Law Times

PAGE 16 WillBuilder Tel: 416.322.6111 Toll-free: 1.866.367.7648 doprocess com ntitled-2 1 The WEB SITES SETTLE DEFAMATION CASE Two web sites battling over comments posted online have reached a settlement. The case stems from the pub- lishing last March of "potentially defamatory statements" about advicescene.com and its founder, Nancy Kinney, according to a statement on lawbuzz.ca. The comments, allegedly made by four registered users on Lawbuzz' web site, "may have discouraged Canadian lawyers from visiting advicescene.com, thus potentially hurting the business of Ms. Kin- ney, which depends on lawyer memberships." As part of the settlement, Lawbuzz has agreed to provide the IP and e-mail addresses of the four anonymous posters. The comments dealt with the legitimacy of AdviceScene's ser- vices. In its statement, Lawbuzz rejected the allegedly defamatory postings. "Lawbuzz is advised that advicescene.com is 'a legiti- mate Canadian legal site that provides a useful service to the public, free of charge,'" it said. For her part, Kinney said she was pleased with the out- come given that "people need to take responsibility for what they say, especially if their com- ments are harmful to others. The online world needs to be included in that social and le- gal agreement. Lawyers, above all others, should know this." BLAKES LANDS ANOTHER STIKEMANS LAWYER A second Stikeman Elliott LLP competition lawyer has joined Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP. Deborah Salzberger is moving to the competition, antitrust, and foreign invest- ment group at Blakes, the firm announced last week. "We are delighted to add Debbie to our partnership," said Blakes part- ner Brian Facey. "She is very highly regarded by the business community and her peers and adds further bench strength [ Reinventing the Will www 2/2/09 10:53:45 AM Inside Story to our growing competition group, particularly in the area of strategic mergers." Earlier this month, Blakes announced that Randall Ho- fley, also formerly at Stike- mans, had joined its competi- tion group. AG GETS NEW DUTIES Attorney General Chris Bent- ley, already busy handling a massive government minis- try, received new duties in last week's cabinet shuffle. Bentley now becomes minis- ter of aboriginal affairs, a role in which he'll be "making new ef- forts to build new economic op- portunities for aboriginal people in Ontario," the government said. The move was a controver- sial one, however, given that the aboriginal affairs portfolio had previously been a stand-alone job. Now, Bentley will have to balance the new position with his existing role overseeing On- tario's justice system. The cabinet shuffle saw 12 ministers take on new respon- sibilities. In taking over the aboriginal affairs role, Bentley replaces Brad Duguid, who now becomes minister of en- ergy and infrastructure. OGILVY GOES WEST Ogilvy Renault LLP is ex- panding with the opening of a Calgary office. The move gives the firm its fifth office in Canada in addition to its location in London, Eng- land. Heading up the Calgary operation is managing partner Rusty Miller, formerly a corpo- rate counsel in the energy sec- tor. Four lawyers will join him to form a team with a significant background in energy law. Areas of practice will include regulato- ry, environmental, and corporate commercial law along with vari- ous types of business services. LT For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com. REGIFT THE SECOND COFFEE MAKER LONDON, England — Fam- ily law practitioners in London may have to add a new ques- tion to their interviews with clients seeking a divorce. "Where would you like to be registered?" they'll likely soon be asking. According to Agence France-Presse, a chain of Brit- ish shops has begun a divorce- gift registry service in response to large numbers of couples calling it quits after the holi- day season. "Divorcing can be an ex- pensive time, and registering for a divorce gift list means that family and friends can help the newly separated be- gin their new life," said Peter Moore, head of retail services at Debenhams. "Divorce means that one partner will be leaving the mar- ital home and therefore be left without any essentials in their new house," Moore said. Items you can register for in- clude microwaves, plasma TVs, and towels. YOU'RE GOING TO JAIL, CHICKEN LICKER PRESTON, England — If Ad- eel Ayub finds himself in the company of murderers, bank ™ January 25, 2010 • Law Times Bizarre run over his dog. The incident occurred right Briefs By Viola James robbers, and hardened crimi- nals while in jail for the next two months, he may want to keep his crimes to himself. That's because the former supermarket employee was thrown in prison for licking a raw chicken four years ago. According to the Daily Mail, Ayub, now 30, was filmed lick- ing the raw chicken, setting off a fire extinguisher, slashing staff furniture, and urinating in a bin. The recording was made by one of his colleagues using a mobile phone. "I don't think the sentence is proportionate to the crime," his solicitor Manny Anwar- Qureshi told the Daily Mail. "He was very remorseful and has grown up a lot since the in- cidents. "He was stitched up by oth- er people. I am very surprised at the sentence given the crimes were four years ago." Two years is the maximum sentence that can be given out for such crimes. I THOUGHT MY CLIENT WAS COMPETENT BOSTON, Mass. — A well- known Boston defence law- yer was attacked in court last week after a client claimed his counsel had tried to poison him and his co-counsel had after Jeffrey Denner told the court his client, Eben Howard, was competent to stand trial. According to the Boston Herald, the trial into the alleged assault of a security guard at Bridgewater State Hospital was about to begin when the attack occurred. The Herald quoted transcripts that show Howard told the judge Denner was "useless rubbish" and had poi- soned his cranberry juice and that co-counsel Mark Freeman had run over his dog. The entire incident occurred just as Denner told the court Howard was competent to stand trial. "Perhaps I spoke too hastily," Denner later told the paper. WHAT, NO SPEED BOATS AVAILABLE? SAINT PETERSBURG, Rus- sia — A cigarette smuggling ring from Russia to Estonia using divers to swim across the River Narva with the con- traband items has been bro- ken up. According to Agence France-Presse, security guards from Russia and Estonia ar- rested five people, including a 25-year-old-diver, in connec- tion with the investigation. "Cigarettes packed in wa- terproof material were at- tached to the diver's suit by rope, and he swam with them to Estonia," said Russia's fed- eral security service. The River Narva forms part of the border between the two countries. LT "Wow! Y'know they've discovered 300 new planets all within 200 light years of the Earth and the Galaxy is 150,000 light years wide and has 100 billion stars in it. That means there must be 150 million planets in it and that means, according to the law society, that on at least 3.2 of them, discrepancies noted in monthly trust balance reconciliations need not be rectified until the annual trust report is due . . . 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• Cover
• Leader Passes Away
• Traffic Woes
• Focus On Mergers and Acquisitions