Law Times

Page 16 April 29, 2013 Law Times • u The u Bizarre Briefs InsIde story By Viola James LAWYER HEADING TO TOP OF BRITISH MUSIC CHART SYDNEY, Australia — She's a lawyer by day and chart-topping pop music star by night. According to Reuters, an Australian lawyer who for years has traded her staid court robes and wig for fur and lycra to sing pop tunes in her off hours now stands only a step away from every musician's dream: breaking into the top 10 on the music charts. "Luv Bomb," the debut single by Bowie Jane, the 27-year-old's musical alter ego, has climbed to No. 11 on the British pop club charts in the high point of a double life she has kept secret for more than four years. "Of course my close friends were aware . . . but generally it hasn't been too hard to keep the two separate," said Bowie Jane, declining to reveal her real name, in an e-mail to Reuters. "I dress differently in court and I don't have a fringe. On stage, you wouldn't pick it was the same person." Passionate about music all her life, she originally wanted to pursue it as a career but went to university and became a lawyer to please her parents who wanted her to have something practical to fall back on. A typical day involved arriving at court, meeting with clients, and preparing a case before racing off in the evening for her shows. She once had to leave early to get to her performance on the main stage at the Australian Open. "I'd perform, then go home with a husky voice, rest, and get up and do court the next day," she said. The hectic double life has occasionally led to her wearing her stage costumes under her legal robes. "I really have to flick my mind from one mode to the other. I am very serious in court and on stage I am the complete opposite." PENMANSHIP NIXED FROM STATE LAWS SEATTLE — Washington state has eliminated penmanship. The art still exists, of course, but the word no longer appears in the state's laws. According to Reuters, its governor has signed into law the final piece of a six-year effort to rewrite state laws using gender-neutral vocabulary, replacing terms such as "fisherman" and "freshman" with "fisher" and "first-year student." And laws will now refer to "penmanship" as "handwriting." "This was a much larger effort than I had envisioned. Mankind means man and woman," said Democratic state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles of Seattle. The new gender-neutral references, for example, include "journey-level plumber" instead of "journeyman plumber" and "signal operator" for "signalman." "There's no good reason for keeping our legal terms anachronistic and with words that do not respect our current contemporary times," KohlWelles, the 475-page bill's sponsor, told Reuters. Several words, however, aren't easy to replace, said Kyle Thiessen, the state's code reviser who heads up the 40-staff Washington Code Reviser's Office agency. The state likely won't change the words "airmen" and "seaman," for example, because of objections by the state's Washington Military Department, he said. Civil engineering terms such as "manhole" and "man lock" will also remain because there were no obvious common-sense substitutes, said Thiessen. According to Reuters, the effort has stripped nearly 3,500 Washington state code sections, out of a total of about 40,000, of gender bias. Most of the changes, however, involve adding pronouns "she" and "her" to augment the existing "he" and "his," said Thiessen. Washington state is the nation's fourth to boast of eliminating gender bias from its official lexicon. It follows in the footsteps of Florida, North Carolina, and Illinois, said Kohl-Welles. "Words matter," said Liz Watson, a National Women's Law Centre senior adviser. "This is important in changing hearts and minds." LT FISH TO RETIRE FROM SCC Supreme Court of Canada Justice Morris Fish will be leaving the court at the end of the summer. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin announced last week that Fish had written to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to advise that he'll retire from the country's top court at the end of the spring session. Fish's retirement will be effective Aug. 31, 2013. Under the Judges Act, a retiring judge can Justice Morris Fish continue to participate in judgments with respect to cases heard prior to leaving the court for a period of six months. "Justice Fish has served on the court with wisdom and made enormous contributions to the court and to Canada," McLachlin said in a statement last week. "He is a wonderful colleague and friend who will be greatly missed." For his part, Fish said: "By the date of my planned retirement, I will have served my country as a justice of its highest courts for nearly a quarter century — including more than 10 years on the Supreme Court of Canada. I am grateful to have enjoyed this privilege and mindful of the honour and public trust that attach to the holding of judicial office in Canada." Ottawa lawyer and long-time Supreme Court agent Eugene Meehan commented on Fish's record last week. "In Canada's national court, he always stuck his juridical neck out for the little guy — Canada's best defence judge has now 'gone fishing.'" Fish will reach the mandatory retirement age of 75 this fall while fellow Quebec Justice Louis LeBel must retire next year. The Supreme Court Act requires that three of the nine judges come from Quebec. Fish joined the Supreme Court bench on Aug. 5, 2003, after serving more than 14 years as a judge of the Quebec Court of Appeal and a distinguished career as an educator and criminal lawyer in Montreal. NORTON ROSE PROMOTIONS ANNOUNCED Ahead of its official merger with Fulbright & Jaworski LLP this summer, the Norton Rose Group has promoted 33 partners globally. Eight of the promoted partners are in Canada, including Toronto intellectual property lawyer Anna Wilkinson and Karen Jensen, an employment and labour lawyer based in Ottawa. "The partner promotions reflect the international strength and diversity of our practice, which will grow again significantly in June when we combine with Fulbright & Jaworski," said Peter Martyr, global chief executive of Norton Rose. In a news release, the firm said women make up a substantial percentage of this year's promotions. The majority of the promotions were in corporate law followed by banking, litigation, and dispute resolution. LAWYERS, PARALEGALS OFFERED FREE WORKSHOPS Lawyers and paralegals can participate in two free continuing professional development sessions on how to present legal "I tell ya, the kid's got potential!" information to the public. The event, hosted by the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Ontario Justice Education Network, and Community Legal Education Ontario, will give lawyers and paralegals "the opportunity to participate in a facilitated discussion about common public and legal education issues," the law society said in a press release. The events will take place at the law society on May 7. Participants must register by May 3 via e-mail at equityevents@lsuc.on.ca or by calling 416-947-3413. POLL RESULTS The results for the latest Law Times online poll are in. According to the poll, more than half of participants believe Ontario's labour arbitration system favours workers and agree with calls to reform the system to include a consideration of employers' ability to pay for increased wages. About 56 per cent of respondents said it's time for change while the rest said the province's system is fair and any reform would benefit employers. LT Recruiting? Post your position on Great rates. Great reach. Great results. Contact Sandy Shutt at sandra.shutt@thomsonreuters.com for details. JobsInLaw 1-8 pg 5X.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 2/15/11 4:12:27 PM

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