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PAGE 2 NEWS march 7, 2011 • Law Times Consultations to follow fall report Continued from page 1 Family Lawyers Association, isn't so sure. "Th e biggest underlying theme of jus- tice Cory's [report] was access to justice, and I think it's a mistake to equate ex- panding the use of paralegals as an an- swer to the existing well-documented access-to-justice [issues] that exist," she says. "Th ere is a perception out there that paralegals can provide the same services that lawyers provide but more cheaply. Th e fear family lawyers have is that that perception isn't grounded in reality." Pawlitza moved immediately to as- suage fears that Cory's conclusions would aff ect the law society's own decisions as she announced his report as the start- ing point. "I want to stress that by us- ing these activities as the starting point, we're not predetermining any part of the analysis," she told Convocation. Yarmus, a former vice president of the paralegal society, tabled a motion last year that asked the LSUC to report on the possibility of expanding paralegal practice into the realm of family law, a move that sparked an uproar among family lawyers who began amassing support to vote the motion down. Th e clash fi zzled when Yar- mus withdrew his motion on the under- standing that the law society would study the scope of paralegal practice. "I'd still like to see something approved by Convocation, not just the opinion of the treasurer," he says. "I've been waiting for several years for the law society to fi nally take a view of paralegal areas of practice." Yarmus would like to see the LSUC set education standards for family law so that paralegals who were working in the fi eld before regulation can get back into business. "I've been after them for quite a while to fi gure out what educa- tion standard is required for paralegals to do family law work. I want a high standard of education to make sure paralegals are competent to do the work that they undertake." But Mancia, who's unconvinced that paralegals could ever achieve the required level of expertise, believes including family law in their scope of practice risks creating a two-tier family justice system. "Th ere are a large number of statutes that a family law lawyer needs to be familiar with," she says. "And then there is the interplay of those statutes together with common law and then the rules of practice. It's far too complex an area to have a paralegal do an extra three months or six months or even a one-year course and then be qualifi ed to practise family law." For his part, Dart says many family law- yers are already working hard to decrease costs for clients often with paralegals at the heart of those strategies. "Most law fi rms have paralegals on staff , and we supervise them constantly and we allocate specifi c roles to them at much lower rates than ours. Th ey do work they're capable of, and it's delegated and supervised appropriately." But for Yarmus, that approach is too restrictive. "As long as the law society sets a high bar, paralegals should be able to accomplish anything that they allow them to do," he says. He's confi dent the review will end with paralegals practising in more areas of law. "As long as the law society does an unbi- ased, proper review where they actually ask the public what they want and they ask the people who can't aff ord a lawyer the types of services they would like to see a paralegal provide, I believe it will widen the scope of practice," he says. Law society CEO Malcolm Heins says Cory's report was the logical place to start. "It's the only public analysis that exists with respect to the issue." Over the next month, LSUC staff will consult with key players in the areas iden- tifi ed to see whether the access-to-justice issues Cory found still exist. "We'll either be revalidating Cory's views or in fact de- termining that those services he identi- fi ed maybe aren't relevant anymore over 10 years later," Heins says. Heins hopes to have a report before Convocation in the fall to then put it out for a wider public consultation. Bonds video sparked PR nightmare for force Continued from page 1 stayed, and the rest is history that's still unfolding. Bonds made headlines when Justice Richard Lajoie of the On- tario Court of Justice stayed the charges in October against the Ottawa makeup artist for public intoxication and assault. Lajoie said it would be a "travesty to per- mit these proceedings to go on." Bonds was arrested in 2008 and taken to police headquarters where she was kneed, had her shirt and bra cut off , and left in a cell topless with soiled pants. She was charged with assault- ing a police offi cer after the fact. Police video cameras captured the ordeal. Lajoie, blasting the force for its treatment of Bonds, called what police did a human indignity. In his view, it was a clear violation of her rights. After the tape became public through the Ottawa Citizen, it exploded into a public relations nightmare for the force. Th e weed continued to grow for the force as allegation af- ter allegation began to come to light. Bonds wasn't the only case caught up in the courts as several matters all seemed to be coming out at once. Bonds is currently involved in a civil suit with the force for $1.2 million. Th e force fi led a statement of defence in January. Webber's fi rm doesn't deal exclusively with cases of alleged police brutality, but after the Bonds matter, people have been calling as though it does. Th ey're looking for the law fi rm to do the same thing for them. Webber calls it a "fl urry." "We got a lot of calls," he says. "Th ere was a lot of that after the fact." He notes most of the calls were from people complaining or wanting to talk about their stories. Th e majority of cases involved historical events. "Un- fortunately, [they were] things we as defence lawyers can't really do much about," he says. It's not as though Webber's fi rm is turning people with legiti- mate cases away. When someone calls, a lawyer will take it whether it's for murder or assault. In fact, Webber's fi rm was dealing with a handful of po- lice brutality cases at the time of Bonds. For example, there was Terry Delay, who was dragged into a cell before being kicked. Th e court threw that case out but not before the judge blasted po- lice for how they treated Delay. In all, there are currently about a dozen civil suits against Ottawa police by people alleg- ing abuse by offi cers. "Th ere is all kinds of cases out there with these sorts of allega- tions," says Webber. "I am not say- ing the entire police force is dirty or brutal because, in fact, a large percentage of the police force is very professional. Th e fact of the matter is incidences of brutality or excessive use of force or abuse of power are not so rare that it's one in a million. I think that ev- ery defence counsel would agree. It represents a far larger percentage of police personnel than is accept- able, and that has sort of been the fallout of Stacy Bonds." Webber nevertheless gives THE LAW OF SUBDIVISION CONTROL IN ONTARIO, THIRD EDITION Sidney H. Troister, LSM A NEW THIRD EDITION OF "THE" REAL ESTATE LAWYERS' GUIDE TO SECTION 50 OF THE PLANNING ACT Every real estate lawyer knows that section 50 affects all real estate transactions in Ontario. This is the only resource to help guide you through the intricacies of this complicated section. Written by leading expert Sidney Troister, this text has become known as "THE" Planning Act resource since its original publication in 1988. 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Police are also looking into training to ensure the special constables and offi cers in the cell- block know the rules and regula- tions on handling prisoners. Another twist to the story is that Webber was never supposed to be involved with the Bonds case. A scheduling confl ict at the fi rm saw it fall to him. Webber is predominantly a murder trial lawyer. Richard Trudel is one case he worked on. Th e Ontario Superior Court stayed fi rst-degree mur- der charges against Trudel and James Sauvé in 2007 over two shooting deaths in January 1990. Another is Rickey Han- key, who was found not guilty of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of a home- less man sleeping in the pedes- trian underpass near the Rideau Centre in Ottawa. "When you have a larger canadalawbook.ca For a 30-day, no-risk evaluation call: 1.800.565.6967 Canada Law Book, a Thomson Reuters business. Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. LT0117 www.lawtimesnews.com fi rm like this, I have just sort of developed a reputation for do- ing those types of cases. Th at is just predominantly what I do," he says.

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