Law Times

PAGE 6 COMMENT Law Times Group Publisher ....... Karen Lorimer Editorial Director ....... Gail J. Cohen Editor ........... Gretchen Drummie Associate Editor ......... Robert Todd Staff Writer ............. Glenn Kauth Copy Editor ............. Neal Adams CaseLaw Editor ...... Jennifer Wright Art Director .......... Alicia Adamson Production Co-ordinator . . Catherine Giles Electronic Production Specialist ............. Derek Welford Advertising Sales .... Kimberlee Pascoe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathy Liotta Sales Co-ordinator ......... Sandy Shutt ©Law Times Inc. 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times Inc. disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. May 25, 2009 • Law TiMes Law Times Inc. 240 Edward Street, Aurora, ON • L4G 3S9 Tel: 905-841-6481 • Fax: 905-727-0017 www.lawtimesnews.com President: Stuart J. Morrison Publications Mail Agreement Number 40762529 • ISSN 0847-5083 Law Times is published 40 times a year by Law Times Inc. 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 • 905-841-6481. lawtimes@clbmedia.ca CIRCULATIONS & SUBSCRIPTIONS $141.75 per year in Canada (GST incl., GST Reg. #R121351134) and US$266.25 for foreign addresses. Single copies are $3.55 Circulation inquiries, postal returns and address changes should include a copy of the mailing label(s) and should be sent to Law Times Inc. 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9. Return postage guaranteed. Contact Kristen Schulz-Lacey at: kschulz-lacey@clbmedia.ca or Tel: 905-713-4355 • Toll free: 1-888-743-3551 or Fax: 905-841-4357. ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries and materials should be directed to Sales, Law Times, 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 or call Karen Lorimer at 905-713-4339 klorimer@clb- media.ca, Kimberlee Pascoe at 905-713-4342 kpascoe@clbmedia.ca, or Kathy Liotta at 905- 713- 4340 kliotta@clbmedia.ca or Sandy Shutt at 905-713-4337 sshutt@clbmedia.ca Law Times is printed on newsprint containing 25-30 per cent post-consumer recycled materials. Please recycle this newspaper. Editorial Obiter Justice David Humphrey: touchdown of a life T here are two ways to hold court. Superior Court justice David Humphrey was a master at both. During the 1990s and early 2000s I covered the courts for one of the Toronto newspapers. Based in a tiny office at 361 University Ave., I toiled day-in-and-day-out with my "partner in crime" longtime courts reporter Sam Pazzano. During those many years of being involved with our jus- tice system as an observer, I got to know the players, if not personally, certainly by their work. In fact, if you want to know who the good lawyers are, ask the courts reporters — they see everyone in action. The same can be said about judges: they get to see most of the legal eagles, albeit from a different perspective than the scribes. And, while I saw nearly all of the judges mete out justice from their perches, I admit I had my favourites. One of them was Humphrey — a.k.a. "The Tripper." I I don't think I was the only re- porter who had a soft spot for "Mer- ciful Dave." Pazzano and I had more than one verbal wrestle over who'd get to cover cases in the fourth floor courtroom where Humphrey reigned. Often, it wasn't because of the case but rather it was just because it was Humphrey, whose talent for the writ- ten word made me suspect a well- thumbed thesaurus was tucked under his feet. From where I sat, he always gave us good quotes, and his delivery was second to none; if you ever heard him do it you know what I mean. Humphrey, 83, passed away in his sleep on May 17. Our page one story outlines his many accomplishments. Except for one: I saved it for this space. I'm a Maritimer and thus Toronto folklore is something I've had to absorb over the years, rather than grow up with it magically lodged in my psyche as we all seem to do. One of those stories in- volves Ray "Bibbles" Bawel; Pazzano said the name practically every time he saw Humphrey and I would pretend to know what he was talking about since everyone else used to nod in reverence. It wasn't until last December, at a sold-out luncheon in honour of Hum- phrey when he was awarded the pres- tigious G. Arthur Martin Medal that I finally learned what Pazzano already knew. (It's a measure of the man that nearly 10 years after his retirement Humphrey could still pack a room.) That day Humphrey's son David showed he inherited his father's knack for delivery when he gave the keynote address in his dad's honour. Here's part of it from a story I wrote late last year: But, in a humorous footnote, [David Jr.] said Humphrey Sr. was at the 1957 Grey Cup game in Varsity Stadium and had managed to talk his way onto the sidelines. At one point he looked up and spied the fore- man of the Fitton jury in the stands, whom he had heard pressured the other jurors into a verdict of capital murder, said Humphrey. "This brought a flood of dark memories. He felt the need for a stiff drink, or two. Fortuitously he just