of the military. http://dod.jobsearch.org/ is an excellent place to find work for attorneys and other legal professionals. Click on the left hand side and choose the "legal" category and choose "California" as your venue. Then you might want to put "San Diego" in the keyword category. http://shop.supremecourthistory.org/ the Supreme Court Historical Society has an excellent selection of gifts including books, clothing items, desk accessories, jewelry and other items that are perfect for the holiday season or for other occasions.

The Small Claims Ante Is Going Up! Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed a new law (AB 1459) which changes the financial limit an individual can sue for in small claims court. Specifically, it changes the amount limit from $5000 to $7,000 in a suit brought by an individual but not a business entity. This new law excludes specific exceptions . It also requires that plaintiffs make a calculation of liability in a statement that separately lists the original debt and other payments on the Plaintiff's Claim and Order Form. Other changes in this law would require temporary judges who hear small claims cases take a course of study on ethics and substantive law under rules adopted by the Judicial Council. It also expands the services of the small claims court advisory service.

Reference Question of the Month Q: Where can I earn MCLE credits online through the California State Bar? A: You can use the California State Bar Journal to get one hour of self study MCLE credit's every month. By reading a short article, taking a short mutiple choice assessment test plus sending $25.00 to the State Bar, you will be credited toward your MCLE requirements.

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