Law Times

Page 2 June 6, 2016 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com cording to the court decision. Lawyers for the condominium corporation performed a title search that same evening and found that every unit except one had been transferred to an en- tity called Enterprises Ted Rubac Inc.. When they realized "Ted Ru- bac" was "C.A. Burdet" spelled backwards, Houle and her col- leagues successfully moved to have the entity added as a defen- dant. In his appeal, Burdet argued that the original trial judge had erred when he determined the liens against his property were valid. Burdet claimed that he did not owe any arrears when the liens were registered, but the trial judge found there were arrears of common expense fees when the liens were registered, and that the liens were, therefore, valid. Burdet also argued that the original judgment was f lawed because a court-appointed ad- ministrator had been adminis- tering the property since 2002 — an appointment Burdet disputes. "The action leading to the judgment below and to this ap- peal is fatally f lawed, since it was pursued by the court manager," Burdet argued in his appeal. However, the Court of Appeal found "no evidence of error in the trial judge's reasons" and, there- fore, threw out Burdet's appeal. Since 2009, when the con- dominium corporation started its legal action, Burdet and the other condominium owners he represented owe approximately $490,000 in total arrears be- tween a partial summary judg- ment in 2011 and the recent Court of Appeal decision, as well as $790,000 in legal fees and dis- bursements, Houle says. "The key thing for these types of cases is Section 85 of the Condonominium Act allows the condominium corporation to recover its reasonable cost in collection," she says. "The reason that's so impor- tant is other owners should not bear the consequences of one owner not paying and the cor- poration having to incur costs to collect." Houle says the legal fees and disbursements were high in this case, but they were reasonable because of the steps the appellants took to lengthen the proceedings. Antoni Casalinuovo, a condo lawyer at Elia Associates PC, says the appeals court's decision also recognizes the fact that the con- do corporation should be recov- ering all reasonable legal costs. "It's not fair to pass these ex- penses off to all the other unit owners who basically paid their bills — or paid their statutory obligations," he says. "It's a good decision. The Court of Appeal could have eas- ily turned around and made life more difficult for condo lawyers, but it didn't," he adds. Burdet could not be reached for comment. LT Minor's work on diversity, but she says she wishes the working group had reached its conclu- sions sooner. "There has been delay. I think we'd like to see things happen just a little bit more quickly," she says. "I understand there are processes in place and that benchers have to debate and it has to go through convocation." Hum does not blame Minor for the delays and says it is just the product of a slow process. "I'm not saying it's a regret, I'm just saying I'm looking for- ward to it coming forward when it's ready," Minor says of the working group's final report. As the last few weeks of her term wound down, Minor also looked back at regulatory initia- tives that have been initiated un- der her watch. The LSUC has launched a review of how the law society should regulate how lawyers and paralegals advertise. "They're not going to have a report by the time I finish, but it's started and I'm very confident it's taking a very good look at that and will come forward with some helpful recommendations to Convocation," Minor says. Steve Rastin, a past president of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association and a personal in- jury lawyer, says he hopes the law society will adopt an aggres- sive proactive approach to regu- lating advertising in the near future. "We commend Janet for starting the process, but we would like to see some tangible results," he says. The law society has also tak- en steps to figure out how it can regulate entities proactively un- der Minor's watch. Convocation recently ap- proved a recommendation to ask the provincial government to give the law society the au- thority to regulate entities. The commission working to f lesh out the details of the regulations that will guide entity regulation is in the next phase of a consultation process to figure out how the compliance-based system will work. In terms of her work with aboriginal issues, Minor visited a number of First Nations com- munities over her two years to learn more about how they may be struggling with access to jus- tice issues. For the first time in 200 years, the aboriginal political leader- ship was invited to Osgoode Hall to meet with the law society, Minor says. Another initiative that Minor trumpets is a mental health ini- tiative that the LSUC started in 2015 to help licensees struggling with mental illness. Convocation will elect the next treasurer at its June meet- ing. Benchers Raj Anand, How- ard Goldblatt, Susan McGrath, and Paul Schabas have been nominated to replace Minor. "I don't want to do a full stop. So I'm still interested in being in- volved in some area of the justice system," she says. LT NEWS Continued from page 1 'It's not fair to pass these expenses off . . . ' Continued from page 1 Results needed on regulating advertising TORONTO OFFICE CONSULTATION OFFICES: BARRIE | HAMILTON | KITCHENER 1-866-685-3311 | www.mcleishorlando.com A Noticeable Difference ™ The lawyers and staff at McLeish Orlando congratulate John on receiving the 2016 OBA Award of Excellence in Insurance Law John McLeish Untitled-4 1 2016-06-02 4:07 PM

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