Law Times

PAGE 16 WillBuilder Tel: 416.322.6111 Toll-free: 1.866.367.7648 doprocess com ntitled-2 1 The MCCARTHYS GETS NEW CEO McCarthy Tétrault LLP gets a new president and CEO starting Jan. 1. Marc-André Blanchard, currently the regional managing partner for Quebec, takes over the job from W. Iain Scott. His term is set to expire after eight years in the post. "The entire firm is extremely pleased with the choice of Marc- André Blanchard, as am I," said Scott, noting his successor's "in- tellect, leadership, outstanding interpersonal skills, and passion for the relentless pursuit of ex- cellent service are ideally suited to the culture and ambitions of McCarthy Tétrault." Scott graduated from the Université de Montréal law school in 1988 and holds gradu- ate degrees from Columbia Uni- versity and the London School of Economics. In his new role as CEO, he'll oversee the firm's sev- en offices in Canada and Britain. Scott, meanwhile, will stay with the firm when his term ends. LAWYER WINS MENTORING AWARD The Toronto Region Immi- grant Employment Council has recognized a Toronto lawyer for his contributions to mentor- ing new immigrants. Michael Schafler, a partner at Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, was the only lawyer to receive the special achievement award. "Michael Schafler undoubtedly deserves the mentoring part- nership's special achievement award this year," said Elizabeth McIsaac, executive director of the immigrant employment council. "He offers his valuable insight and guidance to help skilled immigrants navigate the local job market and find mean- ingful employment that matches their qualifications." According to the council, Schafler was instrumental in his firm's decision to join the mentorship program as a cor- porate partner. FMC is now looking into expanding its participation to another five offices across Canada. Reinventing the Will www 2/2/09 10:53:45 AM Inside Story "I feel privileged to be rec- ognized for doing something that is so close to my heart," said Schafler. "Together with my wonderful colleagues at Fraser Milner Casgrain, I look forward to mentoring many more newcomers so they can achieve their professional goals in Canada." NEW EXECUTIVE FOR CDLPA The County & District Law Presidents' Association has new leadership following elec- tions at its recent annual ple- nary session. The new chairman will be Robert Zochodne. An Oshawa lawyer and a specialist in civil litigation, Zochodne takes over from Hamilton's Randall Bo- cock, who held the position for 18 months. "I am pleased to be taking over as chair of the largest orga- nization representing practising lawyers in Ontario," said Zo- chodne. "The next 18 months will, I'm sure, offer tremendous rewards but great challenges as well. I am honoured to be in this position and will work diligently for CDLPA and its member associations." In stepping down, Bocock said he's most pleased with CDLPA's work in the following areas: • Pushing for governance re- form at the Law Society of Upper Canada; • Helping with succession planning and articling place- ment in smaller communities outside the Greater Toronto Area; and • Developing the so-called in- formation exchange platform, a new CDLPA web site. "It was an invigorating and enjoyable 18 months," said Bo- cock of his term as chairman. CDLPA represents 46 mem- ber law associations in Ontario. Along with the Toronto Law- yers Association, it is a voice for more than 13,000 lawyers across the province. It elects a new executive every 18 months. LT For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com. DAVE'S NOT HERE BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A door-to-door marijuana salesman landed himself in trouble when he rang the wrong doorbell. That's because the house didn't belong to one his of customers. Instead, it was the home of a local police officer. The incident occurred near the University of Texas-Texas Southmost College campus. According to The Associated Press, 19-year-old Anthony Carrazco was allegedly going door-to-door in an apartment building with his wares. Finally, he knocked on an off-duty po- lice officer's door. The officer "said he would be right back and went to get his badge and handcuffs," according to a po- lice spokesman. Police said the officer also found a handgun hidden on the teen. As if things couldn't get worse for the accused, the inci- dent happened near a university — a drug-free and weapons- free zone. This means that if convicted, the penalty could be stiffer than if he tried to sell police drugs somewhere else. AND THAT'S STRIKE THREE MELBOURNE, Australia — It took an Australian couple just three hours to get caught drunk driving three times, with each incident happening a little further along the same November 23, 2009 • Law Times ™ Bizarre Briefs By Viola James street, according to police. Agence France-Presse re- ported that police pulled over a car driven by a 37-year-old man on Montague Street in Melbourne. They performed a breath test and found he was over the legal limit to drive. They noticed the passenger, a 27-year-old woman, also ap- peared intoxicated so they warned her not to drive. Sure enough, just about an hour later the pair was pulled over again with the woman allegedly driving. She, too, was too drunk to drive, ac- cording to police. "The pair were nabbed a third time on Montague Street about 3:05 a.m. when the man was breath-tested and refused to accompany police back to the station," police said. NO MOAT CLEANING THIS TIME LONDON, England – A for- mer far-right member of the European Parliament has been thrown in jail for two years for cheating on his expense money. According to Reuters, Tom Wise, 61, a former representa- tive for the fringe UK Indepen- dence Party, used expense mon- ey to buy fine wine and a car. "This fraud was so blatant, I do not believe for one moment you were disadvantaged in un- derstanding the system or that this fraud should be seen as fall- ing into some grey area which you might not have fully com- prehended," Judge Geoffrey Rivlin said in sentencing Wise. Wise spent a year stash- ing away more than $70,000 into a secretly controlled bank account. He also paid a cut-rate salary of less than $900 a month to a researcher even though he was receiving more than $5,200 a month to pay for the position. "It is no exaggeration to say that you had hardly got your feet beneath your desk as [a member of the Euro- pean Parliament] before you were planning to defraud the parliament to which you were elected and the people you were elected to serve," Rivlin said in his remarks. Wise was kicked out of the Independence Party because of the scandal and didn't stand for re-election in June. The judge also said Wise would have to pay back more than $52,000. WINDOW THWARTS PANTLESS THIEF LISBON, Portugal — Drop- ping his pants proved futile for a man who got stuck in a window while trying to break into a supermarket. The man spent 11 hours trapped, which included the two hours it took for rescuers to free him last week, Reuters reported. "Apparently, he dropped his trousers as he was trying to free himself by wiggling," Reuters quoted the local po- lice chief in Loulé in south- ern Portugal as saying. The alleged thief was a 22-year-old Romanian man. "It's not uncommon for thieves to get inside and then not be able to get out after burglary, but this was quite unusual," the police chief said. LT "I'm delighted to report that, according to the latest Canadian Lawyer Magazine survey, our in-house mentoring program gets top marks. However, apparently, our workplace diversity initiative could use a little fine tuning." WHICH DIRECTION IS BEST FOR YOU? RainMaker Group 110 Yonge Street, Suite 1101 Toronto, Ontario M5C 1T4 Untitled-7 1 Tel: 416-863-9543 Fax: 416-863-9757 www.rainmakergroup.ca www.lawtimesnews.com 5/29/08 1:05:49 PM

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