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October 24, 2011

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Litigation Support Our cost effective service scans and indexes your documents into a quickly searchable database. Call us today, we can help! TF: 1.888.781.9083 www.docudavit.com ntitled-2 1 $4.00 • Vol. 22, No. 33 7/7/11 9:10:05 AM Inside This Issue 4 Extreme Delay Covering Ontario's Legal Scene titled-10 1 October 24, 2011 11-08-31 2:53 P SCC nominations leave gap O BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times ntario legal watchers are turning their attention to the province's Court of Appeal after the federal 6 Polite Affair government raided that body to fill both of its Supreme Court of Canada vacancies last week. Justice Michael Moldaver was one of the longest-serving judges on the appeal court bench having been there since 1995, while Justice Andromache Karakatsanis spent 19 months there before making the step up to the country's top court. Joseph Neuberger, a criminal defence 8 Focus On Trusts & Estates Law Quote of the week "Rectification is an effective way to solve a tax problem that arose from a good-faith error that did not reflect a testator's intention." — Brian Wilson, Wilson Vukelich LLP, See Rectification, Page 12 lawyer with Neuberger Rose LLP in To- ronto, says the Supreme Court will ben- efit from "two very strong candidates." He points to Karakatsanis' expertise in admin- istrative law and Moldaver's background in criminal matters, an area left particularly exposed on the top court bench following the departure of Justice Louise Charron. "Both are tough acts to follow for the Court of Appeal, and the government will have to think very hard about who's going to replace them," says Neuberger. "That becomes a really pressing job now. The gaps will be sig- nificant, especially in trying to replace Justice Moldaver's knowledge. He's been there since 1995 and he's a very engaging judge with a tremendous breadth of knowledge. And that's on top of his experience as a criminal lawyer." Greg Lafointaine, another Toronto criminal lawyer, says he hopes the federal government will move quickly to fill the new Filling the gap at the appeal court 'becomes a really pressing job now,' says Joseph Neuberger. vacancies. The transfer of Karakatsanis will leave the appeal court with 22 judges, includ- ing Chief Justice Warren Winkler and Associ- ate Chief Justice Dennis O'Connor. "It's a very busy court, so we're looking for some appointments pretty quickly," says Lafon- taine. "It's a hard-working court and to lose two very active judges leaves a large void." James Morton, former president of the Ontario Bar Association, says the appoint- ments to that court will have a much greater impact for most in the province. While the Ontario Court of Appeal hears more than 1,000 appeals and 1,000 motions each year, the Supreme Court heard just 65 appeals in 2010. Less than three per cent of appeals to Ontario's appeal court end up getting a hear- ing at the Supreme Court of Canada. "The Supreme Court of Canada is very important, but for most of us on a day-to- day level, the court that really matters is the Court of Appeal," says Morton. "If there is a political agenda in the government, we'll see it by looking at the appointments to the Court of Appeal level because that's where the vast See Moldaver, page 5 Global work leaves lasting impression O BY KENDYL SEBESTA Law Times ne day several years ago, a little girl in a yellow raincoat stood watch- ing and waiting inside an expan- sive Indian brothel. It was an image Bruce Long would never forget. "I just wanted to run over to 'It's a life-changing thing when you meet the individuals and listen to them tell their stories,' says Justice Kenneth Pedlar. her and rescue her," says Long, a lawyer and volunteer with Inter- national Justice Mission Canada (IJM). "The image has been in my head ever since. I wanted to rescue her so badly." In an effort to end these in- stances, the IJM assists victims of violent circumstances. To do this, its lawyers, social workers, and investigators work with local officials to protect victims. They work across Asia, Africa, and Latin America by intervening in indi- vidual cases of abuse. "In Cambodia, for example, the sex trafficking of children is a huge problem, an issue that IJM has been working to combat," says Hiroko Sawai, who has vol- unteered with IJM for the past six years. "A few years ago, I had the privilege of being in Cambodia and meeting some of the girls who had been rescued from sex traf- ficking. A former brothel build- ing from which IJM had rescued 37 victims in 2003 has now been turned into a community centre by one of IJM's partner organi- zations. Among those who come to volunteer at this community Attention turns to Ontario body as Moldaver, Karakatsanis leave centre are girls who themselves had been victims of sex traffick- ing. I found it really inspiring to see the victims coming back to the place where they were abused because they came back as leaders and models of hope. I found that incredibly moving." On Nov. 1, IJM will host a benefit dinner at The National Club in Toronto. The dinner will feature guest speaker Justice Ken- neth Pedlar of the Ontario Supe- rior Court of Justice. All proceeds will go to support IJM's work. Among its projects, Sawai notes that IJM has been working in Cambodia since 2003 to rescue women and children forced into the sex trade. In fact, 60 per cent of people in in the sex trade report See Coercion, page 5 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

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