Law Times

Page 16 august 24, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com LAWYERS HONOURED BY OUT ON BAY STREET A few lawyers are among those recog- nized by Out on Bay Street as part of its Leaders to be Proud of Awards. The awards recognize achievements or service in Canada's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and ally community. Lawyers honoured by the organization in- clude Brad Berg, a partner at Blake Cas- sels & Graydon LLP, and Aird & Ber- lis LLP counsel Angela Swan. Both re- ceived the professional leadership award. Receiving the emerging leader award is Angela Chaisson of Ruby & Shiller. Out on Bay Street will rec- ognize the recipients at an awards reception on Sept. 17 at the Art Gallery of Ontario. MAN PLEADS GUILTY OVER NOT-SO-ROYAL FLUSH ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Flushing fake poker chips down the toilet probably isn't the best way of preventing the casino from discovering what you did. According to Reuters, a North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to charges he brought counterfeit chips to an Atlantic City poker tournament in a scheme discovered after he f lushed $2.7 million of the chips down a toilet in his hotel room. Christian Lusardi, 43, of Fayetteville, N.C., could face five years in prison at his Oct. 22 sentencing after pleading guilty to trademark counterfeiting and criminal mischief before New Jersey Superior Court Judge Bernard De- Lury in Atlantic County, authorities said. The chips turned up on Jan. 16, 2014, two days after the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City began hosting its Winter Poker Open in which Lusardi was a participant. Authorities said Lusardi f lushed more than 500 fake chips down the toilet in his room at the nearby Harrah's Casino Hotel, clogging a pipe and causing a leak in the sewer line in two adjoining rooms. State gaming authorities cancelled the tour- nament on Jan. 18, 2014, when another 22 fake chips turned up in a clogged toilet in a Borgata men's room. "When you gamble on a f lush in high- stakes poker, you either win big or lose big," Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said in a statement. "Lusardi lost big." According to Reuters, Lusardi must also pay Borgata $463,540 for lost tournament revenue, and Harrah's $9,455 for plumbing damage. MAN STYMIED IN BID TO PAY $25 TICKET IN PENNIES CHAMBERSBURG, Penn. — It's a lot of effort to go through, but a Pennsylvania handyman has made his point with his bid to pay a $25 ticket in pennies. According to Reuters, town officials have denied satisfaction only for the time being to a man who protested a $25 parking ticket by try- ing to pay it with 2,500 pennies. "Every penny I have is stretched to the lim- it," said Greene, who showed up at the Cham- bersburg finance department with 2,500 of the coins only to learn that pennies and nick- els aren't legal tender for transactions over 25 cents under federal law. Greene, 35, said he got the ticket earlier that day when he returned to a house to pick up tools from an earlier job. He said he parked on the wrong side of the street, went inside for 10 minutes, and was un- happy to see the parking ticket on his truck when he came out. "It was about how belittled I felt because of being parked this way and being charged so much when it wasn't inconveniencing anyone," said Greene, whose wife is a stay-at-home mom to their three young children. Chambersburg Borough manager Jeffrey Stonehill said in a press release that with the repeal of the federal law, the department would accept coin payments in the future. Still, Stonehill said he doesn't support Greene's form of protest. "Tormenting a borough cashier, rather than pleading not guilty to the offence in a court of law, which is his right, is not an appropriate protest in my opinion," said Stonehill in the press release. Greene said he had since paid for the ticket with mostly paper money. "I just want to prove a point. More people need to stand up for themselves," he said. "They were enforcing a law that's been ve- toed for years. What other laws are there like that?" LT ARE YOU RECEIVING CANADIAN LEGAL NEWSWIRE? Keep abreast of essential late-breaking legal news and developments with our electronic newswire. VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM AND LOOK UNDER "LINKS" SIGN UP FOR FREE From the publisher of and Untitled-5 1 14-05-27 1:38 PM u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story NEW JUDGES APPOINTED The provincial government has appointed two new judges to the Ontario Court of Justice. The new judges, whose ap- pointments are effective Aug. 26, will preside in Kitchener, Ont. The first is Craig Parry, who was called to the bar in 1998 and has been a sole practitioner in Kitchener for 13 years. A director of the Criminal Lawyers' Asso- ciation for the Waterloo Region since 2008, Parry primarily prac- tised criminal law but also dealt with family and civil matters. Also appointed to the bench is Melanie Sopinka, who has been an assistant Crown attor- ney for the last 14 years. Before joining the Ministry of the At- torney General, she served as litigation counsel at the Ontario Securities Commission. NEW RULING IN GUERGIS LITIGATION The litigation involving former MP Helena Guergis against Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, lawyer Arthur Hamilton, a former Conservative colleague, and a private investigator contin- ues with the Superior Court rejecting the law firm's attempt to strike parts of the plaintiff 's amended statement of claim. In an Aug. 4 ruling, the court considered Hamilton and the law firm's move to strike several paragraphs of the new pleading they alleged weren't consistent with an earlier ruling or ten- able at law. Among other things, Guergis alleges Hamilton breached his duties to her when he acted to undermine her ef- forts to return to the Conserva- tive caucus. None of the allega- tions have been proven in court. In deciding the matter, Justice Charles Hackland found cer- tain issues with Guergis' pleading but he allowed her to amend it. BLAKES LAWYER JOINS CORPORATE BOUTIQUE Jillian Swartz has left Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP to join corporate law boutique Al- len McDonald LLP. The firm, now called Allen McDonald Swartz LLP, fo- cuses on corporate law, capital markets transactions, and secu- rities law. Swartz had practised at Blakes for almost 20 years. "Jillian's going to be an out- standing addition to our team, not only because of her years of experience, but also because of her enthusiasm, entrepreneurial spirit, and true dedication to her clients. We are thrilled for this new phase in our partnership and especially for the enhanced scope of expertise this will bring to our clients," said Jennifer Al- len, a partner at the firm. NEW OSC VICE CHAIRMAN NAMED The Ontario Securities Com- mission has tapped Norton Rose Fulbright's Grant Vin- goe to serve as a vice chairman of the regulator. Vingoe, a graduate of Os- goode Hall Law School, has worked as a partner at interna- tional law firms in Toronto and New York, most recently with Norton Rose Fulbright. "Grant's extensive experi- ence as a leader on cross-border securities initiatives, along with his strong background in cor- porate governance and regula- tory policy, make him the ideal candidate," said OSC chairman Howard Wetston. LT "It's a defence counsel." Angela Chaisson

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