Law Times

A. NEUMAN ASSOCIATES INC. McKELLAR STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS INC. www.mckellar.com 1-800-265-8381 www.mckellar.com ckellar_LT_Jan14_08.indd 1 $3.55 • Vol. 20, No. 2 1/8/08 3:03:02 PM Covering Ontario's Legal Scene Will proposed measures alter demand for lawyers? Call for Canada-wide securities regulator L BY ROBERT TODD Law Times awyers applauded a report last week calling for a Canada-wide securities regulator, but questions linger about what it could mean for their practices. "We've needed a national securities regu- lator in Canada for some time now," says se- curities lawyer Philip Anisman. "This is the first time that the government of Canada has taken as strong a stance as this government has. That, I think, is more important than any technical deficiencies that people may perceive or may think exist in the specifics of the recommendations." The Expert Panel on Securities Regula- tion, led by chairman Thomas Hockin, last week released its final report. The creation of a single securities regulator charged with enforcing one securities act for all of Canada was its major recommendation. Other key recommendations included the establishment of an investor panel, small re- porting issuer panel, governance board, federal- provincial nominating committee, council of ministers, independent adjudicative tribunal, and a capital markets oversight office reporting to the federal minister of finance. The panel said the measures would boost enforcement, make way for greater account- ability, cut down on duplication, and work better for investors. "We recognized and applaud the progress made by the provinces and territories over recent "However, the recent turmoil in capital markets has made it even clearer that Canada needs a single securities regulator that can move with greater speed alongside other do- mestic and international regulators to address financial instability," added Hockin. The outlook for securities lawyers if the panel's recommendations are accepted is un- clear, observers say. Anisman, who created draft securities leg- islation for the federal government in 1979, suggests it's unlikely the changes would cause a marked change in the volume of work for lawyers. Counsel will be on demand in the short term to get clients in line with a new federal scheme, he says. But with the panel's proposal based on existing provincial regulations, most lawyers will already be up to speed with most of the details, he adds. National law firms currently do the bulk of work on securities matters, he notes. "The structure will be to have regional and Thomas Hockin says recent turmoil in capital mar- kets has made it clear that Canada needs a single securities regulator. years to better co-ordinate and harmonize Ca- nadian securities regulation, through initiatives like the passport system," said Hockin, who served minister of state for finance in prime minister Brian Mulroney's cabinet. local offices, so that people dealing with the com- mission can deal with it through the office that is closest to their jurisdiction," says Anisman. The shift could increase work for lawyers if federal government predictions that the new, stronger structure will attract new players to the markets play out, he says. Lawyers in individual provinces currently service local issuers and registrants, notes Bar- bara Hendrickson, a partner at McMillan LLP. Demand for such lawyers could drop if local See Could, page 2 Crown lawyer files human rights complaint BY ROBERT TODD Law Times against a prosecutor were dropped, says Toronto Police Association president Dave Wilson. Meanwhile, assistant Crown P attorney Roger Shallow has filed a complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal alleging he continues to deal with emotional wounds from his arrest in 2007. Shallow, cur- rently working in the city's guns and gangs unit, was arrested in October 2007. He was charged with causing a disturbance and as- sault to resist arrest. It happened in Toronto's enter- tainment district, according to his complaint. Police said he appeared intoxicated, but Shallow, who was with a female acquaintance, disputes that. Following the arrest he was tak- en to 52 Division, where he says he was unreasonably strip-searched. eople could "lose faith and trust" in the Crown's office due to a case in which charges "I would like my shoes re- laced by the officers involved in this strip search, and apologies from all involved," he says in his complaint. He also wants new protocols for the searches. Wilson filed a complaint with the Ministry of the Attorney Gen- eral earlier this month regarding the actions of Jeanine LeRoy, a special prosecutor hired to work Shallow's criminal case. Wilson had not received a re- sponse from the Ministry of the Attorney General by press time. He says he is in the process of fil- ing a complaint to the Law Society of Upper Canada. "Outside counsel made all the decisions in this case, including the decision not to proceed, without any direction from the Ministry of the Attorney General," says ministry spokesman Brendan Crawley. The ministry will respond to Wilson's complaint "in due course," says Crawley. "We expect an objective, outside investigation into LeRoy's con- duct," says Wilson. LeRoy is a sole practitioner from London, Ont. At the start of Shallow's Jan. 7 trial, LeRoy with- drew the charges. Wilson says LeRoy should have done a better job communicating with officers regarding the case. LeRoy declined Law Times' request for comment. Shallow's lawyer, David Hum- phrey, says he was not surprised to see the charges withdrawn. "We had been making submis- sions to her from the beginning of the case, that based on all the evidence, including the evidence provided by the Crown as Crown disclosure, it was clear there was no basis for the arresting officers to conclude that Mr. Shallow was intoxicated, and there was no legal basis for arresting him," says Humphrey. "For Mr. Shallow to make allega- tions like this, and for Ms. LeRoy to prevent evidence from coming for- ward in a court where there can be an objective opinion of a judge, just the whole thing creates this horrible impression," says Wilson. After his arrest, Shallow success- fully petitioned a justice of the peace to have charges laid against two of- ficers who arrested him. Humphrey says that case was adjourned last week pending the naming of a new prosecutor from the private bar. Shallow's application to the Hu- man Rights Tribunal was filed in October 2008. "The demeanor and tone of [the officer] was rude, aggressive, hostile, and uncivil from the outset," reads the complaint of 37-year-old Shal- low, who is black. "I believe her approach, and subsequent actions would have been different if . . . I were the same colour as she." Wilson says he has not seen Shal- low's application to the tribunal. He has only heard about the allegations through the media, he says. "We believe his allegations will be proven untrue, unfounded," says Wilson. LT Focus On Real Estate Law Quote of the week "What we're heading towards is an area where developers and their legal counsel will be looking for approvals based on green equivalents." — Duncan Glaholt, partner, Glaholt LLP See Real, page 13 The Hill 9 Forensic Accounting & Damages Quantifi cation Specialists Turn Crisis into Opportunity IFAccountant.com (416) 223-5991 Neuman_LawTimes.indd 1 January 19, 2009 12/9/08 11:12:30 AM Inside This Issue 3 What's a Conflict? 7 www.lawtimesnews.com

• Cover
• What`s A Conflict?
• The Hill
• Focus On Real Estate Law