Law Times

September 5, 2011

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PAGE 16 The Inside Story U.S. FIRM OPENS KITCHENER OFFICE New York fi rm Phillips Lytle LLP has set up shop in Kitch- ener, Ont. Th e 177-year-old fi rm serves more than 200 Cana- dian clients with more than a dozen lawyers who will spend time in the new offi ce provid- ing U.S. legal counsel in areas such as corporate, tax, labour, and intellectual property law. "Waterloo Region is a pow- erhouse of startup activity. Phillips Lytle's history with as- sisting innovative companies combined with our expertise in cross-border legal services makes this area in Ontario a natural fi t for our fi rst of- fi ce outside of the U.S.," said David McNamara, Phillips Lytle's managing partner in Buff alo. Th e offi ce will be part of the Communitech Hub, an innovation centre that brings together entrepreneurs, multi- national companies, and aca- demic institutions to accelerate the development of digital me- dia companies. Th e hub, located in an old tannery in downtown Kitchen- er, already counts Google Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. among its 28 tenants, as well as Canadian law fi rms Gowling Lafl eur Henderson LLP and Miller Th omson LLP. U OF T PROGRAM LAUDED Th e University of Toronto Faculty of Law's Internation- ally Trained Lawyers program has won an international award for ingenuity in law. Th e College of Law Prac- tice Management awarded its 2011 InnovAction Award to the bridging program that helps internationally trained lawyers get qualifi ed to practise law in Ontario. Th e 10-month course, launched in 2010, gives students hands-on experience in the Canadian legal environ- ment. It graduated its fi rst class in March 2011. Th e U.S.-based organiza- tion created the InnovAction Awards, now in their seventh year, to encourage creative thinking in the legal profes- sion. "Future survival of a vital and contributing legal profes- sion now depends on the in- novative, unstuff y thinking of a few individuals and organi- zations around the world. It is the mission of the College of Law Practice Management to shine a spotlight on extraordi- nary thinking and impressive implementation to illustrate what can be accomplished when fi rms dare to take a risk," said Merrilyn Astin Tarlton, past president of the college. TORYS LANDS NOTED COMPETITION LAWYER Dany Assaf has joined Torys LLP's Toronto offi ce as a part- ner in its competition and an- titrust practice group. Assaf, a leading lawyer in In- vestment Canada Act matters, was most recently at Bennett Jones LLP. He helped the fi rm launch its Abu Dhabi offi ce. Assaf speaks fl uent Arabic and has developed relation- ships with sovereign wealth funds and other businesses in the Persian Gulf region as part of his practice. Assaf is an adjunct profes- sor of law at the University of Western Ontario and co- founded the fi rst Islamic fi - nance course at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management executive pro- gram. LAWYER STYMIED IN LAKE SWIM A London, Ont., lawyer was forced to abandon his bid to cross Lake Ontario last month with less than two kilometres left in his 50-kilometre endurance test. Immigration lawyer Greg Willoughby entered at Niag- ara-on-the-Lake, Ont., on the evening of Aug. 26 with a plan to arrive at Toronto's Marilyn Bell Park 18 hours later. Th e 41-year-old lawyer, who swam competitively in his youth, wore only a swimsuit and was covered in grease for insulation. "Th is is kind of like my Mount Everest," he told the Brantford Expositor before his swim. "It's a big feat." But Willoughby had to abandon the swim 22 hours into it after he was unable to keep himself afl oat. After a po- lice boat picked him up, he was taken to St. Michael's Hospi- tal in Toronto. Willoughby has raised more than $7,000 so far for St. Jo- seph's Health Care Foundation. People can make donations at swim4mentalhealth.ca. LT For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com. Get more online Canadian Lawyer | Law Times | 4Students | InHouse | Legal Feeds lawtimesnews.com • canadianlawyermag.com www.lawtimesnews.com Visit Us Online 1-8-5X.indd 1 2/28/11 2:37:34 PM Fresh Canadian legal news and analysis every day "Every cloud computer has a silicon lining." DAVID VS. GOLIATH IN SLURPEE SUIT NEW YORK — A 74-year- old woman who said she was injured after falling in a Costco store in Florida beat back the retailer's eff ort to move the case to that state because it was too much trouble to defend itself in New York. Th eresa Danza sued Costco in her hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y., claim- ing she was hospitalized for spinal and shoulder trauma and needed months of treat- ment by a chiropractor after a tumble in a Costco in North Miami, Fla., on Jan. 24, 2009. "I didn't know what hit me," she said. "I just went fl ying. I went up in the air and down I went. It seems I slipped on a slurpee that was all over the fl oor." Costco sought to move her case to Florida. It said it would be prejudiced if the case stayed in New York and cited the cost of locating and interviewing witnesses. Not so, New York State Supreme Court Justice Ar- thur Schack said in a decision late last month. Schack said it would be more inconvenient for Danza to fl y her witnesses to Flor- ida than for Costco to fl y its employee witnesses to New York. — Reuters September 5, 2011 • Law timeS George said. Bizarre Briefs By Viola James PENIS AMPUTEE'S LAWSUIT REJECTED LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky doctor acted prop- erly when he amputated part of a truck driver's penis after fi nding cancer during what was expected to have been a routine circumcision surgery in 2007, a jury has found. Phillip Seaton, 64, had sought $16 million in dam- ages against Dr. John Patter- son for performing the par- tial amputation after he dis- covered a cancerous tumour on Seaton's penis during the surgery, which had been ex- pected to uncover a fungal infection. Jurors in Shelby County Circuit Court near Louisville quickly reached a verdict in favour of Patterson, a Frank- fort, Ky., doctor. Th e jury of six men and six women ruled unanimously against a claim that Patterson had failed to exercise proper care. Th ey also ruled 10-2 against a claim that Seaton hadn't consented to the am- putation. Seaton, from Mount Eden, Ky., declined to com- ment after the verdict. His lawyer, Kevin George, said he planned to appeal. A surgeon can't change the agreed upon procedure "unless the patient's health is in immediate danger, un- less he's in danger of dying immediately on the table," A key question in the case was whether Patterson should have awakened Seaton and asked for permission to make the amputation. Doctors testifying as medical experts on both sides disagreed on whether an immediate am- putation was necessary. — Reuters CUTS SPARK TOWN'S OWN CURRENCY ROME — A small town in central Italy is trying to go in- dependent and mint its own money in protest against gov- ernment austerity cuts. Filettino, set in rugged hill country about 100 kilo- metres east of Rome, is re- belling against a proposal to merge the governments of towns with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants to save money. Filettino has roughly 550 people, but instead of mer- ging with neighbouring Tre- vi, Mayor Luca Sellari is try- ing to go it alone and set up a "principality" along the lines of the famous republic of San Marino to the north. He has started minting Filettino's own bank cur- rency, the "Fiorito," with his photo on the back, which he says is already being used by the townsfolk. "We aim to achieve real autonomy from Italy and we have the fi nancial resources to do it," Sellari said in an inter- view on the town's web site. Mayors from all over Italy are up in arms about propos- als to cut local government funding and merge small towns as part of an austerity plan to balance the country's budget by 2013. — Reuters LT

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