Law Times

PAGE 16 OctOber 25, 2010 • Law times Bizarre #1 Power House application for real estate. www.doprocess.com ntitled-3 1 The BRAMPTON LAWYER DISBARRED Brampton, Ont., lawyer Amrik Birdi has been disbarred for his role in a mortgage fraud scam. A Law Society of Upper Canada panel found that be- tween February 2003 and April 2006, Birdi acted for parties in 11 fraudulent mortgage trans- actions worth a total of $3.3 million. In six of those cases, he represented the vendor, pur- chaser, and lender without the consent of his lender clients. Birdi was called to the bar in 2000, nine years after he arrived in Canada from India, where he was also a real estate lawyer. The law society probe into Birdi's conduct was stymied when he went missing from his practice. Investigators haven't had contact with him since an interview in 2007. The hearing proceeded without him after the panel decided the LSUC's attempts at service were good enough to go ahead. Birdi was also ordered to pay $57,000 in costs to the law society. FORMER JUDGE TO HEAD OSC The province has nominated Howard Weston, a former Federal Court judge, as chair- man and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission. Weston, who was a judge be- tween 1993 and 1999, left the bench to join the OSC, where he served as its vice chairman until 2003. Since 2003, Weston has been chairman and CEO of the Ontario Energy Board. His appointment, which must be confirmed by the legislature, puts him in charge of adminis- tration and enforcement of the Securities Act. He will also work with the Canadian Securities Transi- tion Office as it attempts to establish a national securities regulator. "Howard knows the OSC, the quality of its people, and its work as an effective securities regulator," said outgoing OSC 10/19/10 10:06:09 AM Inside Story chairman and CEO David Wilson. "I offer my best wish- es to him in the role of guiding the OSC through the immedi- ate challenges of regulating the province's capital markets." OGILVYS GOES MOBILE Ogilvy Renault LLP is going mobile. The firm has launched a series of mobile applications delivering content to clients through BlackBerrys, iPhones, and other smartphones. The BlackBerry application is a first for a Canadian law firm. "We go where our clients go. Many are mobile, and the number is growing," said Lise Monette, Ogilvys chief mar- keting officer. "Our applica- tions will allow them to get the information they want about us quickly and in the way they want it. If we're able to use a current technology to provide value to our clients, we'll make the most of it." BlackBerry and iPhone de- vices will each have a dedicated mobile application, allowing access to resources including publications, videos, biogra- phies, and news. A third plat- form is a mobile version of the firm's web site that users can access through any smartphone browser. The new applications can be downloaded from the firm's web site at ogilvyrenault. com/en/ormobile.htm. RYERSON HONOURS SCC CHIEF JUDGE Supreme Court Chief Jus- tice Beverley McLachlin was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree as part of the fall convocation ceremonies at Ry- erson University. Last Wednesday, the first fe- male chief justice received the degree and gave the convoca- tion address to students. She was first appointed to the top court in 1989 and was made chief justice 11 years later in 2000. LT For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com. "How original! They've come dressed as a typical seasonal political cartoon!" EMPLOYEE REPORTS BOMB TO LEAVE EARLY LONDON, England — It's true that many government workers don't like their jobs, but calling in a bomb threat to leave the office early? That's exactly what 26-year-old Andre Lake, an administration officer with the youth justice office, has admitted to doing using the emergency 999 number. Ac- cording to prosecutor Dar- ren Watts, "Police received a call to the Ministry of Justice building in Petty France in relation to a bomb threat. A male voice said there was a bomb in the Ministry of Justice building before hang- ing up. That call was made at 7:15 a.m., and subsequent inquiries traced the call to within the building." Authorities received a sec- ond call about an hour later. "The caller reported himself to be head of security at the Ministry of Justice but was in fact this defendant conveying the same threat," Watts said. Police later tracked the phones used in the calls only to learn that they came from the fifth and seventh floors of the building, the Telegraph reported. They were then able to identify Lake accord- ing to the swipe card he used to access the floors. "The de- fendant's intention was to get released early from work," Watts said. "He said that he Briefs By Viola James no longer enjoyed his work, that he had no annual leave left, and that he wanted to leave early." Authorities later found 12 bags of cannabis at Lake's home. After admitting to charges of communicating false information about a bomb hoax and possession of cannabis, he is to appear in court for sentencing later this year. WHEELCHAIR USED IN STORE ROBBERY EL PASO, Texas — A wheel- chair might not be the most effective getaway method, but that didn't appear to have stopped two people from trying to use one dur- ing a botched jewelry store robbery. According to NBC News, 44-year-old Noemi Duchene and Luis Del Castillo, 45, al- legedly showed up at Estate & New Jewelry with the woman in the wheelchair. Security footage shows she was then able to get out of the chair, put a garbage bag over her- self, and go in the store while Del Castillo waited outside. Store owner Linda Brade- ly wasn't impressed when Duchene allegedly revealed a kitchen knife and began de- manding "everything." "We're chasing each other around like keystone cops," Bradely said. "I knew I could outrun her because she was obviously not very quick." After a customer tackled and held Duchene, police ar- rived to find Del Castillo still waiting with the wheelchair outside. Investigators say the pair live across the street from the store, NBC News reported. BULBS SOLD AS HEATERS SKIRT EU BAN BERLIN, Germany — Oil companies have often been particularly skeptical of reg- ulations addressing climate change, but now a German businessman appears to have joined that list by marketing banned 60-watt light bulbs as mini-heaters. According to Reuters, the tactic is a bid to get around European Union rules pro- hibiting the sale of such bulbs in order to improve energy efficiency. As a result, Siegfried Rot- thaeuser and his brother-in- law are producing 75- and 100-watt bulbs in China, im- porting them as "small heat- ing devices," and marketing them as "heatballs." Reuters reports that Rot- thaeuser found that because the bulbs give off more warmth than light, he could sell them as heaters legally. So far, consumers are snapping them up, with the first batch of 4,000 sold out in three days. According to Reuters, Rotthaeuser has pledged to donate 30 cents of every bulb sold to saving the rainforest. LT Seen, heard, or been involved in a bizarre brief? Tell Viola James about it at viola.james@gmail. com. ESC_LT_Oct25_10.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 10/21/10 3:32:24 PM

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