Law Times

PAGE 16 The Inside Story NEW PARTNER AT NORTON ROSE Paul Amirault has joined the Ottawa offi ce of Norton Rose OR LLP as a partner in its business law group. Amirault's practice focuses on securities and mergers and acquisitions with an emphasis on the technology sector. "He's very experienced in the Ottawa market, serving clients from startups to larger companies," said Grant Jameson, national co-chairman of Norton Rose OR's business law group and managing partner of the Ot- tawa offi ce. "He also has a great deal of cross-border experience working on transactions with international businesses. He'll serve our clients extremely well." M&A LAWYER JOINS BLG Todd Bissett has joined the Waterloo, Ont., offi ce of Bor- den Ladner Gervais LLP. Bissett, who hails from the Waterloo region, has a range of international experience fol- lowing stints practising law in Shanghai and Beijing as well as California's Silicon Valley. "We believe Waterloo region is one of Canada's most dynam- ic marketplaces, particularly for up-and-coming software, Inter- net, and other technology com- panies," said Neil Henderson, BLG's managing partner for the Waterloo offi ce. "Todd's years of experience representing parties at all stages of private company develop- ment and in a wide array of pri- vate and public company trans- actions position him ideally to serve the local Waterloo region market." Bissett's practice focuses on private equity, emerging market venture capital, and mergers- and-acquisitions transactions. "With venture capital playing a major role in the funding of many of the region's technology startups and the dynamism of the region with a growing num- ber of companies at every stage of development, my deep expe- rience in venture capital, private equity, and M&A transactions over the past decade will allow me to provide added value to the local market," Bissett said. "I also look forward to draw- ing on my experience in China and the U.S. in helping busi- nesses in the region and BLG's clients generally to devise and implement international and China-specifi c entry strategies as I have done for a wide vari- ety of companies in the past." NORTON ROSE LAUDED Norton Rose Group, a new- comer to the Canadian legal fi eld, has been named the best international law fi rm for 2011 by the International Takaful Summit, an Islamic insurance organization. Norton Rose picked up the award during a ceremony in London, England, on July 12. Th e award marks the fourth consecutive year the fi rm has been honoured. "We are delighted to have won this prestigious award, and it is a further endorsement of Norton Rose Group as the leading global legal adviser in takaful and retakaful," said Su- san Dingwall, head of Norton Rose's takaful practice. Th e fi rm's takaful team is part of its insurance and Islamic fi nance practice. Th e team in- cludes lawyers with experience in regulatory issues, dispute resolution, policy, and contract wording associated with takaful structuring. CALGARY LAWYER ON THE MOVE Alberta lawyer Craig Maurice continues to have a busy year as he fi nds himself working at his third major fi rm in 2011 alone. Maurice began the year at Macleod Dixon LLP before he was snapped up by the fl edgling offi ce of what's now Norton Rose OR LLP in Cal- gary in January. Six months later, he's on the move again to another new Alberta player, Torys LLP. Th e fi rm only opened its Calgary offi ce in March, and tax lawyer Maurice is its newest partner. Maurice, whose practice focuses on the energy indus- try, advises on the tax aspects of domestic and international mergers-and-acquisitions and fi nancing transactions. He also advises junior resource clients on fi nancings, particularly those using fl ow-through shares. For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com. TRADER THREATENS 40 REGULATORS NEW YORK — A former commodities trader has plead- ed guilty to threatening to kill more than 40 fi nancial regula- tors, including the heads of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Com- modity Futures Trading Com- mission. Vincent McCrudden, 50, admitted in court that he posted the threats on his com- pany's web site last December, asking for help executing his plan. His guilty plea came the day testimony was to begin in his federal trial, said his lawyer Bruce Barket. McCrudden pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cen- tral Islip, N.Y., to two counts of transmission of threats to injure. His posts included the names of current and former offi cials including SEC chair- woman Mary Schapiro and commodities commission chairman Gary Gensler, as well as offi cials at the National Futures Association and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. "Th ese people have got to go! And I need your help, there are just too many for me alone," McCrudden wrote in one post, according to the indictment. McCrudden faces up to 10 years in prison. His sentencing July 25, 2011 • law Times Bizarre Briefs By Viola James is scheduled for Dec. 5. McCrudden worked on Wall Street for more than 20 years, specializing in com- modities, derivatives, and for- eign exchange, according to his biography on the web site of his company, Alnbri Man- agement LLC. — Reuters TV FAMILY TAKES POLYGAMY TO COURT SALT LAKE CITY — Th e family featured on the U.S. real- ity TV series Sister Wives, about an advertising executive and four women he calls spouses, is challenging the government's right to criminalize its lifestyle, the family's lawyer said. Th e family will challenge Utah's bigamy statute in a lawsuit. It's not trying to get the government to recognize plural marriage, just to stay out of the intimate aff airs of consenting adults. "We are only challenging the right of the state to pros- ecute people for their private relations and demanding equal treatment with other citizens in living their lives ac- cording to their own beliefs," family attorney Jonathan Tur- ley said in a statement. Th e show documents the world of Kody Brown, then 41, and the four women he lives with. Utah law enforcement offi cials conducted an inves- tigation into the family but haven't fi led any charges. "Th ere are tens of thousands of plural families in Utah and other states. We are one of those families. We only wish to live our private lives ac- cording our beliefs," Brown said in a statement. — Reuters THIS IS A HOLDUP, MAN TEXTS MANSFIELD, Mass. — A musician, using a stickup note posted on his cellphone, robbed a Massachusetts phar- macy of prescription pain pills just hours before his scheduled rock concert, authorities said. Michael Todd, 30, a bass player and singer with New York rock band Coheed and Cambria, was arrested at the Comcast Center in Mansfi eld several hours before the group was about to perform. Prosecutors say Todd went to a Walgreens in nearby Attle- boro and showed a pharmacy employee a text message on his BlackBerry saying he had a bomb and demanding pre- scription painkillers. "It is somewhat routine that in robberies, the robber gives a note to the clerk, but obviously this was a little bit more high-tech," said Gregg Miliote, spokesman for the Bristol County district attor- ney's offi ce. A frightened employee alleg- edly then handed over a half- dozen bottles of pills. Attleboro police later tracked down Todd, who has since been charged with armed robbery and drug possession. — Reuters LT The title insurer that puts you front row, centre Putting the legal community front and centre has made us the #1 choice with Canadian lawyers for over a decade. Stewart Title does not support programs that reduce or eliminate the lawyer's role in real estate transactions. For more information call (888) 667-5151 or visit www.stewart.ca. Untitled-2 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 7/19/11 12:31:45 PM

• Cover
• Estates Ruling
• Maverick Retires
• Focus On Forensics/Private Investigators