Law Times

Page 16 June 16, 2014 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com BENNETT JONES OPENS VANCOUVER OFFICE Bennett Jones LLP says it has opened a new office in Vancouver as part of its "on- going commitment to clients." "We are excited to add a Vancouver of- fice to our platform," says Bennett Jones chairman and chief executive officer Hugh MacKinnon. "British Columbia is a strategic growth market and the Vancouver office will build on our commitment to serve our cli- ents where they do business." In Canada, Bennett Jones has offices in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmon- ton. It also has lawyers in the Middle East and Washington. "This latest expansion ref lects the growing importance of Van- couver as a major Canadian business and energy centre," the firm said in a release last week. ANGRY JUDGE TAKES LEAVE TO GET COUNSELLING VIERA, Fla. — Last week, we told you about the Florida judge who challenged defence counsel to a fight. That judge has now stepped aside tem- porarily. According to Reuters, the judge who allegedly punched an assistant public defender after tell- ing him to "stop pissing me off " is stepping down temporarily for anger management counselling. Video footage showed Brevard County Judge John Murphy challenging lawyer Andrew Weinstock to join him outside the courtroom to settle a dispute over the scheduling of a trial date. "If you want to fight, let's go out back and I'll just beat your ass," said Murphy. "Judge Murphy has agreed to seek anger management counselling and treatment dur- ing a temporary leave of absence," 18th Circuit Chief Judge Harris said in a statement. Weinstock's boss, public defender Blaise Trettis, said the judge became angry because Weinstock refused to waive his client's consti- tutional right to a speedy trial. Under Florida law, defendants have the right to a trial within 90 days for a misdemeanour and 175 days for a felony. "If I had a rock, I would throw it at you right now. Stop pissing me off. Just sit down," Mur- phy told Weinstock according to video from the courthouse in Viera on Florida's east coast. After Weinstock refused to sit or waive his client's rights, the judge issued his challenge. The video shows Weinstock walking out of frame to- ward the courtroom's back door. "According to the lawyer, the judge grabbed him about the collar as soon as he walked into the hallway and began punching him in the head, and the lawyer just tried to stop the blows. And the deputies came into the hallway and pulled the judge off the lawyer," said Trettis. After the altercation, Murphy returned to the bench and said he needed a moment to catch his breath. MORE TROUBLE FOR FLORIDA JUDICIARY TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — And in yet more con- troversial actions from the Florida bench, the state's Supreme Court has disbarred a former judge who lied about a "personal" relationship with a prosecutor. According to Reuters, the Florida Supreme Court disbarred a former circuit judge for hav- ing a "personal and emotional relationship" with a prosecutor that started during a death penalty case he was trying before her. The seven high court justices voted unani- mously to toughen the penalty recommended by a hearing officer who had called for a one- year suspension of former judge Ana Gar- diner. The high court said such an ethical lapse in a capital case that later resulted in the reduc- tion of a death sentence to life in prison and her initial efforts to downplay her involvement with assistant state attorney Howard Schein- berg required her disbarment. The court said Gardiner had a chance meet- ing with Scheinberg at a restaurant during the murder trial of Omar Loureiro in 2007, and they joined some others at a bar after dinner. Between March 23, several days before a jury returned a guilty verdict against Loureiro, and Aug. 24, when she sentenced him to death, the court said Gardiner and Scheinberg exchanged 949 cellphone calls and 471 text messages. When the judicial qualifications commis- sion began an investigation in late 2008, the court said Gardiner had "failed to disclose the honest and true nature of her relationship with Scheinberg." It wasn't until the following April, when the Broward state attorney was investigating, that Gardiner "acknowledged for the first time her ongoing emotional relationship with Schein- berg." She resigned from the bench in 2010 after 11 years as a judge. LT ARE YOU RECEIVING CANADIAN LEGAL NEWSWIRE? Keep abreast of essential late-breaking legal news and developments with our electronic newswire. VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM AND LOOK UNDER "LINKS" SIGN UP FOR FREE From the publisher of and Untitled-5 1 14-05-27 1:38 PM u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story OBA AWARD SEASON IN HIGH GEAR The Ontario Bar Association is honouring a slew of lawyers this month who have excelled in their practice areas. Dentons Canada LLP part- ner Archie Rabinowitz received the OBA's award for excellence in trusts and estates law, Barriston LLP lawyer Thomas Dart took the award for excellence in family law, and Osler Hoskin & Har- court LLP's John Goodwin got the nod for excellence in pensions and benefits law. Meanwhile, lawyer Duncan Glaholt got the award of excel- lence in construction and in- frastructure law and François Larocque of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law re- ceived the OBA honour for in- ternational law. The OBA is also honouring William White of the City of Waterloo for excellence in munic- ipal law and WeirFoulds LLP's Lisa Borsook for her achieve- ments in real estate law. Others, like Peter Israel of Israel Fou- lon LLP, got the nod for men- torship while Laura Russell of Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP is receiving the Ron Ellis award for her achievements in workers compensation law. The various OBA sections are handing out the awards at events throughout June. LAW PROF WINS LIBEL CASE University of Ottawa Faculty of Law Prof. Joanne St. Lewis has won her three-year libel case against former colleague Denis Rancourt after he labelled her a "house negro." An Ottawa civil jury awarded her $350,000 in damages based on the harm to her reputation stem- ming from Rancourt's use of the pejorative term in a 2011 blog. The post on Rancourt's blog carried the title: "Did Profes- sor Joanne St. Lewis act as Al- lan Rock's house negro?" In it, Rancourt took exception to St. Lewis' criticism of a 2008 stu- dent-commissioned report that found the University of Ottawa guilty of systemic racism. At the time, Rock was serving as school president. "The thing that was so stun- ningly problematic for me is that I was thinking this man is a strang- er to me," says Lewis, a law profes- sor at the same university where Rancourt taught physics until it fired him in 2009. "He's got an axe to grind with the university and he attacks me in a scatter gun." Rancourt says he intends to ap- peal the decision and sticks by his use of the term "house negro" that landed him in court. "Everything I did, I did con- sciously and was a choice of lan- guage and content and context," says Rancourt, who defended himself at the trial before eventu- ally boycotting the proceedings after failing to have Justice Michel Charbonneau recuse himself. "The political correctness sen- sitivity component of this is not relevant to defamation law as it applies in jurisprudence. Defama- tion law is about whether or not there is a defence for the expres- sion that you made." Rancourt maintains he used the term in the same way that prominent black intellectuals such as Malcolm X have used it in the past. LT Hugh MacKinnon "Normally, that's not a component of alternate payment plans at this firm. In any case, I can't think of anyone I know who needs bumping off."

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