Law Times

April 20, 2009

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PAGE 16 WillBuilder Tel: 416.322.6111 Toll-free: 1.866.367.7648 doprocess com ntitled-2 1 The CACC HONOURS PAUL VESA The memory of Scarborough as- sistant Crown attorney Paul Vesa, who died of cancer last year, will live on through a new bursary at his alma mater. Jamie Chaffe, treasurer of the Canadian Association of Crown Counsel, tells Law Times that Vesa also was posthumously honoured last week with the association's Dennis Theman Award for excel- lence in leadership and member- ship in the development of Crown counsel associations. The University of Windsor Paul Vesa Bursary was unveiled at the award ceremony, says Chaffe. Vesa graduated from the university's law school in 1981. The bursary will go to a second-year student interested in the practice of criminal law who best exemplifies Vesa's "tremendous love of life, community involve- ment, education of the profession, and deep commitment to the ad- ministration of justice," says Chaffe. Vesa died in June 2008 after a battle with leukemia. During his lengthy career as an assistant Crown he served as president of the Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association and CACC, and was a long-standing member of the Ontario Bar Association and Canadian Bar Association, serv- ing on the OBA executive and several committees. "He was really critical in build- ing the Canadian Association of Crown Counsel into a national or- ganization for Crown counsel right across the country," says Chaffe, noting Vesa's role in staving off an attempt from the Mike Harris government in Ontario to slash the province's complement of Crown lawyers. "People indeed weren't laid off; they actually ended up hiring more Crowns," says Chaffe. "He displayed incredible leader- ship and mentorship in develop- ing these organizations, on top of his excellent work on behalf of the provincial and national member- ships when he performed the role as president." Chaffe says members of the CACC, OCAA, Association of Law Officers of the Crown, and various individual lawyers in the Reinventing the Will www Inside Story province came together to create the bursary. He says the amount of money attached to it contin- ues to build. LAW DAY Ontario legal organizations last week honoured the 27th anniver- sary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms through the yearly Law Day celebrations. The set of events are a col- laboration between the Ontario Bar Association, Ontario Jus- tice Education Network, the Law Society of Upper Canada, and the Association of French Speaking Jurists of Ontario. It also relies on funding from the Advancement of Legal Educa- tion and Research Trust and the Law Foundation of Ontario. This year's celebrations included offerings such as a Grade 5 poster contest, an elementary school mock trial competition, court tours, and a phone-a-lawyer program. About 13,000 students and legal professionals participated in Law Day 2008, said the OBA. MORE PARTNERS AT MACLEOD DIXON Macleod Dixon LLP recently an- nounced that a swath of lawyers have accepted invitations to be- come partners. Robert Eberschlag is the lone member of the firm's Toronto of- fice to move into the partnership ranks. In the Calgary office, the new partners are Kathleen Cow- ick, Rujuta Patel, Karl Seidenz, Rashi Sengar, and Chris Wolfen- berg. Yerzhan Kumarov from the Almaty office also became partner. "We welcome this new group of partners," said Bill Tuer, the firm's managing partner, in a release. "These seven individuals have made a valuable contribution to the firm during their careers with Macleod Dixon and will continue to do so as partners. Not only is each a very strong practitioner, but each also possesses the professionalism and leadership that will help strengthen the firm and position us well for the future." LT STG_05_LT_BaseBar 8/16/06 8:52 AM Page 1 For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com ™ Bizarre 2/2/09 10:53:45 AM BEYOND YOUR AVERAGE DISBURSMENT LONDON — Talk about get- ting screwed by your lawyer. Solicitor Anal Sheikh has a filed lawsuit for £750,000 (Cdn$1.36 million) against bar- rister Marc Beaumont claiming he was charging her at a rate of £250 ($453) an hour for torrid sex sessions. Sheikh was facing disciplin- ary proceedings at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal over char- ges of dishonesty. Beaumont was engaged to advise and help pre- pare her case. In her High Court suit, Sheikh claims many of their "legal conferences" turned into heated romps in the hay at vari- ous hotels around town, accord- ing to The Times. Her claim says under the re- tainer, in addition to a fixed fee of £120,000 ($217,340), Beau- mont could charge her for un- foreseen and urgent work, and that she was surprised to discover when he billed her that some of the "urgent work" was actually for time when she had personal reason to know his head was not in his law books. Beaumont denies the claim and says he will counter-claim to strike out the action on the ground that it discloses no rea- sonable cause of action and has no reasonable prospect of suc- cess, says The Times. Briefs By Viola James CAN IT NEW ORLEANS — It always seems to be the drink that gets people into trouble over the smallest things. Will Casst, 54, got into it with his brother Agusta Wells over a can of pork and beans. At one point Wells threw a punch at Casst, who then picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed his brother, according to Cindy Chadwick, a spokesperson for the Caddo Parish sheriff. Police say the two had been drinking alcohol in the lead up to the squabble over the pork and beans. Wells was treated at a hospital for stab wounds in his left arm and shoulder blade. Casst was charged with aggra- vated battery. THINK BEFORE LABELLING WASHINGTON — As Rene Soliz was a U.S. Border Patrol agent, he really should have known better than to try and import rare tortoises in a box labelled "scorpions." First of all, he needed a permit to import the 15 Tanzanian leop- ard tortoises, as they are considered a potentially threatened species. But more importantly, if he was planning to succeed in his smuggling plan, he should have known that federal agents always check out any scorpions April 20, 2009 • lAw Times crossing the border. In April 2006, a U.S. Cus- toms inspector at New York's Kennedy Airport intercepted a package bound for Soliz, accord- ing to court documents. "The package was labelled as containing 50 live scorpions. When a U.S. Fish and Wildlife inspector opened the package, he found 14 live leopard tortoises and one dead leopard tortoise." Soliz faces a maximum one- sentence and will year resign from the Border Patrol after en- tering his guilty plea in Texas. I WAS HIGH, NOT DRUNK GAINSVILLE, Fla. — Telling police you've been smoking pot, but not drinking, is not really likely to mitigate your situation if you've just crashed your SUV into a window at the State Attor- ney's office. That was reportedly the story Jonathan James Sweat, 18, told the police at the time of the ac- cident. Police showed up at 3:30 a.m. to find Sweat's grey Ford Ranger through the front win- dow of the office. In Sweat's arrest report, officer Steve Carter noted Sweat failed three field sobriety tests. Sweat was taken to the police department for observation and breath tests, which did not show any indication of alcohol. Carter said Sweat spontan- eously "stated that I wasn't going to be able to arrest him for DUI because he hadn't been drinking. He then stated that all he did was smoke some marijuana." That was no help to his cause. He was charged with driving under the influence and damaging property. LT "If the feds really do streamline procedures under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, especially with respect to infrastructure projects designed to improve energy efficiency, you, my friend, might be in deep doo doo." At Stewart Title, it's how we work that sets us apart. We deal in title insurance and related products, undertaking no part of the transaction that has traditionally fallen to legal professionals. Since our inception into the Canadian market, you will find that we have consistently combined comprehensive coverage with unparalleled support for legal professionals. 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