Law Times

LAW TIMES 16 COVERING ONTARIO'S LEGAL SCENE | MARCH 18, 2019 www.lawtimesnews.com ANTI-SLAPP CITES LAWYER'S REPUTATION Lawyer Alexander Dimitri Lascaris, who launched a defa- mation action after he was ac- cused of supporting terrorists, was awarded $15,000 in costs for a successful appeal on March 4. The Ontario Court of Ap- peal decision Lascaris v. B'nai Brith Canada, 2019 ONCA 163 surrounded Lascaris' Facebook comments on the Israeli govern- ment's treatment of a particular family, wrote Justice Ian Nord- heimer, with justices David Doherty and Gladys Pardu concurring. In particular, Lascaris claimed an individual named Bahaa Alayan had been killed "extra- judicially," the decision said. B'nai Brith Canada published an article saying that Lascaris has "used social media to advocate on behalf of terrorists who have mur- dered Israeli civilians." "A lawyer's reputation is central to his/her ability to carry on their profession," wrote Nordheimer. "The fact that the appellant is no longer engaged in private practice does not mean that his reputation is still not of consequence. The appellant continues to represent cli- ents on a pro bono basis." David Elmaleh, a partner at McCague Borlack LLP and one of the lawyers who represented B'nai Brith Canada, declined to com- ment, citing the appeal period. Alexander Smith of Henein Hutchison LLP and one of the lawyers representing Lascaris, said the firm was unavailable for an interview. LEIPER, TRANQUILLI APPOINTED JUDGES Lawyers Janet Leiper and Kelly Tranquilli will become judges of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, Justice Minister David Lametti announced on March 8. Leiper, a Toronto sole practitioner at Janet Leiper Law, is a Law So- ciety of Ontario bencher, a former chairwoman of Legal Aid Ontario and a former integrity commissioner for the city of Toronto. Tran- quilli, a partner at Lerners LLP based in London, Ont., practised civil litigation, medical malpractice and personal injury litigation, insurance, appellate law and professional regulation, the announce- ment said. JACKMAN WINS WRITING AWARD Law professor Martha Jackman was awarded the 2018 David Wal- ter Mundell Medal for excellence in legal writing, the Ministry of the Attorney General announced on March 8. Jackman, who teaches in the Common Law Section of the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law, was lauded for her "extensive and powerful writing" on socio- economic rights, said the announcement. LAW TIMES POLL Candidates for the role of bencher at the Law Society of Ontario gave Law Times var- ied opinions on if and how a fee to support pro bono services should be incorporated into annual fees paid to the regula- tor. Law Times asked readers if they supported a levy to support Pro Bono Ontario. At press time, 48 per cent responded that they supported a levy to support Pro Bono Ontario, as it would serve the public interest and enhance overall access to justice. The other 52 per cent of respondents said they did not support a levy and this is not something in which the regulator should be in- volved. LT The Inside Story BY VIOL A JAMES PIG'S PAINTINGS SELL FOR THOUSANDS FRANSCHHOEK, South Africa — Step aside Francis Bacon. A pig from South Africa is making a splash in the art world, with her paintings selling for as much as US$4,000, reports Re- uters. Brandishing a paintbrush in her snout, Pigcasso creates bright, bold strokes across a canvas propped up in her sty. The sow was rescued from an abattoir as a piglet and brought to an animal sanctuary in Franschhoek, South Africa in 2016, where her new owners noticed her love of colour and paint brushes. "Pigs are very smart animals and so when I brought Pigcasso here to the barn, I thought how do I keep her entertained?" said Joanne Lefson, who runs Farm Sanctuary SA. "We threw in some soccer balls, rugby balls and of course there were some paintbrushes lying around because the barn was newly built. . . . She basically ate or destroyed everything except these paintbrushes . . . she loved them so much," Lefson added. Soon the pig was dipping the brushes into pots of paint and making her mark. Her paintings can sell for almost $4,000, with the proceeds going to animal welfare. She has even had one of her artworks turned into a watch face for Swiss watchmaker Swatch. Swatch announced a collaboration with the pig last month. The limited-edition "Flying Pig by Ms. Pigcasso" features green, blue and pink brush strokes and sells for US$120. SNOW CAR GETS TICKET CHADRON, Nebraska — A family in northwest Nebras- ka built a Ford Mustang out of snow so lifelike that a state trooper gave it a