Law Times

PAGE 16 The Inside Story TORONTO LAWYER FACES ASSAULT CHARGE The Toronto lawyer involved in a copyright dispute with the Aga Khan has been charged with as- sault with a weapon following an incident at a Markham, Ont., mosque. According to Sgt. Gary Phil- lips of the York Regional Police, Alnaz Jiwa was arrested follow- ing an altercation with another worshipper at the mosque. He's scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 28. The Aga Khan accused Jiwa and Nagib Tajdin, a Canadian based in Kenya, of infringing his copyright by selling copies of his religious teachings to fellow Is- mailis. A Federal Court judge recent- ly reserved judgment on motions for summary judgment brought by both sides in the case after a personal meeting between the de- fendants and the Aga Khan failed to resolve the matter. TWO BENCHERS NAMED TO ORDER Two benchers of the Law Society of Upper Canada are among 54 new appointments to the Order of Canada. Lawyer and activist Paul Copeland was named a member of the order for "his contributions as an advocate for human rights and social justice." The practising criminal lawyer co-founded the Law Union of Ontario and was once co-president of the Associa- tion in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted. Beth Symes was also named a member of the order "for her contributions as a champion of women's rights in the legal profession." She was a found- ing member of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund and served on its national legal committee. Symes prac- tises administrative law and civil litigation in the areas of equality rights, professional regulation, labour and employment law, and human rights with her firm Symes & Street. BENNETT JONES HONOURED AGAIN The intranet at Bennett Jones LLP has been honoured for the second time in two months. BenNet was named one of the 10 best intranets in a survey by Silicon Valley-based consul- tants Nielsen Norman Group as part of the international Intranet Design Annual 2011. It's the first time a law firm has received the award. "We're very proud to receive this prestigious award," said Hugh MacKinnon, chairman and CEO of Bennett Jones. "It recognizes the commitment at Bennett Jones to continually en- hance our ability to provide the highest level of service to our cli- ents in the most timely and effi- cient manner." The win follows November's platinum award for BenNet in the 2010 Intranet Innovation Awards. Judges at Nielsen Norman re- viewed hundreds of submissions from eight different countries but praised BenNet for its "smart, thoughtful design." "The Bennett Jones intranet team built not only a new in- tranet but also a mission critical knowledge-management work tool," said Jakob Nielsen, princi- pal of Nielsen Norman. HRTO DECISION CHALLENGED The Peel Law Association will seek judicial review of a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario rul- ing last month that found it dis- criminated against Toronto law- yer Selwyn Pieters and two black colleagues during an incident in 2008. Adjudicator Eric Whist found race was a factor when Melissa Firth, a librarian/ad- ministrator for the association, asked Pieters, fellow lawyer Bri- an Noble, and Pieters' articling student Paul Waldron to iden- tify themselves in the lawyers' lounge at the Brampton, Ont., courthouse. Association president Fran- ces Wood tells Law Times it has instructed counsel to ask for a judicial review of the decision. The association operates the lounge that's open only to law- yers and law students. All three men were wearing business suits, according to the decision. The association argued it regularly checks the identities of people in the lounge, but Whist found Firth's account of the in- cident was "not credible." "The way in which she in- teracted with the applicants was tainted by consideration of their race and colour," he wrote. LT For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com. Recruiting? Post your position on GREAT RATES. GREAT REACH. GREAT RESULTS. Contact Sandy Shutt at sandra.shutt@thomsonreuters.com for details. www.lawtimesnews.com "The office Christmas party is on WikiLeaks!" E-MAIL MISHAP LANDS COUNSEL IN TROUBLE BERKELEY, Calif. — The auto-completion feature for e-mail systems helps people save lots of time until, of course, it enters the wrong address and gives your for- mer company advance notice that you're about to start your own firm with a few other engineers. According to Legal Pad, that's what happened in a case that entangled J. Noah Hagey of the law firm Braun Hagey LLP. The blog reports that a handful of engineers planned to leave engineering and de- sign firm Arcadis to start their own company but were wor- ried it would try to interfere. They hired Braun Hagey and conferred with the law firm via e-mail. But the auto-completion feature on the e-mail system inserted the old Arcadis e- mail address of a former em- ployee, sending a missive that was four threads long and contained a draft declaration to the legal department at the engineering firm, which then responded with its own counterclaim filed by Gordon & Rees LLP. But the brouhaha turned out in favour of Hagey, Legal Pad reported. A district judge ordered Gordon & Rees off January 10, 2011 • Law Times Bizarre Briefs By Viola James the case along with Arcadis' in-house counsel who viewed the e-mail likely containing privileged information, she admitted in a declaration. Ar- cadis was also ordered to pay fees and costs of $40,000. The engineering firm is now represented by John Pi- cone III at Hopkins & Car- ley. MAN, 110, TO WED 6TH WIFE KUALA LUMPUR, Malay- sia — You're never too old to find love or at least someone willing to cook for you. A 110-year-old Malaysian man is set to wed his sixth wife, an 82-year-old widow, The Associated Press reports. Ahmad Mohamad Isa, who was widowed by his first four wives and divorced his fifth, previously told a local newspaper he was lonely and wanted a wife to cook for him. When Sanah Ahmad read the report, she persuaded her nine children to contact Isa's family and begin arrange- ments. Ahmad was attracted to the centenarian because of his resemblance to her hus- band, whom she lost 30 years ago. The two men also share the same name. Isa told the paper he was lonely and afraid to sleep at home. While his testimony is enough to pull at the heart- strings of any lady, he says he was both happy and sur- prised at the news of Ahmad's acceptance of his proposal. In the meantime, he remains in a relatively healthy state, suf- fering only from mild hearing and vision problems. BIRD DETAINED OVER SPY WORRIES TEL AVIV, Israel — The Middle East conflict has en- snared millions of people around the globe for years, but now even wildlife are be- coming part of the action. According to media re- ports, Saudi officials "ar- rested" a vulture tagged by scientists at Tel Aviv Univer- sity after it wandered into the Arab country's territory. After someone found the bird in a rural area wearing a transmit- ter and the words "Tel Aviv University," residents began complaining about what they believed to be a Zion- ist plot. Allegations online included claims that Zionists had trained birds, which were part of long-term research into migration patterns, for espionage. Authorities have detained the bird on suspicion of be- ing a Mossad spy. The case follows musings last month by an Egyptian official that Israeli agents may have inten- tionally released a shark that killed tourists at its Red Sea port in order to harm com- merce there. LT Seen, heard, or been involved in a bizarre brief? Tell Viola James about it at viola.james@gmail. com.

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