Volume 2 No. 38 | Sept. 21, 2022
Courts
- 2022 OK 73: RITTER v. STATE
No published opinions this week.
No published opinions this week.
Dispositions Other than by Published Opinions
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma Court Calendar
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is in session year round, unless otherwise noted. The Court regularly schedules conferences on Mondays and other days as needed.
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Fastcase is your OBA-provided legal research benefit. It covers all federal and state court opinions, statutes, regulations, court rules and constitutions. Even subscribers to other legal research services may find Fastcase useful for jurisdictions not covered in their plan.
Understanding the advanced features of Fastcase 7 can save you time and improve your searching abilities. The OBA will offer “Legal Research Using Fastcase for Oklahoma Lawyers” to its members on Sept. 23 at 11 a.m. There will be no registration fee, and one hour of MCLE credit (0 ethics) will be offered.
Click HERE to register!
The September Oklahoma Bar Journal features several articles reflecting the Education theme. Flip through the pages online in the interactive digital edition.
Laura L. Holmes and Laura L. Holmgren-Ganz authored the article Legal Issues Regarding Transgender Students in Oklahoma Schools:
"During spring 2022, state legislatures around the country considered and, in some cases, passed legislation aimed at gay and transgender issues in schools. Some of the proposed or enacted legislation cited “parents’ rights” to ban any discussion of gay and transgender issues in public schools. Some states, including Oklahoma, enacted legislation to ban transgender athletes’ participation in girls or women’s sports. This article discusses the legal issues concerning transgender students faced by Oklahoma’s public schools."
"Office sharing may appear to be simple on its face. But for the lawyers who want to comply with all ethical rules, protect themselves and have appropriate and effective business operations, there is a lot to consider. Foremost among lawyers’ minds will be complying with the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct regarding client confidences, conflicts of interest and the like. Good lawyers will also be concerned about whether they may be opening themselves up to potential liability. So even though office sharing has the potential for positive benefits, some thought and advance preparation is advised. One must then invest the energy and time-building processes that address each significant area of concern."
"Since the 1970s, authorities around the nation have worked hard to train – and certify the ability of – court interpreters and standardize interpretation practices. In Oklahoma, where I work as an interpreter, authorities have done much in the past decade. One of the main tasks now is to trust certification, which means allowing interpreters to do their jobs. In courtrooms around central Oklahoma, I sometimes run into attorneys who say they do not need interpreters because they already speak Spanish. They may, indeed, but I have yet to hear an attorney interpret it in a way that would pass the certification exams. Knowing neither the technique nor the vocabulary, lawyers who brush off interpreters seldom know words such as DA, arraignment, enter a plea, waive, deposition, stipulation or call docket. In criminal proceedings, these terms are ubiquitous, and lawyer-interpreters regularly omit or change them."
Featured CLE
By Jim Calloway, OBA Management Assistance Program Director
Can we use Slack in our law firm?
Some of us participate in Slack groups. Slack is a group messaging app that is simple and easy to use. As we know, group texts might work for social occasions but aren’t great for business situations. (One reason – someone can be added late and then have access to the entire thread.)
Regarding messaging apps, when the need for security is extreme (e.g., your client is accused of terrorism and you or your client don’t trust intelligence agencies to follow the rules) the best choice, in my view, is Signal, followed by Telegram. Both parties need to install the app on their devices and exchange contact info. Several months ago, Signal increased its video call group limit from 5 to 40 participants. I don’t recommend What’s App since being acquired by Facebook. Signal is owned by a nonprofit dedicated to promoting internet users’ security. See https://www.pcmag.com/picks/best-secure-messaging-apps.
Even though some of your employees may enjoy the Slack groups they use, for many law firms, the choice will be to use Teams because it integrates easily with all of the Office 365 apps AND because the firm has already paid for it. Although no security system is completely bulletproof because fallible people use the tools, Office 365 apps are generally secure. Microsoft is holding billions of dollars’ worth of businesses’ information in OneDrive and the other apps.
But let everyone know in advance if you are ultimately going to archive Teams message threads into the client file when the matter is closed. You’d hate for that file to include too many side discussions about lunch today or meeting up after work.
Here are the top 7 apps for group messaging per PCMag.com if you’d like to do more research.
Another thing about Slack is we periodically see articles like How to Overcome the Security Challenges of Using Slack for Your Enterprise. As I review the articles, the ones I have seen focus on setting permissions correctly, training and some scenarios on insider threats.
The Oklahoma Bar Journal is a publication of the Oklahoma Bar Association. All rights reserved. Copyright© 2022 Oklahoma Bar Association. Statements or opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff. Although advertising copy is reviewed, no endorsement of any product or service offered by any advertisement is intended or implied by publication. Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their ads, and the OBA reserves the right to edit or reject any advertising copy for any reason. Legal articles carried in The Oklahoma Bar Journal are selected by the Board of Editors. Information about submissions can be found at www.okbar.org.