Law Times

Follow on www.twitter.com/lawtimes $4.00 • Vol. 22, No. 6 Untitled-3 1 5/5/10 3:55:30 PM Inside This Issue 5 Black History Month 6 Legal Repertoire 9 Focus On International/ Cross-Border Law Quote of the week "People should be under no illusion that the days of harmonized disclosure are here. It's simply a question of the degree of pain involved in fi ling in different jurisdictions, but there is always some pain and cost." — Mark Bergman, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, See Harnessing, page 10 Covering Ontario's Legal Scene ntitled-3 1 Billions of dollars invested, not a penny lost. February 14, 2011 5/4/10 2:49:21 PM Guilty Crown wants to keep job Prosecutor Nancy Rae gets driving prohibition for over-80 plea BY KENNETH JACKSON For Law Times NAPANEE, Ont. — A Northumberland County assistant Crown attorney is trying to keep her job after pleading guilty earlier this month to having more than double the legal limit of alcohol in her blood while driving. Police fi rst charged Nancy Rae with im- paired, over 80, and obstructing a police offi - cer on Nov. 26. On her second court appear- ance, she pleaded guilty to having more than 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood while behind the wheel. She blew 190 twice, but authorities dropped the other charges in light of her guilty plea. Rae received a one-year driving prohi- bition, as agreed upon by an out-of-town Crown, and accepted by the presiding judge, who also fi ned her $1,800. Rae stood alone when the agreed state- ment of facts was read in court. Court heard personal and professional stresses were aggravating her drinking prob- lem when she got behind the wheel of her GMC Suburban while attending a hockey tournament for one of her four children in Napanee, a small town about 200 kilometres east of Toronto. She was driving along High- way 2 just west of Napanee when Rae's large vehicle that was crossing over the centre line numerous times forced oncoming motor- ists off the road at about 4 p.m. Th ey called 911 to report Rae and described her as an "erratic" driver. A police offi cer from the Ontario Provincial Assistant Crown attorney Nancy Rae, centre, leaves the courthouse after pleading guilty in her drunk-driving case. Rae is with an unidentified woman on the left and her boss, Crown attorney David Thompson. Police detachment in Napanee who caught up to Rae observed her driving in a similar fashion. After stopping the Suburban near Unger Island Road, the offi cer detected a strong smell of alcohol on Rae's breath. Rae, who had blood-stained eyes, said she hadn't been drinking, according to the agreed statement of facts. Th e offi cer also noticed a blue blanket concealing a container of wine on the fl oor of the Suburban. In the back seat sat one of her children, See Case, page 4 tions for summary judgment if they hope to cut costs and increase the speed of justice, according to an experienced litigator. Robert van Kessel of Law- Clarity on summary judgment needed: lawyer T BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times he bar and the bench must embrace the new Rules of Civil Procedure on mo- rence Lawrence Stevenson LLP in Brampton, Ont., told an au- dience of civil litigators at the Ontario Bar Association Institute 2011 that the Ontario Court of Appeal needs to settle already-di- verging lines of judicial thought on the authority to grant motions for summary judgment. "Th e more use that is made of the rule, the more the court system should be forced to re- spond," van Kessel said during a session on the new Rules one year after their introduction. "Th ere should be fewer trials, less costs for clients, and speedier results. I hope we don't make summary judgment too hard to get through restrictive interpretations because that's going to cause a chilling ef- fect on the use of the rule." Th e issue, he added, requires quick attention. "We are ultimately looking to the Court of Appeal for a fundamental change in attitude . . . and urgently so, I might add, because there are already compet- ing lines of authority on whether a motion judge can fi nd fact on a summary judgment motion." Th e Court of Appeal has tra- ditionally had a narrow view of THE LAW SOCIETY OF UPPER CANADA E 2011 Bencher lection judicial authority for Rule 20 mo- tions, according to van Kessel. He said one judge told him he was reluctant to grant a motion for summary judgment in one case before the new Rules because it would just be on "a bungee cord back from the Court of Appeal." "We don't want to hear that," van Kessel said. "We don't want to deal with those types of problems. I think the new rules for dealing with disposition before trial are there to address the institutional resource problem we face. If the new rule isn't dealt with properly, we're going to be right back to where we started." Th e Rule 20 amendments al- low a motions judge to weigh evidence, evaluate the credibility See Rule, page 4 'The more use that is made of the rule, the more the court system should be forced to respond,' says Robert van Kessel. Click here to subscribe today to LAW TIMES PREFERRED ADVERTISING RATES FOR CANDIDATES Special print and online opportunities from February 14th through April 29th LT Digital version.indd 1 SAVE MORE THAN 50% OFF REGULAR RATES FOR ALL PRINT AND WEB BOOKINGS For more info, contact: Karen Lorimer, Director 905-713-4339 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Canadian Lawyer/Law Times Media, a Thomson Reuters business • 240 Edward Street, Aurora, ON L4G 3S9 www.lawtimesnews.com 6/25/10 12:59:47 PM LAW TIMES Photo: Kenneth Jackson

• Cover
• Black History Month
• Legal Repertoire
• Focus On International/Cross-Border Law