hap- pened to have a full flask of whiskey with him. It seems that the alcohol overstimu- lated my father's sense of humour." Hamilton player Ray "Bibbles" Bawel intercepted a pass, ran up the sidelines for a certain touchdown, and "as he passed my father, my father thought it would be funny to stick out his leg and trip him, which he did," said Humphrey. "And so, in the football world, Dave has been known as 'The Tripper' ever since." As a defence lawyer Humphrey did the matter pro bono and paid the dis- bursements. He lost the case but gained a permanent footnote in Toronto history. At the end of his son's tribute, Hum- phrey, in his patented way, gave advice to the enraptured crowd: "When you're retired as I am, you'll look back on your lifestyle and I hope you can say, as I have said, it was a wonderful time." I had a wonderful time covering him. — Gretchen Drummie nsolvency, restructuring, em- ployment law. Word is these are the new growth fields for lawyers in the new recession. It could be worse. In the 1930s, lawyers felt lucky to be doing repossessions: issuing eviction orders and standing by as the furniture piled up on the sidewalk. Bill collecting was precious work, too. The oral histories and law- yers' memoirs collected in the last 30 years include quite a few by lawyers who lived and worked through the Dirty '30s. They make grim reading. Allan Graydon's memoir of Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP suggests that firm did not have to retrench greatly in the 1930s. At McCarthy & McCarthy, fees from a few big clients kept the firm secure, though Beverley Matthews recalled "doing every- thing we could to stay alive." Some small-firm lawyers also did just fine. Eddie Goodman recalled that he "grew up with- out knowing financial con- cerns," as his sole practitioner father kept busy at the firm Eddie would build into the Goodmans LLP megafirm. In small town Trenton, the law firm of Howard Graham (later a World War II soldier and head of the Canadian army) kept him busy and prosperous. That was hardly the norm, Grim reading from the Dirty '30s That's History By Christopher Moore the librarian at Osgoode Hall. John Honsberger has writ- even for downtown lawyers. The late senator John Godfrey wrote that his lawyer father's annual income plunged from $25,000 to (a still handsome) $5,000 in the 1930s. He was very glad to secure the chairmanship of the Ontario Securities Commission. It was even tougher for Main Street firms. George Johnston, a First World War vet, opened a practice on the Danforth in 1919, and the housing boom there kept him busy for years. But in the '30s, "we nearly starved" and Johnston gladly became ten very sensitively of how the Depression ravaged his father's career at the long-established firm of Raymond & Hons- berger. The partners were busy — but they could not get paid. They liquidated their assets, paid themselves less than their one secretary and barely avoided hav- ing a negative income. A client covered one bill by providing the only new suit either part- ners had in that decade. Another client provided a few chickens. The Depression was hard on minorities, who had it hard even in good times. Nearly all the young Jewish lawyers of the www.lawtimesnews.com '30s had to start their own firms and found their own niches, be- cause no one would take them. Some laid foundations for brilliant careers, but it would be years before much money flowed in. No one needed law students, and the articling re- gime almost collapsed. Many lawyers recall serving sham ar- ticles or being runners for "Cokes and smokes" and barely ever doing real legal work. Is your portfolio cratering? Lots of lawyers were big specu- lators in the high-flying 1920s. David Walker parlayed a small inheritance into a quarter of a million dollars while still in law school, and lost it all in the crash of 1929. He was young, so he built up a law practice and even- tually became a Diefenbaker cab- inet minister. Errel Ironside lost a fortune in the markets too, but he ended up dipping into his clients' money and killed himself just before his disbarment hearing. Disbarment was a growth in- dustry all through the 1930s. In those days, law society fees to- talled only $20 (!), but many law- yers could not pay. The law soci- ety was unsympathetic. "Solicitors who allowed their fees to become in arrears to any great extent were a menace to the profession," it harrumphed. Disbarments, most often for dipping into the clients' money, rose by 400 per cent during the 1930s. In 1936 the law society passed its first rule mandating trust accounts. Are there any lessons for the new depression? Look long, if you can. Many of the great and prosperous lawyers of the 1950s could not afford a new pair of pants in the 1930s. LT Christopher Moore's most recent book is McCarthy Tétrault: Build- ing Canada's Premier Law Firm, published by Douglas & McIntyre. His web site is www.christopher moore.ca.

• Cover
• Students In Good Shape
• The Dirty 30s
• Focus On Running Your Practice