Oregon courts are increasingly frustrated by the failure of practitioners to comply with the captioning requirements imposed by HB 2287.
Effective October 1, 2009, ORS 21.110(7) requires that civil pleading or first appearance motion captions include a statement of the amount claimed in the prayer for the action. This requirement applies to cases with a claim of $50,000 or more.
If your complaint does not include this information in the caption, it does not meet the statutory requirements for such a document.
Local court policies differ, but the Professional Liability Fund has received word that some courts are now rejecting noncompliant filings, resulting in practitioners missing deadlines.
Two simple steps will help your firm comply with the new requirements:
- Update your pleading templates or forms to prompt users to enter prayer amounts
- Educate lawyers and staff with firm wide e-mails or training sessions
The new filing fee requirements imposed by HB 2287 have also confounded practitioners and courts. Updated information is available on the PLF Web site, www.osbplf.org > News. A future blog post will address the key issues.
Copyright Beverly Michaelis 2010
Oregon Law Practice Management 