ticket, reports the Omaha World-Herald. During a day of snow in Chadron recently, Jason Blundell, a concrete plant man- ager, and his two teenage kids shovelled neighbouring drive- ways into a massive mound and created a work of art. They spent five hours sculpting a clone of the 1967 Ford Mustang GTA that they store in their garage; then they posted a photo to Face- book. That caught the eye of Ne- braska State Patrol Sgt. Mick Downing, who attends the same church as the family. He drove by and recorded himself giving the sculpted car a pretend tow notice, then posted the video on the patrol's social media chan- nels. "Holy cow, this thing blew up," Downing said. "One of my friends in Gretna said the BBC picked this up, [as did] some news organization in Australia." Blundell, his 17-year-old daughter Shelby (like the Mus- tang) and his 15-year-old son Spencer used a skid loader, con- crete wood f loats, shovels, ice scrapers and a squirt bottle to create the Mustang, now known on social media as the #Snow- Pony. Spencer even measured the real car in the garage so they would get the proportions just right. "We actually had somebody come by while we were build- ing it and they thought we were burying somebody's car," Jason Blundell said. The Blundells have a history of sculpting behemoths out of snow, but this is the first time one of their creations has gone viral. They have built several seven- foot-tall Easter bunnies during spring blizzards. After an October storm, they built a six-foot-tall jack-o'-lan- tern, hollowed it out, lit a candle inside and painted the snow or- ange. "The start of that was to get my kids off their cellphones for a day," Blundell said. "Normally, we don't do much with [the sculptures]. We just take a couple pictures of them for ourselves. It just happened that our state trooper buddy came up to do a joke, and it blew up." Downing said he never did the paperwork for the tow no- tice. It wouldn't have held up in court. "If it would've been a real car," he said, "it was parked just fine." PHD IN CRIME? SAN DIEGO — A man accused of robbing a number of credit unions in San Diego County is a neuroscientist with a PhD. Karl Doron was arrested after he entered a Navy Federal Credit Union and allegedly demanded cash from employees, accord- ing to FBI Special Agent Davene Butler. He pleaded not guilty to charges from that incident and a series of other alleged bank rob- beries on March 8. Doron's lawyer says he is trained as a neuroscientist and holds a PhD. He pleaded not guilty to sev- en counts of bank robbery, two counts of attempted bank rob- bery and one count of carrying a loaded firearm in a public place. Doron is accused of stealing more than US$13,000. If convicted, Doron could face 14 years and four months in prison, authorities said. 'AUNT BECKY' CHARGED IN FRAUD SCHEME BOSTON — U.S. federal pros- ecutors have charged dozens of people — including Hollywood actors — in a US$25-million scheme to help wealthy Ameri- cans buy their children's way into elite universities, reports The Guardian. Federal prosecutors in Boston charged William "Rick" Singer with running the racketeering scheme through his Edge Col- lege & Career Network. Thirty-three parents — in- cluding actors Felicity Huffman of Desperate Housewives fame and Lori Loughlin of Full House, whose character Aunt Becky was trending on Twitter when the news broke March 12 — were charged, as well as 13 coaches and associates of Singer's business. Prosecutors said Singer's op- eration arranged for fake testers to take college admissions exams in place of his clients' children and, in some cases, arranged for applicants to be listed as recruit- ed athletes even if they had no athletic ability. Singer's charges include rack- eteering, money laundering and obstruction of justice, according to court papers. LT Lawyer Dimitri Lascaris won an appeal in an anti-SLAPP case. Bizarre Briefs How the legal community in Ontario gets its news @lawtimes Canlawyer.lawtimes@thomsonreuters.com | 416.609.3800 | 1.800.387.5164 Online www.lawtimesnews.com/subscribe Free preview bitly.com/LT-FreePreview-1 SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND RECEIVE: • 40 issues a year covering Ontario's legal landscape • FREE digital edition and unlimited online access to past issues • FREE Canadian Legal Newswire, a weekly e-newsletter from the editors of Law Times and Canadian Lawyer Subscribe to Law Times today! Untitled-3 1 2019-02-05 3:07 PM CREDIT: ALEKS MELNIK & CHRISTOS GEORGHIOU/SHUTTERSTOCK 48 % YES, I AGREE 52 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE

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