Law Times

March 26, 2012

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MEDICAL CLASS ACTIONS P2 Lawyers surprised at certification ruling Follow on ELECTRONIC COURTS Problems go beyond missing document case P7 FOCUS ON Energy Law www.twitter.com/lawtimes $4.00 • Vol. 23, No. 11 Untitled-3 1 COVERING ONTARIO'S LEGAL SCENE • WWW.LAWTIMESNEWS.COM L AW TIMES 5/5/10 3:55:30 PM ntitled-4 1 BY MEREDITH MORRISON For Law Times H alton police arson investigators are looking into a fi re that leſt Oakville, Ont., litigation law fi rm Will Davidson LLP with signifi cant damage. Last Monday at 8:09 p.m., Oakville authorities received a call that a fi re had broken out at 1464 Cornwall Rd. Th e build- ing is where the Oakville offi ce of Will Davidson is located. "It was pretty extensive," says Andy Glynn, deputy fi re chief of the Oakville fi re department of the damage caused by the blaze. "We plugged the entire loss of the entire building and contents at about $500,000. Th ere is obviously a lot of fi re damage, but substantial water dam- age as well, and smoke damage throughout the remainder of the building." Glynn notes the law fi rm, which is on the second fl oor of the building, was heavily damaged and close to where the fi re was. "A large section of the building was severely aff ected and in fact the roof has caved in," he says. Authorities got word of the blaze approximately one hour aſt er the last person had leſt the building. Th e cause of the fi re isn't immediately apparent and the Ontario Offi ce of the Fire Marshal is looking into the incident. Th e fi re met the criteria to bring the offi ce on board mostly due to the dollar value of the damage. An investigator has been assigned. "Th ey [were] there on scene [last Tuesday], but because of the damage, they have to wait for some heavy machinery to start peeling back the build- ing before they can enter in," says Glynn. Sgt. Dave Cross of the Halton Regional Police Service says that the arson unit is also aiding in the investigation. While there's no real suspicion of foul play, the time of day the fi re started and the length of time between then and when it was reported have investigators asking questions. "Th ere were still people around," says Glynn. "Generally speaking, the fi res at three in the morning, nobody's around so the fi re can really get a head start. But at that particular time of day, there are still people driving around and in parking lots." A fire last Monday at 1464 Cornwall Rd. left Oakville law firm Will Davidson LLP heavily damaged. Glynn didn't say exactly how long the fi re had been burning before authorities were called but notes it had been going on for a while. No representative from Will Davidson was available Photo: Robin Kuniski for comment. One woman was taken to Oakville-Trafalgar Me- morial Hospital for minor smoke inhalation. She wasn't inside the building during the blaze. LT P8 March 26, 2012 12-03-20 10:44 A While no real suspicion of foul play, investigators are asking questions Oakville law firm damaged by fire BY KENDYL SEBESTA Law Times C There has been a realization 'that judicial dis- cretion plays an important role in cases where different individuals respond to things in differ- ent ways,' says Patricia Hughes. iting the Law Commis- sion of Ontario's recent recommendations to re- form the Provincial Of- fences Act, a justice of the peace has exercised her discretion to show leniency towards a woman who pocketed thousands of dollars in a travel agency scheme. Writing in the March 1 deci- sion of R. v. Perruzza, Justice of the Peace Mary Ross Hendriks found that while Franca Perruzza's actions were "deliberate and destructive" and had caused "suff ering to many travellers who were leſt stranded in Europe, without fl ights home," the law commission's report on the modernization of the Provincial Off ences Act, along with provisions of the Travel Industry Act, would aff ord some leniency in granting an intermittent jail sentence based on Perruzza's personal conditions. "I agree with the law commis- sion's recommendations," Hendriks wrote, noting the two acts allowed her to consider a wider variety of sanctions than other statutes allow. Th e law commission's recom- mendations would see the court have the authority to make pro- bation orders for all provincial off ences under Part 3 of the act within a regulatory context; make express freestanding restitution; and use victim-impact statements in its judgment. Perruzza received a sentence of 90 days in jail with the condition that she could serve her time on the weekends to care for her ailing par- ents and young child. Th e court also ordered her to make restitution to fi ve victims. In addition, as part of the conditions of a probation order, Perruzza must inform the registrar of the Travel Industry Act of any employment in that sector. Perruzza, of Vaughan, Ont., had previously owned Travel Re- tailer, a numbered travel company that she voluntarily terminated the registration for in September 2009. Roughly a month later, Per- ruzza began working as an outside sales representative for Hospitality Tours. While working under con- tract with the travel company, she funnelled some of her bookings through Travel Retailer, pocketing the money along the way. See Judges, page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com KPI_LT_Mar26_12.indd 1 12-03-20 10:58 AM JP cites LCO report in exercising discretion PM #40762529

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