Law Times

Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation )BSECPVOEȕ1VCMJTIFE'FCSVBSZFBDIZFBS 0OTVCTDSJQUJPOȕ- 0OFUJNFQVSDIBTFȕ- .VMUJQMFDPQZEJTDPVOUTBWBJMBCMF 1SJDFTTVCKFDUUPDIBOHFXJUIPVUOPUJDF]UPBQQMJDBCMFUBYFTBOETIJQQJOHIBOEMJOH CANADIAN LAW LIST 2014 :063*/45"/5$0//&$5*0/50$"/"%"Ȏ4-&("-/&5803, ȕ BOVQUPEBUFBMQIBCFUJDBMMJTUJOH ȕ DPOUBDUJOGPSNBUJPO ȕ MFHBMBOEHPWFSONFOUDPOUBDUJOGPSNBUJPO .03&5)"/"1)0/�, CLL-Dir_LT_Feb10_14.indd 1 14-01-31 12:11 PM 'A lot of angry people' at Heenan s many of Heenan Blaikie LLP's heavyweights get comfortable with their new Bay Street jobs, the members of the support staff they le behind are "pissed off " about the long wait for information about their severance packages. Staff who are still working in the Toronto offi ce say they didn't receive a termination notice until Feb. 14, nine days a er the fi rm announced its collapse. e notice said the offi ce would close on Feb. 28 but provided no details on severance packages, they say. Just days a er Heenan Blaikie announced it would start "an orderly wind down" in the largest law fi rm failure in Canadian history, several dozen lawyers struck deals with other big fi rms in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. But the people who have been working in Heenan Blaikie's fi nance and marketing departments say they watched as lawyers packed up and le , some with their secretaries, while they awaited news of their own fate. People knew the fi rm was dissolving, says one staff member, "but nobody had any letters, nobody had any direction." e staff member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, says the fi rm's human resources department held a meeting on Feb. 7 that "was just to tell people that the Toronto HR team knew nothing." A few days later, Ken Kra , a former partner who was part of Heenan Blaikie's insolvency team, met with staff to explain the wind down but again made no mention of severance packages, the source says. "All he told us was his side of the story, how things fell apart. And when people were pressing him and asking him about severance, he goes, 'I'm not a labour lawyer.' People were so pissed off . ey were like, 'Well, why didn't you get a labour lawyer to come and answer these questions?'" She adds: "I can tell you there are a lot of angry people here." Adapt judge's model to summary motions, lawyers say ollowing the Supreme Court's decision in Hryn- iak v. Mauldin, civil litiga- tors say Ontario should create a new summary judgment motion procedure based on the premise of a recent guideline written by Superior Court Justice David Brown. A er the top court gave judges wide discretion to decide cases through summary judgment in Hryniak, Brown wrote a standard case management protocol for commercial list cases he'll preside over. Now, some lawyers say Brown's guideline — which involves hands-on intervention by a sin- gle judge, greater co-operation between counsel, and fewer court appearances — should ap- ply across the board in the civil justice system. "Counsel and self-represented parties are expected to practise the '3 Cs' of the Commercial List: Co- operation, Communication, and Common Sense," wrote Brown in Farrell v. Kavanagh on Feb. 7. "While communication amongst counsel by e-mail may be convenient, o en to resolve diffi cult issues, there is no sub- stitute for 'live' communications between counsel, such as picking up the phone or chatting over a coff ee." Brown's guideline envisions fewer procedural motions and ad- journments, a strategy lawyers say will be helpful outside of the com- mercial list as well. "In my view, the ability to pre- pare a case for a fi nal hearing on the merits without resorting to any process-related interlocu- tory motion represents the gold standard for hearing preparation," the judge said. "No date for the hearing of an interlocutory mo- tion will be set in this proceeding without an initial discussion of the procedural problem at a 9:30 attendance." Brown's guideline is a good model for case management throughout the civil justice sys- tem in the wake of Hryniak, says FRANCHISE LAW Court strikes blow to release condition p3 DOCKETED HOURS Time to rethink billing practices p6 FOCUS ON Labour & Employment Law p9 Nikki Gershbain, left, and Sarah McCoubrey gear up for next month's Flip Your Wig for Justice event. The awareness campaign and pledge-based fundraising effort launched in January is asking the public and the legal community to show their support for equal justice by donning a traditional judicial or wacky wig on March 6. See story on page 3. Photo: Laura Pedersen See Strict, page 4 See Many, page 4 'When a judge becomes an interventionist, you just get much more done,' says John McLeish. PM #40762529 TORONTO | BARRIE | HAMILTON | KITCHENER 1-866-685-3311 | mcleishorlando.com cLeish Orlando_LT_Jan_20_14.indd 1 14-01-15 3:15 PM L aw TIMEs $4.00 • Vol. 25, No. 7 February 24, 2014 Follow LAW TIMES on www.twitter.com/lawtimes L aw TIMEs L aw TIMEs L aw TIMEs A colourful approach to access to justice BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times A BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times F

• Cover