Law Times

LAW TIMES 16 COVERING ONTARIO'S LEGAL SCENE | FEBRUARY 25, 2019 www.lawtimesnews.com LSO ADDS GENDER-NEUTRAL ROBING ROOM The Law Society of Ontario says it is working on a "gender- neutral space for all barristers to robe [and] network in what's now the men's robing room." The regulator announced the change online, and it said it is still working on specific plans, in- cluding modifications to ensure privacy in washrooms. The change comes after nearly 900 people signed an online pe- tition calling for a unisex robing room at Osgoode Hall. The petition, addressed to the law society's treasurer, said the "Lady Barristers" room had 12 lockers while the men's robing room had almost 70. Breanna Needham, an associate at Lax O'Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP, says she started the petition after hearing the issue de- bated privately several times over the past year. Needham says the law society's quick response bodes well for tack- ling other diversity and inclusion issues in the profession. "I would often hear about . . . the discussions and networking and informal mentoring that goes on in the [men's] robing rooms and even the substantive discussion. There was talk about how they set- tled cases or narrowed issues," says Needham. "The broader issue is one of inclusion and that these spaces, if they are going to exist and serve our profession, need to be available to all lawyers." PHILLIPS WINS FAMILY LAW AWARD The County of Carleton Law Association announced it will hon- our Ottawa lawyer H. Hunter Phillips for his work in family law. Phillips won the Hon. Heidi Levenson Polowin Award for Family Law, the Feb. 19 announcement said. The award recognizes "great dedication to and high ideals in the practice of family law." CALL FOR NOMINATIONS The Advocates' Society is calling for nominations for its Ar- leen Goss Young Advocates' Award. The award is "presented in recognition of distinguished advocacy" to a person who has demon- strated a "record of innovative and passionate advocacy" and has also shown a "demonstrated concern for and contribution to the advance- ment of social justice," said the society. "Arleen A. Goss passed away on Dec. 10, 2002, at the age of 40, after a lengthy battle with cancer. She practised initially as a defence lawyer in the firm of Stern & Goss and then, for the last five years of her life, as an assistant Crown attorney with the Ministry of the At- torney General of Ontario," said the society. The nomination deadline is March 15. More information on the award and the nomination process is available at www.advocates.ca. LAW TIMES POLL The number of lawyer candi- dates in the upcoming Law Society of Ontario bencher election is the highest since at least 1995, but as Law Times reports, voter turnout is declin- ing. Law Times asked readers if they think voting should be mandatory for all lawyers and paralegals in this election, which takes place in April. A majority, 55 per cent, did not agree that voting should be man- datory. The minority of respondents, 45 per cent, said voting should be mandatory and that it's important for lawyers and paralegals to take an interest in their governing body. LT The Inside Story BY VIOL A JAMES WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE . . . NEW JERSEY — A lawyer in charge of preventing employees from engaging in insider trading has been charged with insider trading. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged former Apple executive Gene Levoff with insider trading, reports CNBC. Levoff, senior director of corporate law and corporate secre- tary until September, "traded on material nonpublic informa- tion about Apple's earnings three times during 2015 and 2016," according to the lawsuit filed Feb. 13 in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey. "Levoff also had a previous history of insider trading, hav- ing traded on Apple's material nonpublic information at least three additional times in 2011 and 2012. For the trading in 2015 and 2016, Levoff profited and avoided losses of approximately $382,000," the complaint says. Levoff 's position at Apple granted him insider access to not- yet-public earnings results and briefings on iPhone sales, the com- plaint says. On more than one occasion, he disobeyed the com- pany's "blackout" period for stock transactions, selling or buying stock worth tens of millions of dollars, according to the SEC. The agency alleges he bought shares and profited when the stock popped after positive earnings reports and sold to avoid downturns that followed poor results. On Feb. 13, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was charging Levoff with one count of securities fraud. Levoff was terminated in September, the SEC lawsuit says. Before his termination, Levoff was "responsible