Law Times

Judge steps into role of soccer referee By yAMRI TADDESE Law Times Divisional Court judge found himself quite literally in the role of a referee when he decided the winner of a recent under 16 Ontario Cup soccer match. "Sports matches should be de- cided on the playing field — not in committee rooms nor in court- rooms. Yet that is what ultimately had to happen in this case," wrote Justice Ian Nordheimer in West Toronto United Football Club v. Ontario Soccer Association. But Nordheimer said the court had to step in after what he calls an unfair decision by the Ontario Soccer Association to reverse the 2-1 semifinal victory by the West Toronto Cobras 98 against the Woodbridge Strikers 98A. The association, the govern- ing body for soccer in Ontario, awarded the win to the Strikers after finding the Cobras had used an ineligible player in the game. But according to the judge, the ev- idence suggests the player, Tristan Borges, was in fact eligible and his name wasn't on the roster due to an administrative error. The as- sociation decided to disqualify the Cobras even though the Toronto Soccer Association admitted to the administrative error, accord- ing to the Oct. 8 ruling. After having the semifinal victory awarded to them by the association, the Strikers had gone on to beat another team, the Pan- thers, in the finals. But following Nordheimer's ruling, the Cobras, rather than the Strikers, advanced to the national championships or- ganized by the Canadian Soccer Association. Nordheimer suggested the Cobras should play against the Panthers in the finals. But if a re- match isn't possible due to time constraints, he declared the Co- bras the winners of the final game "since they properly stand in the shoes of the Strikers." The court's decision is a rare one and in some ways problem- atic, says John Polyzogopoulos, a sports lawyer at Blaney McMurtry 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/�, CLLdir_LT_Oct6_14.indd 1 2014-09-30 9:25 AM Bar divided over CBA withdrawal Some lawyers happy, others disappointed at reversal on Chevron By yAMRI TADDESE Law Times ven with the Canadian Bar Association dropping its planned intervention in the Chevron Corp. matter at the Supreme Court of Canada, the ques- tion around the appropriateness of its initial plan remains divisive with some lawyers celebrating the last-minute withdrawal while others say it would have been helpful if it had continued with the case. "This is the result we hoped for," says David McRobert, one of the 120 lawyers across Canada who signed an open letter that urged the CBA to drop its intervention. "The whole intervention had a bad smell about it." But for civil litigation lawyer James Morton, news of the withdrawal is "unfortunate." "To my thinking, this is one of the most important ju- risdictional decisions in my career. It will have a significant impact, depending on the result, on the practice of law and business generally," he says of the Supreme Court case. "I think it would have been valuable and I think it would have been helpful for the bar association to continue and it's unfortunate that they've chosen not to. Having said that, I understand their political pressures." The CBA announced last week it was withdrawing its intervention in the Chevron matter just a day before the deadline to submit its factum amid mounting pressure from the legal profession. "We confirm that the CBA has decided to withdraw its in- tervention before the Supreme Court of Canada in Chevron Corporation et al v. Yaiguaje, et al," the CBA said in a statement. "The CBA Intervention Policy requires the legislation and law reform committee to sanction the factum before it can be filed with the court. In this case, the L&LR Com- mittee concluded that while the factum was well-drafted and of a high standard of quality, it did not meet the spe- cific requirements of the Intervention policy. "The CBA will respect the committee's opinion and the intervention will be withdrawn. The CBA is thankful for the diligence, conscientiousness and professionalism of its counsel and for the generosity of Blakes in agreeing to AG CRITICIZED Opposition speaks out on justice issues P4 ELECTORAL REFORM Move slowly on ranked ballots P7 FOCUS ON Trusts & Estates Law P8 The victory of the West Toronto Cobras 98 was 'stolen from them through an egregious miscarriage of justice,' says Tim Danson. Photo: Robin Kuniski See Fair, page 2 See U.S., page 2 PM #40762529 AG CRITICIZED Opposition speaks out on justice issues TORONTO | BARRIE | HAMILTON | KITCHENER 1-866-685-3311 | mcleishorlando.com cLeish Orlando_LT_Jan_20_14.indd 1 14-01-15 3:15 PM $4.00 • Vol. 25, No. 33 October 20, 2014 e: ssoil@docudavit.com www.docudavit.com Litigation Support Our Document Management Services include: Scanning • Indexing • OCR (Optical Character Recognition) • Electronic Document Capture and More - Call Us, We Can Help! ntitled-1 1 2014-09-26 9:29 AM L aw TIMEs L aw TIMEs A David McRobert doubts that members who resigned from the CBA will return now that it has reversed its decision to intervene in the Chevron case. E

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