Law Times

November 10, 2008

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PAGE 2 NEWS November 10, 2008 • Law Times and they are only boys to each other. "In the case of one or two members, they were moving to the fat side of the ledger," says Tom Curry, a partner at Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Grif- fin LLP. He founded the Fatboys, an informal running club of mostly law- yers, 16 years ago, when he was still at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. "We're not elite runners. It's just for fun. We're middle-aged, mid-pack run- ners," says Bill Black, another of the founders and a partner at McCarthys. When the Fatboys started running in 1992, they chose an ambitious goal: the New York City Marathon. They first sent a contingent to run New York City in 1996, and almost every year since. Three of the estimated 20 Fatboys — the membership fluctuates along with their weight — ran in the 38th annual New York City Marathon. Curry, Paul Steep, a partner at McCarthy Tétrault, and Stuart Waugh, managing director at TD Capital Private Equity Investors joined the pack. Members have run marathons around the world, including Chicago, Washington, and Berlin, but NYC is special to them. "[The] greatest city in the world; greatest marathon," says Curry. "It's an incredible tour of the city. It's a spectacle: 35-or-so thousand people running is very cool," says Black, who has run the NYC marathon five times but took a break this year. He identifies himself as the mem- ber of the Fatboys most frequently at risk of becoming fat. Most of them prefer to be described as Clydesdales — runners who weigh more than 190 lbs. Curry, Steep, and Waugh comprise the smallest group the Fatboys has ever sent to New York. But Black and the other Fatboys were there in spirit. They followed runners' Toronto's Fatboys take on NYC marathon N BY KRISTEN JOY WATTS For Law Times EW YORK — None of the members of the Fatboys Run- ning Club are actually fat — Photo: Kristen Joy Watts Tom Curry, left, and Paul Steep, pose at Centre Park South after finishing the New York City Marathon with respectable times. progress on the internet during the race, and stayed in touch via BlackBerry. One member asked to be reminded of the date of the next general meeting, otherwise known as a drinking session, at club headquarters, the Longest Yard pub on Mount Pleasant in Toronto. "At which the results of the doping tests will be released, I presume?" she jokes. Since most of the Fatboys are litigators, discussion while training often turns to real cases and courtroom hypotheticals. "We set an agenda for our runs," Curry says. That's why Sarit Batner, another part- ner at McCarthys, started running in 2006. "Members of the Fatboys could no lon- ger do long chatty coffees and teas with me so we collapsed our talking and running into one. When I started running it was all about the fun of the group," says Batner, who also took a break from NYC this year. As one of the only core members of the Fatboys Running Club — those who train four to five times a week for several hours — who is a woman, Batner has special pink and white versions of the traditionally navy and white Fatboys running attire. The annually updated line branded with "Fatboys" written in cursive has included toques and scarves, but is usually limited to warm-up gear like T-shirts and hoodies. Curry said that the club is always thinking of new ideas for items on which to put the brand. "Some of the Fatboys have smoked cigarettes, including when they're running, so we're always under pressure to create ashtrays," says Curry. "We're also thinking of adding a smoking jacket; a smoking jacket of the kind that Ken, as in Barbie and Ken, would wear. Velour, with a crest on the pocket." Fatboys have rules and rituals. Many, such as crossing certain streets in the same place every time, are like many laws: they don't make sense but must be followed. Other Fatboys rules are more practical. In the NYC Marathon, runners are assigned to cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge — a double-decker suspension bridge that con- nects Brooklyn with Staten Island — on either the upper or lower level. If a Fatboy is assigned to the lower level, he or she must stick to the middle of the bridge. Curry says a Fatboy in 1996 learned this lesson for all of them. "It's crowded, so he thought he would be clever and run along the north edge. This exposed him to the haz- ards of the upper deck. It's windy. People are anxious. He was showered in urine." Another club rule was derived from an inquiry after the Fatboys were late for the Marine Corps Marathon in 2005. They made a detour to snag their ritu- al pre-race Starbucks coffee and missed the start of the race. It was a scandal: Startinggate. Now one of the Fatboys who is a stickler for punctuality ensures that runners arrive at races with time to spare. Waugh, caused another scandal this year being caught "red-handed with a medicine ball and trainer," said Curry. Working with a personal trainer is strictly forbidden by Fatboys rules. They train and sign up for marathons together, but never manage to stay together during a race. Curry, Steep, and Waugh finished this year at 3:59, 4:50, and just under 3:54. After the race, Curry and Steep found each other in the Essex Hotel lobby, but never did locate Waugh. Over beers Curry and Steep lamented the occasional ignominy of marathon runner for a Fatboy: being passed by costumed runners. In Chicago in 2004, Curry was passed by a man dressed as a Rhode Island Red Rooster. "He distracted me and I tripped. He caused a Keystone Cops pileup," says Curry. The rooster kept running. "It was oblivious to our struggle," Curry adds. Another club member, who