for Apple's compliance with securities laws," the SEC complaint says. The complaint says Levoff shared responsibility for ensuring that company employees complied with Apple's insider trading policies. In 2010 and 2011, he sent emails to employees notifying them that a blackout period was about to begin and that they were prohibited from trading Apple securities for the duration of the period. One email stated: "REMEMBER, TRADING IS NOT PERMITTED, WHETHER OR NOT IN AN OPEN TRADING WINDOW, IF YOU POSSESS OR HAVE ACCESS TO MATERIAL INFORMA- TION THAT HAS NOT BEEN DISCLOSED PUBLICLY." TINDER FOR COWS PETERSFIELD, England — A Tinder-inspired app is help- ing farmers match up potential partners for their cattle, reports Reuters. Called "Tudder" — a mix of dating app Tinder and udder — it lets farmers swipe right on cattle they like the look of. They are then directed to a page on the SellMyLivestock website where they can browse more pictures and data about the animals before deciding wheth- er to buy. Valuable information is avail- able on matters such as milk yield and protein content or calv- ing potential, says Doug Bairner, CEO of Hectare Agritech, which runs SellMyLivestock — or SML — and Graindex, a U.K.-based online agritech trading platform. "Matching livestock online is even easier than it is to match humans because there's a huge amount of data that sits behind these wonderful animals that predicts what their offspring will be," he said. Launched Feb. 13 — just in time for Valentine's Day — the makers believe Tudder is the first ever matchmaking app for livestock. As with the human equivalent, farmers use smart- phones to first choose whether they are looking for a male or female, swiping through photos — right for yes and left for no — until they find a match. Putting data at their finger- tips connects farmers from all over the country, making trad- ing easier. SML has listed more than £50 million ($85 million) of live- stock, feed and bedding to sell in the last year, dispelling notions that farmers are stuck in the past, Bairner said. "Despite the rest of the world's view of farming, it's actually very technologically driven," he said, citing precision spraying, auto- mated dairy units and genetic science. THIS DELIVERY COULD'VE WAITED BROOKLYN — A UPS driver refused to move out of the way of an ambulance that had its si- rens and lights blaring, reports MailOnline. The emergency worker was stuck behind the large brown UPS truck, which was making a delivery, ignoring the paramed- ics responding to an emergency call. The driver stopped in the middle of a snow-swept street in Brooklyn. A passerby filmed the driver walking along the snow-covered sidewalk carrying packages. The driver held up the ambulance for more than 30 seconds before al- lowing it to pass. The driver was then ap- proached by a member of the public who asked him how he would feel if paramedics were delayed in treating his family be- cause the road was blocked. The driver was clearly un- comfortable and responded: "Do me a favour and let me pass, please . . . and bear in mind if you post that you will get a lawsuit." A spokesman for UPS told MailOnline: "UPS trains its drivers to follow all traffic laws, which includes allowing emer- gency vehicles to pass. "We are aware of the situation and taking appropriate action." FIRE TRUCK CATCHES FIRE MANSFIELD, Mass. — A fire truck burst into f lames inside a Massachusetts firehouse last week, reports the Associated Press. The engine caught fire in Mansfield, Mass. at about 2:30 a.m. Feb. 13. Four on-duty fire- fighters were alerted to the blaze by smoke alarms. Authorities say two firefight- ers required treatment for smoke inhalation but are expected to be OK. Chief Neal Boldrighini says the engine was used on a call on Feb. 12 and no one noticed any- thing wrong with it. Extensive smoke and water damage also forced the shut- down of the station, one of two fire stations in the town about 40 kilometres south of Boston. LT Breanna Needham started a petition about the robing rooms at Osgoode Hall that called for a unisex space. Bizarre Briefs CREDIT: BY ISAAC MARZIOLI/SHUTTERSTOCK Understand © 2017 Stewart. All rights reserved. See policies for full terms and conditions. Working closely with our legal clients has given us insight into your processes, your needs and the challenges you face in your practice. It's this understanding that led us to work with TELUS to offer the Assyst Real Estate application, which enables you to exchange data with lenders securely, seamlessly and accurately. Interested? Request a demo. Call (888) 667-5151 or visit stewart.ca. Untitled-6 1 2018-04-03 1:41 PM 55 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE 45 % YES, I AGREE

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