Law Times - sample

November 27, 2017

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Page 16 November 27, 2017 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com CBA ASKED TO FIX PROCESS The current process for multi- jurisdictional class action law- suits lacks inter-provincial co- ordination, effective case man- agement and creates delays and wastes judicial resources, say lawyers with three Ontario firms who act for plaintiffs. Three firms have asked the Canadian Bar Association to streamline it. Representatives from Sotos LLP, Siskinds LLP and Koskie Minsky LLP authored the sub- mission to the CBA, which was produced in response to the no- tice of consultation from the CBA's national class actions task force, created in October. "This is the opportunity. People have been waiting for something to come out of the machine to help deal with the burgeoning problem of multi-jurisdictional class actions," says David Sterns, partner at Sotos LLP. "It just has been vexing the bar and the judiciary for many years." Sterns says Canada's provincially based judicial system means no one province can cede jurisdiction or usurp another province by overruling them on a case in its jurisdiction. When a national class action is filed in several provinces, instead of all class members getting behind one firm in one court, he says, they're spread out in respective provinces. He says this means more law firms are hired, more fees are paid and more courts are dealing with the same case. The defendants are then expected to fight the case in multiple provinces at once. Sterns says the system needs national co-ordination and the designation of one court to take the lead. OBA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO RETIRE Steve Pengelly, the Ontario Bar Association's executive director and counsel, has an- nounced his retirement. A successor for Pengelly will be announced at the end of this year or early next year, accord- ing to the OBA. NEW LEGAL RESOURCE Deepa Mattoo, legal director of the Barbra Schlifer Com- memorative Clinic, has cre- ated a toolkit to help lawyers working with female, racialized clients who are living with pre- carious immigration status in Ontario. The toolkit is part of the Community Leadership in Justice Fellowship of Law Foundation of Ontario at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, in partnership with the Barbra Schlifer Com- memorative Clinic and the Rights of Non-status Wom- en's Network. Mattoo has been with the clinic since August 2016 and was formerly a staff lawyer and interim executive director at the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario. 11 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE YES, I AGREE 89 % LAW TIMES POLL Law Times reported that Cor- rectional Service Canada has been found to be negligent in the severe beating of an inmate. Law Times asked readers if they thought inmate safety at jails and prisons needed significant improvement. Eighty-nine per cent of re- spondents said yes, the case is an important example of the inadequate safety that exists for inmates. Eleven per cent said no, while there are some violent incidents, overall safety for in- mates is satisfactory. LT u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story David Sterns says Canada's provincially based judicial system means no one prov- ince can cede jurisdiction or usurp another province by overruling them on a case in its jurisdiction. FINNISH MINISTER HIDES IN TRUNK DURING CRISIS HELSINKI — Finnish police reprimanded a man for travelling in a car trunk to hide his meeting with Prime Minister Juha Sipilä dur- ing a government crisis last summer, saying this was a breach of the traffic code, reports Reuters. A police statement did not name the man in the trunk, but it, in effect, indicated that the traveller was State Secretary Samuli Virtanen, who is also the deputy to Foreign Minister Timo Soini. e meeting took place in June, a day aer Virtanen's co-ruling Finns party had elected anti-immigration hardliners as its new leaders. e government was close to collapse until a group of politicians, including Virtanen and Soini, in the following week walked out of the Finns party and announced they would form a new group. e Finns party was thrown out of the gov- ernment and the new Blue Reform group kept its cabinet seat. Virtanen has not commented on the case, but lawmaker Tiina Elovaara from Blue Re- form said in a blog that Virtanen climbed into the trunk to keep the meeting secret at a critical moment. Police said the man had travelled in the back of the car, failing to use a safety belt. He had ad- mitted the act to the police. e road from the prime minister's residen- cy has little traffic and only the man was at risk of harm, the police said. "e given notification is considered as a suf- ficient sanction," Inspector Pekka Seppala said. He added that the police had been asked to investigate the case based on information in media reports. 'I WENT TO BRAZIL FOR A BATH' SAO PAULO, Brazil — A Formula One tire test that was cancelled aer armed robbers attacked team cars meant one race car driver flew all the way from Britain to Brazil last week just to take a bath. McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris told reporters he was soaking in the bathtub aer arriving in Sao Paulo when the two-day test at Interlagos was cancelled for security reasons, reports Reuters. "I had just got to the hotel in Brazil and was having a nice bath," the 18-year-old driver told motorsport.com. "I was reading the instruction manual to get used to all the buttons on the steering wheel of the McLaren as it takes quite a bit of time to get used to. en I got the call that it got cancelled. "So I went back to having my bath . . . I can say that I literally went to Brazil for a bath. If anyone asks what is my best travel tale, it's going to Brazil for a bath." e Pirelli tire test was cancelled aer gun- men attacked Mercedes cars and vans and stole valuables from team members outside the cir- cuit at night during the Brazilian Grand Prix. EMBASSY CAT APPOINTED 'CHIEF MOUSER' AMMAN, Jordan — At the British embassy to Jordan, a former rescue cat is settling into his new position as chief mouser, as a tradition well established in the ministries of London goes global, reports Reuters. "Lawrence of Abdoun" is a black-and-white tom who, according to his Twitter feed, reports directly to the Foreign Office's Palmerston, a cat that delights his 57,000 followers with regular updates from the ministry in Whitehall via @DiploMog. Lawrence, named aer T.E. Lawrence, a Brit- ish military officer who fought alongside Arabs against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, has already gained 2,500 followers since being adopted from an animal shelter last month. Abdoun is the neighbourhood of Amman where the embassy is located. Lawrence tweets under the name @LawrenceDipCat. LT "Look on the bright side! At least they haven't implemented a cap-and-trade regime for dirty slush." Legal News at Your Fingertips Sign up for the Canadian Legal Newswire today for free and enjoy great content from the publishers of Canadian Lawyer, Law Times, Canadian Lawyer InHouse and Lexpert. Visit www.canadianlawyermag.com/newswire-subscribe THE LATEST NEWS THE BEST COMMENTARY DELIVERED WEEKLY FOR READING ON ANY DEVICE Untitled-7 1 2017-11-20 9:08 AM

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