Law Times

Page 16 March 26, 2018 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com NEW LEADERSHIP AT LAWPRO LawPRO has appointed Daniel Pinnington as president and chief executive officer, effective April 2. Pinnington, who joined the professional liability insurer in 2001, says his goal will be to pro- vide competitive services to the Ontario Bar through risk man- agement initiatives and educa- tion. "Many claims are avoidable and it's important to make law- yers aware of claims and how to avoid them early," he says. Called to the bar in 1993, Pin- nington was promoted in 2012 to vice president of claims, prevention and stakeholder relations, where he was responsible for LAWPRO's claims prevention work, communications and stakeholder and gov- ernment relations. JUDGE DISMISSES CONSPIRACY CLASS ACTION Ontario Superior Court Jus- tice Paul Perell has dismissed a conspiracy class action in its en- tirety against the LCBO & Beer Store. The plaintiffs, David Hughes and Ontario Inc., were seeking damages of $1.4 billion and punitive damages of $5 million for damages in accor- dance with the breaching and civil conspiracy of the Compe- tition Act, the unjust profit- ing for breaching the Liquor Control Act and the waiver of certain torts at the hands of the Liquor Control Board of On- tario. Perell said in his ruling that the plaintiffs' six summary judgment motions and the con- stitutional challenge didn't have merit and "all of the Defendants' arguments have sunk the Bis- marck." The ruling said, "If in ac- cordance with the principles of public law, the activities of the LCBO are to be measured by a reasonableness standard as op- posed to a correctness standard, it was reasonable for the LCBO to enter into the 2000 Beer Framework Agreement, which essentially continued market practices that had existed for decades, and it was reasonable to interpret the Uniform Price Rule as allowing differential pricing for retail consumers and licencees, again a long-standing practice and one consistent with distribution in the private sector where wholesale and retail pric- ing is commonplace." GUTHRIE AWARD NOMINATIONS Nominations for The Law Foundation of Ontario's Guthrie Award are due May 17. They must include a letter of nomination and a minimum of two letters of support from other parties. Nominees must have worked on advancing access to justice for all Ontarians. More information can be obtained at www.lawfoundation.on.ca. 11 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE YES, I AGREE 89 % LAW TIMES POLL In this week's poll, Law Times reported that lawyers say that the federal justice minister's response to recommendations by a House of Commons committee on how to improve legal aid in Canada is disap- pointing. Law Times asked readers if they thought that more fund- ing is needed beyond what was promised in the recent federal budget. Eighty-nine per cent said that yes, the federal government's re- sponse is inadequate given the scope of the issues. Eleven per cent said no, the federal government is doing a good job of balancing compet- ing funding demands. LT u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story Daniel Pinnington is the new chief execu- tive officer of LawPRO. MAN BITES MAN'S BEST FRIEND IN ARREST RACINE, Wisc. — A Burlington, Wisc. man was caught on camera biting a police dog dur- ing his arrest March 19, reports FOX6Now. The Racine County Sheriff 's Office re- leased body cam footage of the accused, Leland O'Malley, taken by police officers. Officials said that deputies responded to a call at a local home, after it was reported that O'Malley refused to leave and looked intoxicated. O'Malley was trekking around the house and banging on the doors and windows, yelling that he wanted ac- cess inside to sleep, reports FOX6Now. Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said O' Malley wasn't acting rational. "It appeared to me he was not in the right state of mind," he said. But it was Deputy David Fisher and his po- lice dog, Murphy, who witnessed O'Malley pounding a window and refusing to remove his hand from his pocket when asked to step away from the property, reports FOX6Now. Once O'Malley was threatened by the dog's release, police said he advanced toward the police of- ficer without slowing down. Fisher said he re- leased the police dog, who grabbed O'Malley's arm. In his defence, O'Malley allegedly wrapped his arm around Murphy's head and tried to bite him twice. O'Malley allegedly finally let go and was arrested, reported the news outlet. Murphy was unharmed. O'Malley, 44, fac- es four misdemeanor charges, including two counts of disorderly conduct, one count of striking a police animal and one count of resist- ing arrest. Schmaling sees a bright side to this episode. "I don't have a deputy sheriff that's injured or killed. The dog is not injured. So this is a win- win," he said. BRISKET BANDIT HITS ST. LOUIS RESTAURANTS ST. LOUIS — Police are investigating three in- cidents of meat theft from restaurants in the St. Louis area, Fox2now reports. One company captured footage of the thieves. Surveillance shows a man walking out of sight into the company's walk-in cooler. He then appears later carrying a side of beef. The footage also shows his partner going to a truck with a box of batteries from the store next door. Dennis Callier, owner of Callier's Catering — one of the businesses impacted — says the foot- age could be useful to identify who is involved. "I'd love to have the video on TV because people that would look would say, 'I've seen those guys before,'" he said. Although he con- siders it a petty crime, Callier worries about other businesses the thieves will hit. Another nearby barbeque restaurant also suffered two thefts. Employees say this is be- cause the stainless-steel doors of a smoker had been broken into both times. BRITISH PASSPORTS MADE IN FRANCE? LONDON — The new blue British passports that Prime Minister Theresa May hailed as "an expression of our independence and sovereign- ty" after Brexit will be made by a Franco-Dutch firm, the boss of the British company that lost the contract said. Reuters reports that the news produced awk- ward headlines for May, who announced in De- cember that Britain, which adopted burgundy passports in 1988 in line with EU recommen- dations, would switch back to the "iconic" dark blue ones it had used for decades. British passports are currently made by De La Rue, which, despite its French name, is a British company that prints them in northern England. The company's CEO said it lost the tender for the new version after being undercut on price. Franco-Dutch company Gemalto won the contract, according to The Sun. Gemalto would neither confirm nor deny it. LT "Driverless vehicles have certainly made significant advances in autonomous parking technologies — not so much in baggage handling." Visit www.store.thomsonreuters.ca or call 1-800-387-5164 for a 30-day, no risk evaluation ONTARIO LAWYER'S PHONE BOOK 2018 Ontario Lawyer's Phone Book is your best connection to legal services in Ontario with more than 1,400 pages of essential legal references. More detail and a wider scope of legal contact information for Ontario: • Over 26,800 lawyers listed • Over 8,500 law firms and corporate offices listed • Fax and telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, office locations and postal codes Perfectbound Published December each year On subscription $85 One time purchase $88.50 L7798-7858 Multiple copy discounts available Plus applicable taxes and shipping & handling. (prices subject to change without notice) Your instant connection to ONTARIO'S LEGAL NETWORK Untitled-2 1 2018-03-06 1:08 PM

• Cover