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PAGE 20 WillBuilder Tel: 416.322.6111 Toll-free: 1.866.367.7648 doprocess com ntitled-2 1 The LEGAL AID BOYCOTT Criminal lawyers throughout the province continue to protest what they call an inadequate legal aid tariff, and lawyers from more cities have now added their support. Criminal Lawyers' Associa- tion president Frank Addario says criminal defence lawyers in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, which includes Guelph, have jumped on board. Craig Parry, the association's regional director for the area, said senior lawyers there have agreed not to take on any homicides or cases arising from Toronto's Guns and Gangs Task Force. "Our members never refuse to represent someone because of their income or family wealth," said Parry in a statement. "But the legal aid program leaves working people and the middle class at a severe dis- advantage when they get caught up in the legal system. "I have a case right now where I can't hire the experts I need to defend someone because legal aid is so squeezed for money. The Crown has two high-quality ex- perts whose opinions I can't chal- lenge. Experts cost a lot. Rich people can go to court with the lawyer of their choice and meet the other side evenly. For every- one else, it's a mismatch." LCO DISABILITY PROJECT LAUNCHED The Law Commission of Ontario has initiated a public consultation that aims to uncover how the law affects persons with disabilities. The consultation is the start of a "major project" the LCO hopes will prompt a new approach to this area of law, specifically the creation of a new definition of "disability" in legal terms, said the commission in a release. "Given the increased occurrence of disability associated with aging, almost everyone will, at some point in their lives, either experience dis- ability or have a family member who does," said Patricia Hughes, executive director of the LCO. Hughes added that persons with disabilities deal with barri- ers in education and employment, and are more likely to live on low incomes, and to be on the receiv- ing end of violent crime and do- mestic assault. Reinventing the Will www Inside Story "This suggests a need to critical- ly examine current legal approaches to disability issues and to develop a new framework of principles for this area of the law," she said. Responses to the consultation paper will be accepted until Au- gust 28. OSGOODE SOCIETY ANNOUNCES WINNERS The Osgoode Society for Cana- dian Legal History has unveiled a group of recent award recipients. Mary Stokes, a doctoral student in legal history at Os- goode Hall Law School who is working on the history of municipal law in 19th century Ontario, will receive the R. Roy McMurtry Fellowship in Legal History. The fellowship supports scholars conducting research in Canadian legal history. Myles Leslie, a doctoral stu- dent at the University of Toronto, will claim the Peter Oliver Prize in Canadian Legal History for his article, "Reforming the Coroner: Death Investigation Manuals in Ontario 1863-1894," published in Ontario History, 2008. The prize is awarded annually for a published work in Canadian legal history written by a student. Janet Ajzenstat, professor emer- ita at McMaster University, is the first winner of the John T. Saywell Prize for Canadian Constitutional Legal History for her book, The Canadian Founding: John Locke and Parliament. The Saywell Prize is given biannually to the best new book in Canadian legal history that makes an important contribution to an understanding of the consti- tution and/or federalism. LAWYER DISBARRED The Law Society of Upper Canada has revoked Robert Allan Hor- wood's licence to practise. The Mississauga lawyer was called to the bar in 1974. The LSUC hearing panel found that Horwood had engaged in profes- sional misconduct for failing to "substantively respond to com- munications from the law soci- ety," and failing to "comply with his undertaking to the law society to reply promptly to all communi- cations to the law society." LT For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com "Gimme all your cups of coffee!" ™ JuLy 13/20, 2009 • Law Times Bizarre 2/2/09 10:53:45 AM CAN'T WE JUST GET ALONG? BURLINGAME, Calif. — One would think that instead of tak- ing your biggest fans to court, you'd try to work something out to the benefit of all. But that's not the case with the makers of Pez candy who are suing the owners of a California Pez memorabilia museum for copyright infringement. The Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia sports a 2.35-metre giant Pez dis- penser topped with the head of a snowman. The 38.5-kilo- gram functioning replica is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest Pez dis- penser in the world. The Pez suit alleges museum owners Gary Doss and Nancy Yarbrough Doss have infringed the company's copyright. It claims the Dosses "deceive the public into thinking that the museum is operating under the authority of Pez." The suit seeks unspecified damages and asks that the big of- fending dispenser be destroyed. The suit also takes issue with other uses of Pez products, which the company claims put a politi- cal spin on them, and the selling of Pez-related t-shirts. Can't we all just get along and benefit from our mutual love of Pez for the betterment of all? NOT WELCOME HERE LONDON, England — Fami- lies living in an apartment block have been told to get rid of their welcome mats because they are Briefs By Viola James a health and safety risk. Annette Ball, a grandmother who lives in the building in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, says the rules are just too much. First they were told to re- move pot plants because they create trip hazards and fire risks. Then came the edict on the wel- come mats on their porches. But town officials claim that if there's a fire and people have to evacuate, they could trip over such obstacles as the mats and plants. Ball and her neighbours won't take it lying down. "We've tried to make our porches homely, but we're not even allowed to have a picture on the wall. "We are going to be offi- cially appealing against these new rules." NEW COP CHARGED WITH ROBBERY AUBURN, Ga. — Obviously a specific course on this is needed at the police academy: thou shalt not steal, especially when in uniform. Seems that obvious rule needed to be a bit more explicit for one new Gwinnett County, Ga., police recruit who not only broke in and stole a PlaySta- tion video game console from a second-floor apartment while in uniform, but nicked it from a neighbour. This serious lapse in judg- ment has cost Sean Filyaw, 24, his potential slot with the local constabulary. Filyaw, a cadet in the Gwin- nett County Police Department's training academy, has opted to resign in lieu of being terminated, said Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli. Filyaw was arrested and charged with felony burglary. He was given the option to resign because "he has yet to be convicted of the charges," said Schiralli. TAKE THAT! NEW ORLEANS, La. — Churches and law enforcement in Livingston Parish, La., have had it with the private com- pany that runs photo radar in the area. Redflex Traffic Systems, an Australian company, uses a Ford Escape SUV to issue automated tickets worth between US$100 and $464 each within the parish. The mobile vans, however, often park on private property including, apparently, on peo- ple's front lawns and in church parking lots. Enough was enough for the Carroll Baptist Church, which last week had the Redflex van towed from its property for parking without permission. A Redflex representative ap- parently went off on a towing company employee about the incident, says a statement from the local sheriff's office. Fed up with the whole thing, the cops have pulled the plug on photo radar in the parish. "Due to a recent series of events regarding Redflex and its representatives, the Livings- ton Parish Sheriff's Office is discontinuing its participation in the parish's photo enforce- ment program commonly re- ferred to as 'the speeder van,'" the statement explained. LT Seen, heard, or been involved in a bizarre brief? Tell Viola James about it at viola.james@gmail. com. www.lawtimesnews.com