Law Times

December 15, 2008

The premier weekly newspaper for the legal profession in Ontario

Issue link: https://digital.lawtimesnews.com/i/63947

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 0 of 15

A. NEUMAN ASSOCIATES INC. Forensic Accounting & Damages Quantifi cation Specialists IFAccountant.com (416) 223-5991 Turn Crisis into Opportunity ealogical-EAR_LT_Nov17_08.indd 1 $3.55 • Vol. 19, No. 40 11/11/08 2:36:29 PM Covering Ontario's Legal Scene BY ROBERT TODD Law Times he province has unveiled a sweeping set of new civil court rules that could sig- nificantly alter the landscape for Ontario lawyers. The centrepiece of the new rules is a hike in the monetary limit for cases handled in Small Claims Court to $25,000 from $10,000. All of the 25 new civil rules, announced last week by Attorney General Chris Bentley in a press conference at the Law Society of Upper Canada, come into effect Jan. 1, 2010. "More time for the cases that need it, less time for the cases that don't — that's the whole point of the initiative," said Bentley at the press conference, which was attended by key players in the justice system. "We want a system of justice that T New civil rules unveiled Small Claims Court limit raised justice, which means that straight- forward, lower-value cases should not take as long or cost as much as large, complex cases." Other key changes announced Neuman_LawTimes.indd 1 December 15, 2008 12/9/08 11:12:30 AM Inside This Issue 3 last week by Bentley include an in- crease in the monetary limit for sim- plified procedure to $100,000 from $50,000, a one-day limit on most pretrial examinations for discovery, mandatory advance timelines for in- formation sharing between parties, and the application of a "proportion- ality" principle that requires the time and money dedicated to a case be in line with what's at stake. Lee Akazaki, chairman of the Remembering Irwin 6 Bencher's Diary works for all the people and the busi- nesses of the province of Ontario," said Bentley. "We want a system of justice that moves at the speed of commerce. We want a system of justice to which everybody has ac- cess, regardless of who you are, what your connections are, and how much money you've got in your pocket, and that's what today is all about." Former associate chief justice Coulter Osborne was one of the prominent figures at the announce- ment. The AG's moves are largely in response to Os- borne' s November 2007 Civil Justice Reform Pro- ject report, along with province-wide consultations. Attorney General Chris Bentley last week unveiled new civil court rules. Osborne's summary of findings included 81 recommendations for change in 18 areas, from ap- peals to technology. "By acting on my recommen- dations, the attorney general is reducing cost and delay for individuals and businesses who use our civil courts," remarked Osborne. "The reforms reflect the need for proportionality in our civil Photo: Jeffrey Waugh Ontario Bar Association's civil jus- tice section, tells Law Times that the association is "very encouraged" by the new rules, which he said largely reflect OBA recommendations. But while Bentley emphasised during his announcement that more resources for the justice system doesn't always mean a better system, Akazaki says, "More is quite often better in terms of providing the human resources to support all of the great work that is being proposed." Specifically Akazaki suggested can order opera tickets online, but if a lawyer wants to find out when and where a hearing is going to take place, you have to either phone in, leave a message, and then get somebody from See Measure, page 4 "You can order a pizza online in Ontario, you the AG must better utilize tech- nology to improve the system. Lawyer sues claiming wrongful arrest BY ROBERT TODD Law Times board, seeking $1.2 million in damages based on claims that he continues to suffer from an alleged incident of wrongful arrest. The claim, filed at Ottawa's A n Ottawa lawyer is suing three police officers and the city's police services Superior Court, includes an alle- gation that police failed to imme- diately return a confidential client file to Lee Mullowney's briefcase upon his release from custody. "I've never seen a case like this be- fore," Mullowney's lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, tells Law Times. "It's not only unusual, but very troubling." City of Ottawa lawyer Stuart Huxley, who is representing the de- fendants in the case, says a notice of intent to defend has been filed. "We will be responding to the claim," says Huxley. "The matter is before the courts and as such I'm not in a position to really add any- thing further in that regard." In addition to the police services board, the claim specifically names as defendants Ottawa Police Det. Christina Wolf, Const. Nick Iadi- nardi, and Const. M. Couturier. Mullowney — a sole practitioner who specializes in technology and intellectual property law — is seek- ing general damages of $200,000; punitive, exemplary, and/or ag- gravated damages of $250,000; damages for loss of future income and/or competitive advantage of $750,000; along with other costs, according to the claim. The allegations date back to September 2007, when Mullowney formed a solicitor-client relationship with a person facing criminal charg- es, states the claim. He arranged for the client to turn himself into po- lice, according to the claim, to be ar- rested and charged with various of- fences, and helped set a show-cause hearing before setting the client up with a criminal lawyer. Mullowney attended the show- cause hearing on Sept. 20, 2007, at which the client was represented by a criminal lawyer, according to the claim. Before the hearing began, the Crown requested an order ex- cluding Mullowney from the court based on information that he was "falsely holding himself out to be a lawyer," reads the claim. The jus- tice of the peace refused that order, according to the claim. The claim states that, after the hearing was adjourned, Wolf told Mullowney that she planned to lay charges against him. Later that day, while Mul- lowney was at the court adminis- tration office ordering transcripts, Iadinardi and Couturier arrested Mullowney for "impersonating a lawyer," according to the claim. The officers searched Mul- lowney, seized his briefcase, and took him to a cell in the court- house, the claim states. The lawyer told the officers that the briefcase contained documents "pertaining to a client for which he claimed privilege," according to the claim. Iadinardi later told Mullowney that he was being charged with obstruction of justice, states the claim. Mullowney was permitted to call the Law Society of Upper Canada's lawyer referral service, and See Lawyer, page 4 9 Focus On Criminal Law Quote of the week "People either really, really love it or they just think I'm nuts. It tends to be one or another." — Jonathan Arnold, Victoria, B.C. criminal lawyer See Museum, page 10 advocate.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 12/9/08 2:06:25 PM

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Law Times - December 15, 2008