Law Times

November 2, 2009

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PAGE 6 COMMENT Law Times Group Publisher ....... Karen Lorimer Editorial Director ....... Gail J. Cohen Editor .................. Glenn Kauth Associate Editor ......... Robert Todd Copy Editor ......... Heather Gardiner CaseLaw Editor ...... Jennifer Wright Art Director .......... Alicia Adamson Production Co-ordinator .. Catherine Giles Electronic Production Specialist ............. Derek Welford Advertising Sales .... Kimberlee Pascoe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathy Liotta Sales Co-ordinator ......... Sandy Shutt ©Law Times Inc. 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times Inc. disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Editorial Obiter Compromise could get street lawyer doing good works E veryone is in favour of lawyers who provide services pro bono. It's a motherhood-and-apple- pie issue to which it would be hard to raise objections. With access to justice a growing concern, lawyers who help people for free receive deserved praise. So, we have people like former Ontario chief justice Roy McMurtry, who is now leading the Ontario civil legal needs project, urging the legal com- munity to do more to facilitate pro bono work. Other leaders, including a former attorney general, have made similar entreaties. In the meantime, debate has continued over whether to impose a mandatory requirement that lawyers do a certain amount of work for free. To be sure, there have been signs of progress. Several years ago, Pro Bono Law Ontario started up to help practitioners do good works for people unable to afford representation. At the same time, the Law Society of Upper Canada adopted a bylaw waiving licensing fees for lawyers wanting to provide services pro bono. Still, access to justice remains a pressing concern. But as the issue lingers, in walks Mukhtiar Dahiya. For some time, the lawyer has proposed helping Toronto's homeless population for free. At 58 and with a disability, he doesn't care about billing clients. Nevertheless, he has shied away from his street advocacy pro- posal due to law society and LawPRO rules. That's because he wants them to cover his licensing and insurance fees to facilitate his practice. Their policies, however, allow that to happen only if he agrees to work with an approved program through PBLO. Other law societies have similar requirements. As a result, Dahiya's proposed good works are going undone. For its part, the LSUC says the rules aim to ensure the lawyers it helps are competent and therefore able to provide appropriate legal services. That's a legitimate aim given its responsibility to uphold pro- fessionalism in the industry. Still, there should at least be an effort to find an alternative. Dahiya doesn't want to work through PBLO because, he says, "Through charity, I cannot achieve anything." His words may be an overstatement, but it is true that there are lone rangers in soci- ety whose alternative ways of doing things nevertheless have value. While there's no evidence this is the case with PBLO-approved programs, it is a fact that many so-called charitable organizations get caught up with their own interests, such as the administra- tive minutiae of reporting to funders or raising money through expensive events, rather than helping the people they're supposed to serve. So, people like Dahiya have legitimate concerns. Hopefully, then, the legal commu- nity will find some way to help him take to the streets. Solutions could include supervision of his work or some sort of formal relationship with the organization he wants to start, the City Law Centre. It's possible Dahiya himself is being difficult, so resolving the issue might require compromise on his part, too. But it would be well worth the effort. Dahiya may be on a different track but he wants to do exactly what the profes- sion has been advocating for. — Glenn Kauth phone roaming charges can pro- vide an unpleasant surprise for people who need to stay con- nected with important clients. All of the Canadian wire- less phone carriers impose hefty fees Cellphone companies offer alternatives for lawyers who roam L awyers frequently need to travel on business south of the border, but cell- a fixed price of $15, $25 or $40 respectively. Rogers also offers a U.S. roaming option of $10 per month, which reduces data costs to $1 per megabyte. Bell Mobility offers a North American data plan for fre- for both voice calls and data connectivity while abroad. Fido charges $1.45 per minute for calls, while data roaming is charged at $30 per megabyte for customers without a quali- fying plan. (Customers with a plan pay $6 per megabyte.) Bell Canada charges up to $1.74 per minute for voice calls and $6 per megabyte for data. Telus charges up to $1.45 per minute for voice calls and $8 to $10 per megabyte for