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PAGE 2 Ontario has largest rules committee Continued from page 1 the AG on reducing its size. He also asked for committee membership lists and meeting agendas to be posted on the Ontario Courts web site, and suggested the committee consider posting on the site minutes from its meetings. Osborne also suggested strengthening the role of the committee's sec- retariat. He also noted that Ontario's civil rules committee is Canada's largest, with Manitoba second with a 16-member committee. In its response to Osborne's report, Rosencrantz says CDLPA indicated NEWS march 23, 2009 • Law Times Students may take the hit Continued from page 1 of conservatism built into it." Weir says, "If that carries on, we will continue with conservatism, but we will not be needing any drastic action." Bowman says Bennett Jones has experienced us as being as strong as we have been in the years past," he says. "Although our corporate guys may not be as busy its desire to enhance the transparency and effi ciency of the civil rules com- mittee. At that time, he says, the association stated that it would like to see the following: • a reduction in the size of the committee; • a change in the membership structure to include only one Court of Appeal judge and four Superior Court judges; an increase in litigation and insolvency work since the economic downturn took hold, while corporate transactions fuelled by bank fi nancing are down. "We're seeing an increasing amount of some stirrings of activity in corporate transactions, ei- ther because buyers that have fi nancial capacity are in a position to pick up assets at prices that interest them, or because sellers are in a position where they really have to sell," says Bowman. "So we're seeing somewhat more activity than • consideration of eliminating the provincial court, civil division judge; • think about adding a Small Claims Court judge representative; • reduce or eliminate the number of lawyers appointed by judges in fa- vour of allowing organizations like the Ontario Bar Association and CDLPA to make appointments; • consider time limits for appointee membership; • give the committee direction on the frequency of meetings; and • raise the quorum for meetings from one-third to at least a half. While CDLPA would like to see the OBA have a bigger role in decid- ing who is on the civil rules committee, the issue is not on that association's radar screen. Lee Akazaki, chairman of the OBA's civil litigation section, says, "Th e OBA doesn't see the issue of changing the composition of the civil rules committee to be a priority, and has not advocated that to be a priority for this government." Th e civil rules committee is a "committee of the court" as defi ned by the Courts of Justice Act, says Akazaki. "We don't have a problem with the courts being able to control its own process," he says. "Whenever the OBA has had input into the civil rules, we've found that the civil rules committee has been very re- sponsive to our concerns. Th ey're open to changes to the rules, and anybody can propose rule changes." Th e OBA has instead targeted its lobbying eff ort in terms of access to justice to the areas of simplifying rules, sustainable legal aid fund- ing, and more effi cient use of court resources. "We've been pressing these issues with the attorney general," says Akazaki. ministry does not comment on correspondence. He declined to an- swer Law Times' other questions regarding the composition of the civil rules committee. A spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General says the LT Insurance Our goal?… Your Financial Security! 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"I don't believe the downturn will be all that long for us in southwestern Ontario," he says. Traff ord notes that Waterloo-based BlackBer- ry maker Research In Motion Ltd. is looking to hire 3,000 new workers. Michel Brunet, chairman and chief executive even, I would say, in the last few months," he adds. "It's sort of trending upwards, I would say." He suggests the Toronto legal market has offi cer of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, says his fi rm has not turned to further layoff s since last fall, when it purged two per cent of its approximately 550 lawyers following budget consultations. Brunet says the fi rm's banking and mergers where people can re-deploy themselves from one side of the practice to another," he says. Bowman says the fi rm's training regime has been shifting toward the restructuring side, but "we're not taking blocks of lawyers and saying, 'Now we're going to retrain you to do something diff er- ent.' Instead what we're doing is just getting people involved in fi les and they're learning it by doing it with the senior people who've got the expertise." Bowman says, "We view it as a very long-term business — practising law. Th e kind of things you do at any one time comes and goes, but for us it's a matter of just training, development, building the basic skills, and fi nding opportuni- ties to serve clients." He says the fi rm has not pinpointed any spe- cifi c date to make a decision on job cuts. Traff ord says corporate commercial work is "steady" at the Miller Th omson offi ces he over- sees in Guelph, London, and Kitchener-Water- loo. He says the fi rm has not had to purge any lawyers as a result of the downturn. "I look at the numbers all the time, and I see and acquisitions lawyers have shifted their focus to restructuring, which has happened during past recessions. He notes that there's a bit of give-and-take for a large fi rm like FMC, with capital markets work drying up, for example, while infrastruc- ture matters rise as governments try to spur economic recovery. Brunet says the fi rm has heeded the advice of a legal industry commentator who urged fi rms to soldier on with strategic plans despite the re- cession. He says the recent hiring of a chief cli- ent offi cer demonstrates FMC's commitment to integration as a national fi rm. Practice management specialist Karen Bell says, "We've got to get through this fi rst quarter" before any major decisions on layoff s are made. "Th e eff ect on our practice is not as imme- diate as in some of the other sectors," she says. "What happens at a particular fi rm will depend on its practice complement." While practising lawyers' jobs may be safe for tells Law Times sister publication Canadian Lawyer 4Students, "If law fi rms are focusing on trying to keep their associates and stabilizing their staff and lawyer complement, they may not necessarily take on as many students to start off with, and they may not necessarily keep on as many students as they have in the past." LT now, the next crop of lawyers may be the ones paying the price for the current economic slump. Canadian Bar Association president Guy Joubert Ontario Municipal Legislation 2009 Consulting Editor: Quinto M. Annibale Your most complete and comprehensive guide to the latest changes in Ontario municipal law Find all of the Acts and regulations concerning Ontario municipal legislation in one consolidation. This work, updated annually, ensures you are always working with the most current information. This latest edition contains: City of Toronto Act, 2006, • • Includes 16 regulations Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2006, c. 11, Sch. A Regulations under the City of Toronto Act, 2006 S.O. 2001, c. 25 Regulations under the Municipal Act, 2001 Includes 15 regulations ORDER your copy today Promote your law fi rm by ordering reprints of articles from the voice of the profession — Law Times! $175 - $225/reprint Been in Law Times? Want a record of it? We provide a color PDF and unlimited reproduction rights. For more information or to order reprints, please e-mail Gail Cohen at: gcohen@clbmedia.ca LAW TIMES www.lawtimesnews.com Ont Municipal Legislation (LT 1-4x3).indd 1 3/17/09 4:12:11 PM For a 30-day, no-risk evaluation call: 1.800.263.2037 Canada Law Book is a Division of The Cartwright Group Ltd. Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. 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• Cover
• Competition Act
• Dead Time
• Focus On Corporate Restructuring & Insolvency