is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault, was passed by a bank machine in NYC in 2003. "Not just an ATM; a full-service banking machine. The kind where you can make your mortgage payment if you had to," says Curry. This year, Steep, almost quit at the 16-mile mark until a giant hot dog ran by. The back of his shirt said, 'How do you like my wiener?' LT There's more time to 'know your client' BY ROBERT TODD Law Times client" regulations — but some benchers are wary of how they'll impact the profession. Convocation last month passed a set of technical amendments to the new regulations, which bench- ers adopted in April, on top of O ntario lawyers have extra time to prepare for new "know your extending to Dec. 31 from Oct. 31 the enforcement start date. The re- quirements are in line with a model rule created by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, and make lawyers obtain a client's full name, home address, home phone num- ber, occupation, and, if applicable, business address and telephone number to verify and keep records of clients' identity when retained. Separate requirements exist when dealing with organizations. Ottawa has forced the legal pro- fession to create the new require- ments to battle terrorism financing and money laundering. "By adopt- ing the new requirements through law societies in every province and territory, a national standard will be achieved," said Treasurer Derry Millar in press a release. "We will have an effective, practical, and en- forceable tool to ensure that mem- bers of the legal professions, in serv- ing clients, remain vigilant." Bencher Bob Aaron told Con- vocation he gets questions from colleagues on compliance with the new requirements, and wants the a checklist created to help lawyers understand their obligations. "I have had a lot of phone calls from colleagues saying, 'You're a sole practitioner, how are you com- plying?'" he said. "And my answer is I haven't got the slightest idea." Aaron said a checklist should be created "so that I can put one LSUC postpones budget implementation process T he economic crisis prompted Convo- cation to postpone its 2009 budget implementation process. "Given the global market fluctuations and its uncertainty, we will revisit the assumptions upon which the 2009 budget is based so that we may reflect the economy's impact on law- yers and paralegals, and ultimately the impact on the law society's membership fee base," LSUC finance committee vice-chairwoman Carol Hartman told Convocation. "In November the finance committee will present Convocation with the 2009 budget, which is prudent and responsive to our pres- ent economic times," she said, adding pro- gram spending may be postponed or reduced. "Being unable to immediately go for- ward with previously approved programs will be frustrating, but we need to be fiscally responsible in these times," she said. A projected increase in compensation fund claims and complaints, coupled with a decline in continuing legal education program atten- dance and revenues, also will have an impact she said. She reassured benchers that the law society's balance of $36 million in various ac- counts will cushion the blow. "The 2009 budget will be one tool for dealing with tough economic times," said Hartman. "Another tool is the law society's strong financial position." Audit committee chairwoman Beth Symes reported to Convocation on the sta- tus of the law society's "four funds" — the general fund, compensation fund, Law- Pro, and the errors and omissions fund — from Jan. 1 to Oct. 24. The good news was that the bulk of the law society's funds in every single file that says here's how we do it, here's what you have to get, here's what you don't have to get. Here are the exemptions for financial institutions, etcetera. I would find that very, very helpful." The LSUC CEO Malcolm Heins said requirements vary de- pending on the area of practice. "What we are doing, and in are invested in fixed-income securities, with about 12 per cent in equities. But she said the general fund, with a balance of $27 million, experienced unrealized losses of $442,000 over the period. The year-to- date income on that fund was $524,000, while $1.2 million was budgeted. For the $32-million compensation fund, unrealized losses of $1.3 million have been experienced, with year-to-date investment in- come $250,000 below projections. LawPro, which has a balance of $416 mil- lion, has a net loss of $12 million, said Symes. The errors and omissions fund has $54 mil- lion, and a net loss of $1.1 million, she said. Symes said the losses will reduce a project- ed surplus for 2008 and leave less money for the law society's general use. — Robert Todd www.lawtimesnews.com co-ordination at the national level too, is assembling all the issues and are trying to address them, I think, subsequently on an area of practice basis," said Heins. "In other words, if you're primarily a real estate prac- titioner, we will have guidelines, checklists, whatever, for that group, but we need another checklist for those in estates, another version for those in securities. It goes on and on. So it's quite an onerous task, this implementation." He said, "On Jan. 1 we don't have an army of investigators and auditors going out to the profes- sion," and the LSUC views the first year as "working with the profes- sion in order to get this underway." Aaron said he's concerned about retroactive enforcement of the new requirements in the years ahead, not the initial implementation. Paralegal Bencher Paul Dray, a member of Legal Aid Ontario's board, said the requirements could restrict access to justice if an exemp- tion isn't made for legal aid. LT

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