Law Times - sample

May 7, 2018

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Page 16 May 7, 2018 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story "... and to my loving wife Amelia, I leave my racehorse stables and to my adorable daughter Camille, I leave my Impressionist art collection and to my no-good brother Charley, I leave the liability for any cost awards due to frivolous estate litigation." SETTLEMENT FOR CHEESE INJURY EAST GRANBY, Conn. — Domino's Pizza paid US$180,000 to a former employee after he was crushed by 181.4 kilograms of cheese in 2016, reports the Connecticut Law Tribune. The man, Mohammed Hassan, was deliv- ering the cheese to a Domino's chain in East Granby, about a 25-minute drive from Hart- ford. It was a rainy day, and his hand truck slid into his left knee and ankle, causing him to fall backwards. His foot was fractured and his me- niscus was torn. His attorney, Brooke Goff of Goff Law Group LLC, said there is a possibility that Hassan will have to undergo knee surgery. Goff told the Law Tribune that although initially Domino's denied the injuries were its fault, three doctors hired by the pizza company eventually confirmed that Hassan's injuries were a result of his fall. Hassan filed a workers compensation claim against Domino's on April 14. The settlement was a compromise between Domino's insurer, Sedgwick Insurance, which initially offered US$100,000, and Hassan's original demand of US$325,000. Hassan says he is grateful that he did not obtain more serious injuries due to the falling cheese, Goff told the Law Tribune. ASHES MISTAKEN FOR HEROIN AUGUSTA, Maine — Police in Kennebec County mistook a man's ashes for heroin when searching a car after its driver swerved into a utility pole, reports the Kennebec Journal. The man was Robert C. Curtis Sr., a 76-year- old who died in Florida in 2013. The car be- longed to his son, Kevin Curtis. After receiving a portion of his father's ashes, Curtis ordered an urn, then stored the ashes in his glove box in the time before it was delivered. Jesse Legendere, a friend of Curtis, borrowed the 2006 Chevrolet Impala to go grocery shop- ping and crashed it. Police believe he was under the inf luence of heroin. After reviving Legendere, police found 48 grams of white powder in the glove box and seized it as evidence. They sent it away to be test- ed. When it came back, police confirmed it was not narcotics but human remains. Robert Cur- tis, a former police officer, was returned to his relatives about 48 hours after Legendere's arrest. "This was the first time my father was ever in lockup right here, and it took me forever to get him out of it," Kevin Curtis told the Journal. MAN SUES FRANCE FOR DOMAIN NAME PARIS — A man who owns the domain France. com is suing France's Ministry of Foreign Af- fairs after he claims it illegally seized the do- main from him, Ars Technica reports. American Jean-Noël Frydman filed a civil complaint in Virginia against the French Re- public, the French foreign ministry and the minister of foreign affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, a French government tourism agency and Veri- Sign, a domain name company based in the U.S. The complaint, filed on April 19, accuses the French government of "reverse domain-name hijacking." Frydman, who was born in France, bought the domain in 1994 from an online marketing company called web.com, to build what he calls "a digital kiosk for francophiles and franco- phones in the United States" in a blog post. Over the years, France.com collaborated on projects with French government agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2015, the French Ministry of Foreign Af- fairs launched a lawsuit against Frydman to gain control of the website. In 2017, the Paris Court of Appeals ruled that Frydman was violating trademark law, and the French government ordered Web.com to transfer the domain to its power. Now France.com redirects to france.fr, a tourism website in partnership with the French government. LT $2-BILLION CLASS ACTION COMMENCED AGAINST FACEBOOK A Toronto law firm is lead- ing a global class action against Facebook for what it alleges is the misuse of its users' personal information. Koskie Minsky LLP has announced it has begun a $2-billion claim, based on alle- gations that Facebook was aware its users' personal data could eas- ily be accessed by third parties through the social media plat- form. It comes in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica breach, where data collected through Facebook was allegedly used to inf luence voters in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The claim was filed on behalf of users worldwide, whom the firm says may have had data accessed by third-party organizations with- out their permission. Robert Gain, an associate for Koskie Minsky, says the personal misuse of information resulted in political gain for some. "[B]ringing a class action forward, that puts these issues front and centre, raises awareness, contributes to behaviour modification and shines a light on these very important privacy issues," he says. The notice of action for the suit was issued on April 25. WILLIAM D.T. CARTER TO RECEIVE MLST AWARD William D.T. Carter, a health- care litigator, is being honoured by the Medico-Legal Society of Toronto with its award for 2018. The Medico-Legal Soci- ety Award is given to a medical, legal or scientific professional who has made a mark on their profession or the community. Carter, who is legal counsel at the Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada, has practised health-care litigation for 30 years. He, along with his colleagues, formed the health law group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. During his career, Carter served on the ethics com- mittee of Mount Sinai Hos- pital as the chairman of Safe Kids Canada, and he taught at Osgoode Hall, among other accomplishments. The award will be presented on May 30 at the society's annual dinner. LEGAL AID ONTARIO TO FUND CABL The Canadian Association of Black Lawyers will receive $80,000 in funding from Legal Aid Ontario as a part of LAO's commitment to secure clinic law services for black Ontarians. The CABL will use the fund- ing for research and create ma- terials to further law reform work and represent the interest of black Ontarians to all levels of Canadian government. The agreement is one of several inter- im services that LAO is provid- ing until it opens the Black Legal Action Centre, a legal clinic for black communities in Ontario, in August later this year. The agreement comes after LAO withdrew its funding from the African Canadian Legal Clinic in 2017 due to alleged fi- nancial mismanagement. YES, I AGREE 53 % 47 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE LAW TIMES POLL Some paralegals are calling for deputy judges to be barred from serving as benchers at the Law Society of Ontario. Readers were asked if they agreed with this move. Roughly 53 per cent said yes, adjudicators should not be benchers in order avoid conf licts of interest and to preserve their independence. Another 47 per cent said no, they did not see this as being an issue. LT 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-2 1 2018-05-01 1:55 PM Robert Gain is acting as counsel in a glob- al class action that has been launched against Facebook.

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