Law Times

Page 16 March 13, 2017 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com A DAILY BLOG OF CANADIAN LEGAL NEWS LEGALFEEDS.CA FEEDS LEGAL POWERED BY LegalFeeds_LT_Mar13_17.indd 1 2017-03-07 2:04 PM CHAMBERLAIN BECOMES NEW WESTERN LAW DEAN As she prepares to take on her new role as dean of law at West- ern University starting May 1, Erika Chamberlain says one thing she'll be focused on is en- suring that legal education is ac- cessible. "I come from a small town, a working class background," she says, adding that her parents are immigrants from Germany. "I want to make sure law school is available to people in all parts of the community." Chamberlain says she had a great student experience as a National Scholar at Western Law in 1996, followed by getting her LLB as gold medalist from Western Law in 2001. After clerking for the Supreme Court of Canada in 2002, Chamberlain once again returned to Western as assistant professor in 2005. Following her PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2009, Chamberlain has held the position of associate dean (academic) at Western Law for the past five years. When she takes over from Iain Scott as head of the department, Chamberlain says she wants to preserve the "really good sense of community" for future students. She says the fact that Western Law is the smallest law school after Lakehead University's Bora Laskin Faculty of Law helps foster the close environment. "Our faculty care a lot about teaching, care a lot about mentoring students, and I think that's a real strength for us," she says. LAW COMMISSION CALLS FOR REFORMS TO GUARDIANSHIP The Law Commission of Ontario has released a report recommending reforms to the province's laws concerning pow- er of attorney, guardianship and health-care consent. The Final Report on Legal Capacity, Decision-making and Guardianship has 58 rec- ommendations, which spurred out of concerns about a number of issues including the misuse of powers of attorney and elder abuse, as well as a widespread lack of understanding about the province's laws in the area. For more information, visit www.lco-cdo.org. FRASER JOINS HEURISTICA DISCOVERY COUNSEL One of Canada's leading e-discovery lawyers has joined Heuristica Discovery Counsel as co-CEO and senior counsel. Duncan Fraser, who has more than 20 years of legal expe- rience, is set to open an Ottawa office for the Toronto-based boutique legal practice. Fraser previously worked at e-discovery law firm Wortz- mans. Before that, he was gen- eral counsel and director of e- discovery and National Liti- gation Support Services for the Federal Department of Justice. YES, I AGREE 65 % 35 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE LAW TIMES POLL Ontario lawyers say a newly released report by Justice Annemarie Bonkalo that rec- ommends broadening the scope of family law in Ontario could erode current standards and squeeze lawyers out of the mar- ketplace. Readers were asked whether they think this is true. Roughly 65 per cent said yes, potential recommendations in the report to broaden the mar- ketplace will have harmful ef- fects for lawyers. The remaining 35 per cent said no, these recommendations will help clients and will not af- fect lawyers at all. LT u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story 'BLONDE BOMBSHELL' RACEHORSE STOLEN IN ITALY PISA, Italy — A prize-winning racehorse dubbed the "Blonde Bombshell" and a thor- oughbred colt were stolen from their stables in Italy on March 7, reports Reuters. The abduction of the chestnut mare, called Unicka, and the colt, named Vampire Dany, was discovered by the horses' trainer at the Wave stables near Pisa, northern Italy, when he went to feed them, the stables said in a statement, ac- cording to Reuters. Italian media have speculated that the thieves plan to demand a ransom, as the animals are registered, making it harder to sell them on the black market, says Reuters. Unicka won both Italy's Trotting Derby and Orsi Mangelli Grand Prize in 2016, while Vam- pire Dany is descended from superstar racer Varenne, who was so popular in the early 2000s that commentators joked he should be named foreign minister, according to Reuters. The news agency says economic crisis and competition from other kinds of gambling have hit Italian horse racing hard in recent years, with gambling revenue falling by three quarters from 2009 to about 500 million euros in 2014. "To steal Unicka and Vampire Dany is to deal a death blow to the entire horse-racing in- dustry, which had found hope and confidence again thanks to these horses," said Edoardo Fa- nucci, a deputy from the Democratic Party, ac- cording to Reuters. EEK! MOUSE DISRUPTS FLIGHT LONDON — A mouse caused a big delay for a f light from London to San Francisco, forcing passengers to switch aircraft after the tiny stow- away was discovered, reports Reuters. The mouse was spotted scurrying under a door aboard British Airways Flight 285 at Lon- don's Heathrow Airport on March 1 as passen- gers were buckled in for departure, a passenger told San Francisco television station KGO. This forced them to switch aircraft and endure a four-hour delay, according to KGO. Some passengers joked that the mouse lacked a visa to enter the United States, according to passenger Annina Salven, who laughingly told KGO it made sense to switch planes "because I really wouldn't want to eat food on a plane that had a mouse," reports Reuters. British Airways in a statement confirmed the disruption of its Flight 285 from London's Heathrow Airport to San Francisco, saying "on this occasion there was one very small customer who we had to send back to the gate," according to Reuters. WOMAN WANTS HER STARBUCKS, EVEN IF SHE IS AT DUNKIN' DONUTS FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — Don't mess with a woman who wants her Starbucks coffee, even if she is at Dunkin' Donuts. According to an incident report from Fort Walton Beach Police Department, an officer was called to the store around 5:30 a.m. after an irate customer stormed inside and threw her beverage on to a cash register after getting into a verbal fight with an employee in the drive- through, reports nwfdailynews.com. The general manager of the store said the customer became angry when she asked for a specific f lavour of iced coffee that wasn't sold at Dunkin' Donuts. "It's probably something that's served at Starbucks," Bryce, who declined to give a last name, told nwfdailynews.com. "The conversation got heated and she came in to the store and got in my face throwing F- bombs." The customer then came inside the store, went behind the counter and threw her bever- age on to the drive-through cash register, the report said. Jo Soria, spokeswoman for the police depart- ment, said there have not been charges filed yet and that the department is still working the case, according to nwfdailynews.com. LT Erika Chamberlain will be the new dean of law at Western University. "So, you all work for the Ontario court system! I'll bring you your nachos next Wednesday, OK?"

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