Law Times

JURY VETTING New trial ordered as tactics criticized P2 TORTURED LAWYERS $4.00 • Vol. 23, No. 38 COVERING ONTARIO'S LEGAL SCENE • WWW.LAWTIMESNEWS.COM November 26, 2012 ntitled-4 1 Benchers approve three-year time frame for articling alternative Law practice pilot shortened L AW TIMES Many resist getting help despite personal crisis P7 L BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times three-year pilot project instead of the original fi ve-year time frame. Despite concerns over a two-tier aw Society of Upper Canada benchers have approved a law practice program as an al- ternative to articling under a system for law graduates, Convoca- tion elected through a 36-20 vote last week to go through with the pilot project recommended by the law so- ciety' will see law school graduates who don't article take licensing courses for three to four months. Proponents say the rest of the pro- Part of the law practice program s articling task force. gram will be spent in a co-op place- ment, although the details are cur- rently unknown. Th e estimated cost of the licensing fee will increase to $5,670 per candidate from $2,950 af- ter factoring in a fi nal assessment. Benchers who sided with the articling task force minor- ity's call to abolish articling vehemently fought the proposal Lee Akazaki, left, and Omar Ha-Redeye had lots to say as they tweeted during the Law Society of Upper Canada's public debate on articling last Thursday. Photo: Laura Pedersen for a law practice program last week, saying it will ensure that those who have a harder time fi nding articling positions, such as minorities and older graduates, will now face the ad- ditional burden of paying the costs of a new licensing course. Beth Symes, one of the benchers who voted against the motion, said the law practice program would ensure "the haves" will get paid more than $75,000 to article at Bay Street fi rms while the "have-nots" are doubly penalized by the increasing costs to become licensed as lawyers. Th e minority group wanted to see all graduates attend Charge stayed as judge casts doubt on police testimony a transitional training program before being called to the bar. BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times A 'Most people who hit the box on the witness stand and are determined to lie believe that they wont get caught,' says Adam Weisberg. Court of Justice judge has found two offi cers used excessive force during the arrest of an accused impaired driver aſt er rejecting their version of events of how the 60-year-old man sustained injuries in October 2010. On Nov. 9, Justice Gregory s concerns over the re- liability of police testi- mony on the witness stand mount, an Ontario Campbell stayed the prosecution of the driver, Bruce Richard, in order to remedy a breach of his right to personal safety. Campbell said the offi cers' ac- count of the events were "incon- sistent" and unrealistic. Th e judge also ruled that a missing part of a DVD recording, which would have showed an exchange between an of- fi cer and the accused, was a loss of signifi cant evidence that wasn't ad- equately explained. Richard, a truck driver, was driv- ing on the E.C. Row Expressway in the Windsor, Ont., area on the eve- ning of Oct. 22, 2010, when he nod- ded off and drove through a barrier set up to detour traffi c. He admitted to drinking three or four beers with friends before getting into his truck. Th e police offi cers, identifi ed only as constables Sonier and Po- lachuk in court documents, said Richard fell "awkwardly" from his truck once they approached him. Th ey said he fell to the ground as they tried to stop him from falling. A DAILY BLOGOF CANADIAN LEGAL NEWS [ ries, including a sore leg and shoul- ders, an abrasion to the face, and a bump on the forehead, could also have occurred when they put their knees on his shoulder and leg to stop a "fl ailing" Richard from stand- ing up aſt er being told to stay on the ground. Richard also urinated on himself Th e offi cers added that his inju- during the attack he described. Toronto criminal lawyer Adam Weisberg says the case is an exam- ple of suspected police dishonesty under oath that prosecutors are re- quired to report according to a new policy that will come into eff ect be- fore the end of the year. Th e policy, which followed a To- ro nto Star investigation into police also said the law practice program would create a two-tier system where candidates who go through it will be seen as less competent than those who articled. "In our view, it is inevitable that the Proponents of the minority option LPP graduates will be stigmatized by the profession on the basis that these are the candidates who couldn't fi nd articles and therefore are somehow less quali- fi ed, cling task force said in their report. But in the debate that followed, the " the minority members on the arti- phrase "two-tier" itself was a double- edged sword. Th e majority used the same expression to justify the law prac- tice program. "We currently have a two-tiered sys- though it is two streams, it is not second class," she said in reference to the majority' motion that would shorten the length of the pilot product to three years, emphasized that "this is not meant to be a fi nal blueprint." Minor, who announced the change to the majority s motion. See OBA, page 5 hinting that the law practice program is in fact an opportunity for those who aren't able to fi nd positions in the exist- ing fl awed system. Bencher Janet Minor agreed. "Al- tem with those who can and can't fi nd articling, " Bencher Adriana Doyle said, FOCUS ON Business of Law P9 12-03-20 10:44 A See Missing, page 5 WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/LEGALFEEDS LegalFeeds-BB-LT-Apr23-12.indd 1 ] CANADIAN LAWYER & LAW TIMES POWERED BY 12-11-23 9:59 AM PM #40762529

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