LAKE COUNTY – The Lake County Bar Association is pleased to offer one hour of continuing education credit to paralegals and attorneys who are active members of the California State Bar on Wednesday, Feb. 24.

Attorneys and Paralegals from neighboring counties are also welcome.

Steve Elias will present a program in Lakeport from 3:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. on legal research resources in Lake County, including an overview of the county's law library.

Light refreshments will be served and a small fee with be collected to defray costs. Attorneys or paralegals interested in attending the class should contact Mary Amodio, president of the Lake County Bar Association for information about the location at 707-263-5759.

Lake County is a small, rural county with a population of about 65,000. About 100 attorneys reside in the county and many are not familiar with the capabilities and resource available in the county’s small legal library. The library has increased its hours of operation and resources so this presentation will serve to better familiarize the local bar with the library’s capabilities.

Elias received an undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley in 1963 and a JD degree from Hastings College of the Law in 1969.

His legal background includes work in California, New York and Vermont as a legal aid lawyer, and for three years in Vermont as public defender of the Northeast Kingdom.

Elias has written and edited numerous self-help law books for Nolo on a variety of topics including wills, special-needs trusts, criminal law, legal research, patents, trademarks, bankruptcy and, most recently, foreclosures.

From 1983 to 1985, Elias joined with Nolo founder Ralph Warner and two NASA scientists to create WillMaker, the nation’s leading will software.

After leaving Nolo in 2000, he began his bankruptcy practice and since 2005 has provided bankruptcy consultation services exclusively for people handling their own cases.

In addition, Elias continues his duties as a Nolo author to keep his books up to date, and on occasion provides criminal defense services.

Elias serves on the board of directors of the Lake County Law Library and is active in many Lake County organizations. Finally, he co-hosts several radio programs with his wife Catherine on Lake County’s community radio station KPFZ 88.1 FM.