Law Times

May 12, 2008

The premier weekly newspaper for the legal profession in Ontario

Issue link: https://digital.lawtimesnews.com/i/68266

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 19 of 19

PAGE 20 Enabling Lawyers through Technology Tel: 416.322.6111 Toll-free: 1.866.367.7648 Real Estate • Corporate • Estates www doprocess com The Inside Story POLICE REVIEW DIRECTOR NAMED Legal Aid Manitoba director Gerry McNeilly may be skipping provinces after being nominated as director of Ontario's new inde- pendent police review system. "Gerry McNeilly is an excel- lent choice to head up Ontario's new police review system," said Attorney General Chris Bent- ley in a release. "I know that under his leadership, we can implement a system that has the confidence of both the police and the public." The new office, which the aging partner, Ms. Chown has demonstrated that women can advance into the partnership and rise to the highest ranks of law firm management," said Scott. Chown received the award in "As Ontario regional man- government hopes will be up and running by next year, will serve as the independent civilian body handling public complaints about municipal and provincial police in Ontario. It is being created in response to former chief justice Patrick LeSage's 2005 recom- mendations regarding the prov- ince's system for dealing with po- lice complaints. McNeilly previously served as chairman of the board of in- quiry for the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. He also has spent time as a justice of the peace and deputy judge, and has spent the last nine years in his post at Legal Aid Manitoba. The lieutenant governor in council must appoint McNeilly for the nomination to be ap- proved. CHOWN GETS LSUC MEDAL Kirby Chown has received the Law Society of Upper Canada's highest honour for her work on the retention and advancement of women in the legal profession. McCarthy Tétrault LLP's part for her work within the firm to create women's initiatives and develop programs targeting men- torship, work-life balance, busi- ness development, and profile- building, said the firm. She joined McCarthy Tétrault in 1981 and practises civil litiga- tion. Other accolades for Chown include being selected among a group of 20 prominent Univer- sity of Toronto women law grad- uates, and in 2006 she was in- cluded in the Women's Executive Network's list of the 100 most powerful women in Canada. NEW JUDGE Thunder Bay lawyer Frances- co Valente has been appointed a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice. Valente, who will assume the post May 14, was called to the bar in 1984. He has practised criminal, family, child protec- tion, civil, and real estate law. Valente also served as director of the Thunder Bay Law Asso- ciation, where he served as co- chairman of the organization's courthouse committee and its criminal law liaison committee. The local baseball coach and EYELASH CONDITION WON'T KEEP MAN OUT OF JAIL WINDSOR, Ont. — Ontario Court Justice Greg Campbell was having none of a 38-year- old man's claim that jailing him would be inhumane be- cause of a rare medical condi- tion with his eyelashes. The man, whose name was MAY 12/19, 2008 / LAW TIMES Bizarre Briefs By Viola James dance music loud, and after four years he's finally cleared his name in a legal battle over a $60 noise fine. Aitken, 33, was given a tick- not released, has Stevens-John- son syndrome and it causes his eyelashes to grow inward, leav- ing him in constant pain. He'd asked the judge to sentence him to house arrest so his common law wife — whom he'd just been found guilty of assaulting — could care for him. Campbell sentenced him to 100 days at the crowbar hotel after taking into account the man's long criminal record, which includes three other as- saults of his common law wife and an additional four unre- lated domestic assaults. "I am not unsympathetic," Campbell is quoted as saying in Windsor Star. But, the judge added, "I have no evidence that [he] is suffering in any way that can't be attended to in jail." CRANK UP THE RIVERDANCE MANCHESTER, U.K. — Markus Aitken likes his River- et for "causing excessive noise" within moments of pulling over in his Ford Mustang to ask the woman officer for directions. He refused to pay the fine and was then faced with a string of written demands and six visits from bailiffs. It wasn't because he couldn't PANTS JUDGE WANTS BACK ON BENCH Because readers can never get enough of Washington, D.C.'s Roy Pearson, here is the next installment in tale of the "pants" judge. Now a former D.C. Admin- istrative Court judge, Pearson is suing the District of Co- lumbia for a mere $1 million, claiming he was wrongfully dismissed for exposing cor- ruption within the Office of Administrative Hearings. Last November, a city commission voted yesterday against reap- pointing Pearson to the bench of that office, which hears cases involving various D.C. boards and agencies. Pearson's name will ring afford the fines, which after four years had increased sevenfold; it was the principle of the thing. Aitken wanted his day in court. Last week he got it. And moments after beginning to explain his reasoning for not paying, the judge stopped him, saying, "In view of what I've heard, I am going to wipe the debt out." Aitken told reporters he was "stunned" when the offi- cer asked him to get out of his car and then locked him in the back of the cruiser while get- ting his details. didn't like Riverdance, and the reaction I got made me think not," he said. "If the police could have "I asked her whether she a bell because he's the dude who sued a local dry cleaner for $54 million for losing his pants. He lost the case but continues his relentless pursuit of Soo and Jin Nam Chung, the store's owners, with an appeal in the Great American Pant Suit. But in his latest effort to make the judicial system work for him, Pearson claims he suffered "humiliation and "physical illness" as a result of his former employer's "wrong- ful actions." He asserts that he was "protected as a whistle- blower" but that the city used the fact that he was being "vili- fied in the media" as an excuse to sack him, reports the Wash- ington Post. LT produced one shred of proof that I was being a nuisance and making excessive noise I would happily have paid up. Seen, heard, or been involved in a bizarre brief? Tell Viola James about it at viola.james@gmail. com organizer also has devoted time to his community's domestic vio- lence court advisory committee, and served as director of Options Northwest Personal Support Services, a group that helps per- sons with disabilities. Ontario regional managing part- ner will on June 5 receive the 2008 Law Society Medal, which recognizes outstanding Ontario lawyers who have represented the highest ideals of the profession through their work. "Ms. Chown has taken a sig- nificant leadership role on wom- en's issues," said the firm's chair- man and CEO W. Iain Scott. CORRECTION An announcement regarding Ogilvy Renault LLP in last week's Inside Story included inaccurate information. Lawyers referred to in the article are longtime partners who have been appointed senior partners in recognition of their 25 years of call to the bar. LT STG_05_LT_BaseBar 8/16/06 8:52 AM Page 1 For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com "All this wireless networking is overrated I tell you. Totally overrated!" At Stewart Title, it's how we work that sets us apart. We deal in title insurance and related products, undertaking no part of the transaction that has traditionally fallen to legal professionals. Since our inception into the Canadian market, you will find that we have consistently combined comprehensive coverage with unparalleled support for legal professionals. We are dedicated to streamlining your practice and increasing your revenue through our programs and innovative technology solutions. At Stewart Title, we know it's our relationship with our customers that determines our success. That's why service is the foundation of our business and integrity, the keystone in all our dealings. Contact us today at (888) 667-5151 or visit www.stewart.ca. www.lawtimesnews.com Confidential

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Law Times - May 12, 2008