Law Times

PAGE 20 The Inside Story CHANGES AT OSLERS Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP has appointed Deborah Glendinning as chairwoman of the firm's national litigation department. She'll now head up Oslers' group of 122 litigation lawyers based in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Ottawa. Glendinning joined Oslers in 1988 and has served on the firm's executive committee for several terms. She's also a founding co-chairwoman of its national class actions practice group. Her practice focuses on the defence side of class actions and other major commercial litigation, particularly in the areas of product liability and banking, financial, and profes- sional services. Glendinning succeeds Larry Lowenstein in the new role. He was national litiga- tion chairman for the last five years. BLG BOOSTS IP GROUP Borden Ladner Gervais LLP has bolstered its intellectual property team by poaching three people from Bereskin & Parr LLP. Justine Wiebe, Christine Pallotta, and Scott Pundsack have all joined as partners at the firm's Toronto office. "When the three of us as- sessed client needs, we realized that BLG's platform would al- low us to provide the optimum level of service to our existing and future clients," said Wiebe. "Now, at BLG, we can offer all the benefits of an IP boutique firm within a full-service law firm." Wiebe has experience with international trademark portfo- lios and pharmaceutical marks by providing clients with stra- tegic guidance from a global perspective. Pallotta's litigation practice encompasses all fields of IP law, including pharma- ceutical patent litigation and notice-of-compliance proceed- ings. Pundsack is a registered patent agent who focuses on patent prosecution and licens- ing, including developing and managing worldwide protec- tion and enforcement strate- gies for clients. "BLG is continually ex- panding its IP capabilities and depth across the country," said Joachim Fritz, national leader of BLG's intellectual property group. "We wanted to take an aggressive growth strategy for the Ontario market and this team fits the bill by adding sig- nificant strength in trademarks, patents, and IP litigation." FMC, BLAKES TOPS FOR DIVERSITY Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP and Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP have been named among Canada's best diversity employ- ers for 2011. It's the fourth consecutive year that Blakes has made the list compiled by Mediacorp Canada Inc., a Toronto-based publisher of employment- related periodicals. It selects employers based on the im- plementation of exceptional workplace diversity and inclu- sion programs. "Demographic shifts, glo- balization, and the rise of technology have made it easier than ever to do business in all parts of the world, and our clients are better served when we, as a firm, understand and embrace cultural differences," said Blakes' chairman Brock Gibson. Blakes has held internal pro- grams on diversity for many years. This year, it plans to launch an enhanced series of learning sessions for clients, lawyers, and staff. Since 2008, the firm has run a mentor- ing program for high school students who face barriers to success because of their socio- economic status, racial back- ground or family and personal circumstances. In 2006, FMC adopted a formal strategy to create and maintain a firm-wide culture of inclusion. "Being honoured as one of Canada's best diver- sity employers demonstrates that we are on the right track," said Kate Broer, co-chair- woman of FMC's national di- versity and inclusion initiative. Since then, it became the first law firm corporate partner of the Toronto Region Immi- grant Employment Council's mentoring partnership pro- gram. FMC has also estab- lished a scholarship for black law students and acts as pro bono legal counsel to Pride at Work Canada, a professional organization that supports the lesbian and gay community at work. LT For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com. "Either the Intoxilyzer 5000C is malfunctioning or there WAS something in those cream cheese bagels we had for lunch." TEACHER SENT TO CORNER FOR BLOG PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — In yet another demonstration of the risks of social media, a high school English teacher has found herself suspended after she posted a blog entry calling her students "rude, disengaged, lazy whiners." Natalie Munroe said she in- tended that only a few friends would see the blog posting that noted her students were "out of control" and that they "curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about ev- erything, fancy themselves enti- tled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying." A student who found the blog entry shared it on Face- book, Reuters reported. The school district has now sus- pended Munroe, 30, with pay pending an investigation into the blog. A teacher at Central Bucks High School East north of Philadelphia, Munroe main- tains she did nothing wrong. "Some of the students, parents, and administrators don't want to hear the truth," she said. In the meantime, her lawyer said she may file a lawsuit over her right to free speech. NOVEL APPROACH TO LAW ENFORCEMENT SPEED, Australia — Drivers who flout the law will get a gentle reminder when they en- ter this town next month. Speed, a tiny outback town February 28, 2011 • Law Times Bizarre Briefs By Viola James of just 45 people, is changing its name to Speedkills for the month of March in a bid to improve compliance with the rules of the road. The goal is to reduce road accidents and in- crease awareness of the risks of speeding, Reuters reported. "Most people recognize that drink driving is a socially unacceptable activity, they are less convinced about the merits of speed," said Phil Reed, head of community relations at the Transport Ac- cident Commission. "Our underpinning busi- ness objective here is to make the issue of speeding [as] so- cially unacceptable as drink driving." The name change, in fact, has lots of support. The town vowed to change its name only if it got 10,000 support- ers through TV and social net- working sites such as Facebook. It hit that number within 24 hours, according to Reuters. NAKED THIEF TRUE TO WORD MILLVILLE, N.J. — At least this thief made an effort to live up to his word to either run naked through town or steal from Wal-Mart. That's not to say Irwin Kra- kow came out on top, howev- er. After losing a bet that forced him to pick one of those two options, he found himself ar- rested for shoplifting. Krakow, 58, allegedly stole a USB card, two dinner spoons, a nutcracker, a decorative tree, and T-shirts, the Daily Journal reported. The bet required him to steal $50 worth of goods. But with the retailer's famously low prices, he didn't even make good on the bet as the items to- talled just $43.82. Still, at least he lived up to his word. Run- ning naked, however, might have incurred less serious legal ramifications. DEMOCRATS FLEE OWN STATE INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A pack of state Democrats are on the run after they skipped elsewhere in order to stall anti- union legislation. As state legislators were set to consider the contentious bill, only three of 40 Demo- crats showed up, the Indianap- olis Star reported. As a result, the house failed to meet its quorum of 67 members. House Speaker Brian Bos- ma said he didn't yet know whether he'd ask police to force the Democrats to attend. In the meantime, the Star said the Democrats fled to Illinois and possibly Kentucky in or- der to avoid that possibility. They need to go to a state with a Democratic governor to en- sure police don't drag them back to Indiana. The bill is the work of Re- publicans who want to prevent unions and companies from negotiating contracts that re- quire non-union members to kick in fees for representation, according to the Star. LT Seen, heard, or been involved in a bizarre brief? Tell Viola James about it at viola.james@gmail. com. www.lawtimesnews.com

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• Focus On Labour & Employment Law