Law Times

PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH Lawyers debate effect of workplace standard www.ITNREPORTING.com Discoveries Opposite Brampton Superior Court 1-905-915-0550 245 languages www.itn-group.net Untitled-2 1 $4.00 • Vol. 23, No. 35 COVERING ONTARIO'S LEGAL SCENE • WWW.LAWTIMESNEWS.COM November 5, 2012 12-10-31 4:06 PM Dispute over personal injury referrals Two firms litigating as clients allegedly dry up despite service deal L AW TIMES P4 Courts change approach in employment cases P6 A BY SHANNON KARI For Law Times offi ce building. Jeremy Diamond is facing allegations that he has been re- lawyer who has been a public face for a fi rm owned by two of his uncles is at the centre of an unusual contract dispute with another personal injury law fi rm that operates on the same fl oor of a Toronto ferring personal injury fi les to other law fi rms in breach of an exclusive professional services agreement between Diamond & Diamond and Bergmanis Preyra LLP. None of the allega- tions have been proven in court. Th e legal action, which is now at the Ontario Divisional Court, has already seen Bergmanis Preyra enlisting friends to pose as potential clients in order to see which fi rms they re- ceived referrals to. Bergmanis Preyra then obtained an Anton Piller order to enter the premises of Diamond & Diamond and make copies of business records. In response, Jeremy Diamond retained the high-powered fi rm of Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP, which man- aged to have the Anton Piller order set aside, while he testifi ed that he was an independent contractor for Diamond & Dia- mond without his own trust account. Bergmanis Preyra is now seeking leave to appeal the de- cision of Superior Court Justice Paul Perell on Oct. 11 that o rdered an independent lawyer in possession of the copies of the records to return them to Jeremy Diamond. As the liti- gation continues, the actual role and legal practice of Jeremy Diamond is still unclear from what' Th e parties signed the professional services agreement that's at issue in February 2007 while Jeremy Diamond was articling for his uncles. It required the fi rm controlled by s before the court. The dispute between the two personal injury firms landed at the Divisional Court at Osgoode Hall last week. David Diamond and James Diamond to refer all potential personal injury fi les to Bergmanis Preyra. If Bergmanis Preyra took on a referred client, the fi rm would send 30 per cent of its billings to Diamond & Diamond as a referral fee, according to court documents. ntitled-1 1 12-06-13 9:03 A PUNITIVE DAMAGES FOCUS ON Family Law P9 NEWLY REVISED AND UPDATED FOR 2012 Separation Agreements and Marriage Contract/Agreement www.divorcemate.com Photo: Robin Kuniski cause the Diamonds wanted to maintain the "goodwill and profi le" of the fi rm until their sons graduated from law school and could take it over, states an affi davit sworn by Kurt Battle over paralegals' courtroom status heats up T 'It's not typically invoked in all the courts, but there are 10 of them that do,' says Marian Lippa of courtroom restrictions on paralegals. BY MARG. BRUINEMAN For Law Times he courtroom restrictions that favour counsel and a fi ve-year review of paralegal regulation released by the provincial government last week rec- ommends changing the legislation that restricts paralegals. "References in certain statutes to 'barrister,' 'solicitor,' 'member of the bar,' etc. that predate the rights is heating up as law- yers intervene in a prac- titioner' battle for paralegal s challenge over introduction of paralegal regu- lation can serve to exclude para- legals, even when that exclusion might, in fact, impede public ac- cess to justice and/or protection of the public interest," wrote Da- vid Morris of D.J. Morris & As- sociates Ltd. in his new report on paralegal regulation. "Provision in the Barristers Act with respect to the order of precedence at the bar, for instance, could prejudice clients' right to be heard if they exercise the right to be represent- ed by a paralegal. port for the Ministry of the Attor- ney General, went on to recom- mend that "language in statutes that serves to exclude paralegals, when that exclusion cannot be justifi ed in the interest of facilitat- ing access to justice or protecting the public interest, is amended so as to include paralegals." Th e recommendation comes as Morris, who prepared the re- " A DAILY BLOGOF CANADIAN LEGAL NEWS [WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/LEGALFEEDS ] LegalFeeds-BB-LT-Apr23-12.indd 1 paralegal Marian Lippa has been waging her battle against a practice of making paralegals wait to ap- pear in court until all of the lawyers have fi nished and forcing them to remain in the body of the court or the hallways rather than sit past the bar. She argues the practice stems from an archaic notion based on the Barristers Act, a piece of legisla- tion developed prior to the intro- duction of paralegal regulation in 2007. Her challenge of the practice will resume when her ce rtiorari ap- plication returns to court on Nov. 19. Lawyer groups will be at the table as well. Both the Criminal Lawyers' Association and the York Region Law Association have obtained intervener status. Th e parties struck the business arrangement in part be- See Law, page 5 See CLA, page 5 CANADIAN LAWYER & LAW TIMES POWERED BY 12-04-16 11:56 AM PM #40762529 NEW

• Cover