Law Times

Billions of dollars invested, not a penny lost. $4.00 • Vol. 22, No. 34 ntitled-2 1 7/7/11 9:10:05 AM Inside This Issue Covering Ontario's Legal Scene ntitled-3 1 Strosberg recovers 3 after stroke left him 'powerless' Novel Case 7 Costly Litigation 9 Focus On Real Estate Law Quote of the week "Lawyers have to be aware of the intricacies of real estate fraud as it can be very sophisticated. Not so much in the smaller cities, but in the bigger centres it is a huge prob- lem that can affect many clients." — Douglas Shanks, Cheadles LLP, See Lawyers, Page 11 BY RON STANG For Law Times WINDSOR, Ont. — Civil litigator Harvey Strosberg says he "went from powerful to powerless in the blink of a stroke." In September 2010, Strosberg, considered one of the country's leading class action law- yers, had just spoken at last year's Ontario Bar Association civil litigation award cer- emony for the late Bonnie Tough. "Thirty- six hours later, I had a stroke on Oct. 1 at 8 o'clock in the morning," he says. Strosberg, who splits his time between Windsor and Toronto, was taken to Toronto Western Hospital. "It was frightening," he says in a slow and studied voice as he regains full use of his speech and vocabulary. "It was painfully excruciating." Then he had another stroke and entered a coma for more than a week. When he regained consciousness, he was denied food and water. Because he had lost his ability to speak, he had the added frustra- tion of not even being able to ask for wa- ter. "I couldn't say please get me water. . . . I couldn't speak, and they wouldn't give me water." The problem was that he was unable to swal- low and hospital staff feared water would go into his lungs. "I lost 40 pounds," he says. "It's a hell of a way to lose weight. Please don't do it. It's not worth it." Strosberg was diagnosed with aphasia, the temporary loss of language ability. As a October 31, 2011 5/4/10 2:49:21 PM 'I want to be an example for people who are disabled,' says Harvey Strosberg. result, he could say only four words: wow, consequences, Paul, and Franklin. He has no idea why he remembered those words or their significance. Strosberg could walk but couldn't speak. "God played a terrible trick on me," he says jok- ingly. "I was a trial lawyer who could not speak." He ended up at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, where he was a patient for a month and immediately began therapy to restore his speech and cognitive skills. His first piece of news from the outside world was that his licence had been suspended. See Strosberg, page 4 Fortier leaves Norton Rose with 'heavy heart' M BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times aking a break from the firm where he has spent his entire legal 'It's with a heavy heart that I've decided to leave what will always be for me Ogilvy Renault,' says Yves Fortier. career has "lifted a load off my shoulders," says former Ogilvy Renault LLP chairman Yves Fortier. Fortier is leaving Norton Rose OR LLP on Dec. 31, a move that will close a half-century chapter in his own life and that of the firm and its predecessor. He'll continue his international arbitration practice indepen- dently from offices in Montreal and London. Fortier tells Law Times that conflict issues started causing him problems when Ogilvys officially joined the Norton Rose Group in June of this year. "That started to give me bel- lyaches because every time I re- ceived an appointment to act as arbitrator, I had to run conflict checks throughout the Norton Rose Group, which is very active globally," says Fortier. "It was ac- centuated in early October when Norton Rose decided to merge with Macleod Dixon, which expanded my potential conflict situations." Fortier joined Ogilvys in 1961. He took leave between 1988 and 1992 to serve as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, where he be- came vice president of the 45th General Assembly. He returned to the firm as chairman in 1992 and continued in that role until 2009. Fortier says his deep roots at the firm made for a wrenching choice. "It's with a heavy heart that I've decided to leave what will al- ways be for me Ogilvy Renault. It was not an easy decision be- cause it's almost 50 years but it was an inevitable decision and one that I'm more than ever con- vinced was the right one. I feel very relieved. It has lifted a load off my shoulders." The move has had an instant impact. Fortier has already re- ceived two offers to serve on in- ternational tribunals. "I told them I wouldn't need to run the conflict check because from January I will no longer be a See Many, page 4 ADR Connect: Find an ADR Professional 416-487-4447 • admin@adrontario.ca Untitled-2 1 Mediators Arbitrators www.adrontario.ca/findapro.cfm Gold Standard www.lawtimesnews.com 5/20/11 1:11:30 PM

• Cover
• Novel Case
• Costly Litigation
• Focus On Real Estate Law