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March 5, 2012

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PAGE 16 March 5, 2012 • Law TiMes u BIZARRE BRIEFS By Viola James THIEVES TARGETING LOVERS' PADLOCKS COLOGNE, Germany — Remember those locks couples were romantically attaching to a bridge in Toronto a couple of months back? It seems some- one in Germany thinks the locks have value. According to Reuters, German police have caught two thieves breaking open the lovers' pad- locks attached to a bridge over the Rhine River in the city of Cologne. The pair were cutting padlocks, left by amorous couples to symbolize their eternal love, off a railing on the Hohenzollern Bridge presumably to sell as scrap metal, police said. "I spotted two men on the other side of the bridge tampering with the lovers' padlocks, so I called for backup straight away," Reuters quoted a police officer as saying. The men tried to escape with their loot after spotting police but were appre- hended on the bridge. Police discovered more than 50 padlocks along with lock cutters in a trolley suitcase wheeled along by the men. The pair will appear in court on charg- es of property damage, police said. Love-struck couples have been fastening pad- locks to railings of bridges, engraving them with their initials or adding a few sentimental words, and then tossing the keys into the rivers below to symbolize their eternal love. LAWYERS AMONG RICH FOLKS PAWNING WINES BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Talk about a liquidat- ing bankruptcy case. According to Reuters, fine wines are among the items pawnbrokers will accept as collateral for loans as a practice common in Britain and France catches on across the Atlantic. Liquidity issues can be found on most rungs of the economic ladder, the pawnbrokers said. "You'd be amazed by how many wealthy indi- viduals have terrible credit ratings. And besides, if you go to a bank, it can take weeks or months to get a loan. When we make a loan, it's usually the same day," said Jordan Tabach-Bank, head of Beverly Loan Co. In an office above a Bank of America Corp. branch in Beverly Hills, the pawnshop for the prosperous regularly lends to hedge-fund manag- ers, bankers, lawyers, doctors, and occasionally Oscar winners. "Most people have a vision of pawnshops as sad sites. But that's not the case here," Tabach-Bank said. "I have a lot of people who come in who have a business opportunity and they need an infusion of cash for business purposes." USGoldBuyers.com, an online pawnbroker with an office in New York City's diamond district, will also accept fine wines as collateral, spokesman Jose Caba said. While the wealthy like their "expensive toys, unfortunately, sometimes they don't have the liquid assets, so to speak, to keep up their toys. That's where we come in." Interest rates and length of the loans vary widely. A British-based pawnbroker, borro.com, recent- ly lent $120,000 in exchange for 128 bottles of Château d'Yquem. The golden Sauternes were actually worth an estimated at $250,000, Reuters reported. Within the last three weeks, borro.com had taken a case of 1989 Château Pétrus, valued at about $38,000, for a loan of $24,000, said chief executive Paul Aitken. His clients, whose net worth ranges from $1 million to $10 million, use the loans "for liquidity — no pun intended. They're mostly small-business owners who basically are just waiting on payments and managing cash flows." ROBBER THREATENS BANKS WITH NUCLEAR WEAPON CLINTON, Md. — The federal government might have a stronger case for mandatory minimum sen- tences if it were like this Maryland community and had a robber going around threatening to detonate a nuclear weapon. According to the Washington Post, police a re searching for a man linked to robberies at four banks in recent months. In each case, he handed a note demanding money and threatening to blow up a nuclear weapon. While he didn't show any evidence of actually having a device, he made off on foot with an undetermined amount of cash follow- ing a robbery last week at an M&T Bank. LT u The INSIDE STORY BOWLING FUNDRAISER FOR HUNGER PROGRAM Lawyers are hoping for strong participation in next month's bowling fundraiser for the Law- yers Feed the Hungry program. Th e fourth annual Law Firm Bowling Challenge takes place on April 1 at Playtime Bowl at 33 Samor Rd. in Toronto. "Th is program is in such demand that the fi nancial requirements to keep it running are considerable," said event co-chairman Joseph Neuberger. Th e goal is to raise $125,000 this year. Each month, the program pro- Joseph Neuberger vides 9,000 meals for free at Osgoode Hall. For more information on the fundraiser, see lawyersfeedthehungry.ca. YORK, BALSILLIE NEARING $60M DEAL York University and Research In Motion Ltd. co-founder Jim Balsillie are nearing a $60-million deal to create 10 research chairs and 20 gradu- ate scholarships within the next several weeks. Th e partnership, which in- cludes the Centre for Interna- tional Governance Innovation, would involve $30 million from Balsillie and another $30 million in provincial funds from Ontar- io's 2010 budget for research at the university into the modern challenges of international law. Th e centre has faced criticism from some of the university's faculty members about threats to academic freedom and au- tonomy. But Balsillie has put his name to a protocol that he said will "promote and protect aca- demic freedom." Th e chairs and scholarships will be open to any faculty members proposing an interna- tional law project, according to the university's web site. Two- thirds of the chairs will be based in Waterloo, Ont., and will com- mute to York. Areas of research could range from international fi - nance regulation to global en- vironmental law. CBA CONCERNED ABOUT BILL C-31 Th e Canadian Bar Association is raising concerns about pro- posed amendments to federal im- migration legislation that it says unfairly targets people seeking refugee status in Canada. Bill C-31, protecting Canada's immigration system act, would al- low Canada to designate irregular arrivals as suspicious and would limit the appeal process in such cases in an eff ort to curb fake refu- gee claims. But CBA member Mario Bel- "Attendance sure has increased since we replaced Big Game Night with Big Interactive Legal Continuing Professional Development Night. Don't sell as much drinks though." 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 lissimo said that while the bill's objective of deterring fraudulent claims is well intended, it might create problems that could unfair- ly target claims by refugees genu- inely seeking protection. "We laud the objective of the legislation to deter fraudulent claims," said Bellissimo, who's also treasurer of the CBA's national im- migration law section. "Unfortunately, what is pro- posed will profoundly alter the landscape for refugee protection by limiting rights and privileges and impeding access to the appeal process for legitimate immigrants and refugees." Specifi cally, the CBA says it considers the penalty scheme in bill C-31 to be overly harsh. It ar- gues the denial of detention re- views breaches international agree- ments as well as protections in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "Bill C-31 has removed the ob- jective criteria introduced in the previous draſt legislation with re- spect to designation of countries whose nationals are subject to expedited claims processing and loss of appeal rights," said Joshua Sohn, chairman of the immigra- tion section. "Th e proposed legislation lacks clear qualitative thresholds and raises serious concern about ex- cessive ministerial discretion." In addition, the CBA says the bill could undermine or eliminate the rights and privileges of some claimants, including their ability to apply for and retain permanent resident status. But Immigration Minister Ja- son Kenney said during a par- liamentary debate on the bill last month that it would make Cana- da's immigration system fairer and less arduous. "With the reform we are pro- posing, the system will continue to be the fairest in the world. Canada is going to provide pro- tection for real refugees within two months instead of two years under the current system. At the same time, we are going to address the wave of fake claims for asylum from democratic countries," said Kenney. LT

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