data, although various monthly plans offer lower rates. Special packages for U.S. roaming are available for fre- quent travellers down south. For example, Fido and Rogers sell a bundle of U.S. travel minutes (25, 40 or 70) for quent travellers to the United States that starts at 250 min- utes at any time for $75 a month. Telus, meanwhile, pro- vides various U.S. travel pack- ages starting at $40 a month for 60 minutes of usage. Another option for Canadians travelling to the United States is to set up and maintain a U.S. prepaid phone. T-Mobile offers a prepaid ser- vice that doesn't expire for 12 months and costs only 10 cents per minute if you buy an initial amount of US$100. The expi- ration date extends by a further 12 months, and the balance rolls forward when you make future purchases of just $10. Getting started is as easy as buy- ing a cheap prepaid phone for $20 to $30 that includes a SIM card. The SIM card also works in an unlocked GSM phone. AT&T offers a very competi- tive prepaid option. If you spend US$100, you get 12 months of service at rates between 10 to 25 cents per minute or $3 per day for unlimited use. The fee only applies on days you use the phone to place voice calls. Long-distance calls to Canada cost an additional 19 cents per minute. AT&T's prepaid offer- ings also include 100 megabytes of data that you can use over 30 days for US$20. Another cost-effective option for making voice calls in the United States for trav- ellers who plan to stay lon- ger than a couple of weeks at a time is MetroPCS, which offers unlimited voice and web-browsing plans for US$45 www.lawtimesnews.com Bits and Bytes By Alan Gahtan to $50 per month. You also have to buy a new phone, although the first month of service comes at no additional charge. MetroPCS also offers an option for $5 a month that provides international long- distance air time. However, the company doesn't operate everywhere and is limited to certain cities and regions. If you're planning on mak- ing heavy use of a laptop in the United States, free Wi-Fi is available in many locations including Starbucks, the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Panera Bread, and certain hotels. However, nothing beats the convenience of wireless broadband data that you can access from anywhere, something that became easier to get after two new pay-as-you-go offerings came out this year. Virgin Mobile offers a wire- less broadband USB dongle for US$150. Its data options include a US$40 offering that provides 600 megabytes as well as a $60 price point that gives you one gigabyte, both November 2, 2009 • Law Times Law Times Inc. 240 Edward Street, Aurora, ON • L4G 3S9 Tel: 905-841-6481 • Fax: 905-727-0017 www.lawtimesnews.com President: Stuart J. Morrison Publications Mail Agreement Number 40762529 • ISSN 0847-5083 Law Times is published 40 times a year by Law Times Inc. 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 • 905-841-6481. lawtimes@clbmedia.ca CIRCULATIONS & SUBSCRIPTIONS $141.75 per year in Canada (GST incl., GST Reg. #R121351134) and US$266.25 for foreign addresses. Single copies are $3.55 Circulation inquiries, postal returns and address changes should include a copy of the mailing label(s) and should be sent to Law Times Inc. 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9. Return postage guaranteed. Contact Kristen Schulz-Lacey at: kschulz-lacey@clbmedia.ca or Tel: 905-713-4355 • Toll free: 1-888-743-3551 or Fax: 905-841-4357. ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries and materials should be directed to Sales, Law Times, 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 or call Karen Lorimer at 905-713-4339 klorimer@clb- media.ca, Kimberlee Pascoe at 905-713-4342 kpascoe@clbmedia.ca, or Kathy Liotta at 905- 713- 4340 kliotta@clbmedia.ca or Sandy Shutt at 905-713-4337 sshutt@clbmedia.ca Law Times is printed on newsprint containing 25-30 per cent post-consumer recycled materials. Please recycle this newspaper. of which expire in 30 days. The device can be moved from computer to computer but is not currently compatible with certain broadband routers that allow simultaneous sharing with multiple family members and business associates. Another option is Verizon or Sprint's daily wireless broad- band service using a small device from Novatel Wireless. This gadget isn't much bigger than a credit card, has a self-contained rechargeable battery, and can be used to share broadband data with up to five devices over a Wi-Fi network. If you spend US$15, you get unlimited use for a 24-hour period. You don't necessarily have to expensive pay those roaming charges, then. You still have to spend money but at least you have options for staying in touch while in the United States. LT Alan Gahtan is a Toronto-based technology lawyer. His web site is www.gahtan.com/alan.

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