Law Times

Law Times • February 3, 2014 Page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com NEWS Elizabeth Iyabo Abidogun Sunday Olusola Adeyemi Jill E Aebker Ehsan Ahmed Priscilla Gyau Akyea Intizar Ali Ubanna Amajor Christine Helen Arruda Vahe Avagyan Firas Mahmoud Ayoub Daniel Arash Badre Bahavar Rafie Baharloo Tracy Annetta Lee Ballantyne Monu Bansal Arkadii Barapp Casey Joan Buffan Barnett Rahul Lester Barreto Byron Gregory Basiga Viviana Kathleen Rugiada Aurora Beltrametti Walker Samantha Ashley Benadiba Barry David Berens William Kennedy Bernadius Sandeep Singh Bhalla Anish Bhavsar Alex Campbell Bishop Inderpreet Kaur Budesha James Warren Campbell William Goodman Flintoft Caven Beau Stephen Montgomery Ferris Chapman Mikalai Chapurny Gemma Louise Charlton Vivek Chopra Shaun Terrence Chu-A-Kong Andrea Louise Clarke Gagandeep Dadiala Joshua Jaisimha David Vivek David Mario Ernesto Delgado Manrattan Dhaliwal Christopher John Di Giacomo Zaccaria Antonio Di-Luca Maria DiMauro Nicole Alexandra Dowling Jeremy Andrew D'Souza Alexander Herrick Duggan Ryan Duval Adam Joe Dwek Caleb Jonathan Edwards Ehsun Eftekhari Modupe Ozufu Adesuwa Ehinlaiye Salma Nabil Mohamed El-Khodari Alexander Adan Erheim Aly Khan Esmail Kristofer Dean Evans Syeda-Gohar-Zehra Fatmi Alexandra Anne Ferrier David Stephen Martin Finch Tracy Elizabeth Muriel Fleischmann Charles Derek Fox Elizabeth Anne Francis Timothy Edward Franklin Jessica Elyse Frymer Daryl Thomas Fuchihara Gustavo Alberto Gil Lopez Navpreet Kaur Gill Michael Peter Gold Sholom Dovber Goldberg Benjamin Goldman Mathew Oliver Goldstein Christopher Ryan Graham Karen Patricia Grant Runako Kamau Gregg Robert Denis Arthur Harbic MD Shamim Hasan Saleha Hasham Jonathan Gerald Valentine Hendricks Geraldine Cherese Hewitt Jacqueline Sau Lei Ho Sandra Berry Hunter Ammar Hussein Gloria Elizabeth Ichim Asrin Jawaheri Seyedarash Jazayeri Bassam Adeeb Johar Brenda Rebecca Gillian Jones Judy Joohyun Joo Javairia Junaid Evan Alexander Juurakko Amandeep Kaur Kaler Liran Zalman Kertzman Kandinov Maria Eleftheria Katsivela Justin Katz Rajvinder Kaur Ryan Patrick Quinlan Keech Patti Melissa Kemp Fezan Khalil Sally Khalil Kevin George King Ryan Michael Kniznik Michael Stephen Donald Kostiuk Yianniko Kozoronis Jocelyn Susanna Kraayenbrink Boaz Kremeris David Alexander Kuttner Chee Seng Lam Marie Lampropoulos Daniel Larijani Bob Wing Hong Lau Denise Andrea Lee Hyun Kyung Lee Craig Douglas Levey Jia Liang Victoria Claire Little Shiyan Liu Solange Julie Losier Heather Alexandra Jean Mac Eachern Cameron Richard MacLean Michael Robert Macnamara Ria Neville Madan Vanessa Maggisano Byron Troy Marrello Alejandro Martinez Gabriel Olga Matyash Emma Elizabeth Mc Auliffe Peter Joseph John Mc Rae Joshua Agustin Mejia David Evan Miller Thomas Richard Milne David C Mineo Scott Oliver Mitchinson Elmira Moghadam Jose De Jesus Montes Castilla Hayden Moore Richard Maurice Moran Robert Emmanuel Moses Jayarajani Nadarajah Joanna Lynn Nairn Veerender Eknath Nakka Janhabi Nandy Amal Sidrah Nayyar Peter Rhoderic Neill Foluke Nwabuoku Daithi Eoin O hifearnain Michael Patrick O'Brien Mosunmola Abosede Oguntunde Stephanie Debra Atieno Okola Patience Nwanne Omokhodion Michael Patrick O'Rourke Jr Manpreet Pannu Amaninder Singh Parmar Michael Andreas Pierce Shawbee Lao Pineda Philip George Poles Faryal Ruba Poonah Hyath Dominika-Patrycia Prabucki Richard Adam James Pyne-Hilton Alison Margaret Pyper Neda Rajabinazari Anushka Minoli Rankothge Mohammad Abdur Razzak Brenda Rego Shervin Rismani Graham Arthur Robinson Kristen Miranda Rohoman Safiya Monifa Rose Arvin Albert Prashant Ross Bryan Andrew Rowe Meghan Elizabeth Anne Rowland Kim Dela Pena Roxas Danielle Janette Ryterband Hasnain Saeed Priti Saini Douglas Mark Sanderson Parminder Sandhu Matthew Samuel Schuman Adam Julien Samuel Settecase Melika Shafouri Dhananjay Navnitlal Shah Anil Kumar Sharma Vishal Deep Sharma Lyle Cameron Siles Patrick Aaron Simon Tajinder Kaur Sivia Malwina Sternak Petra Charlene Stewart Ryan Patrick Sullivan Omarr Mohemmad Syed Maria Taverniti Menachem Mendel Trapedo Ajinkya Mahesh Tulpule Teena Kannampuzha Varghese Winnie Virk Neelu Walia Annamaria Magdalena White Karen Yee Dalia Yousif Chun Er Yu Joshua Zlotnick Source: Law Society of Upper Canada Law Times congratulates the 198 new lawyers who were called to the bar last month. A ceremony to mark the occasion took place at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on Jan. 24. Lawyer questions AG's role in municipal liability issue Is Gerretsen in conflict of interest as former president of municipal association? personal injury lawyer is raising concerns about the optics of a proposal under consideration by Attorney General John Gerretsen to alter the rules on municipal joint and several liability in motor vehicle accidents. "He's very close to the municipal community," says Roger Oatley of Oatley Vigmond Personal Injury Lawyers LLP. Oatley notes Gerretsen is the former mayor of Kingston, Ont., and a former president of the Association of Munici- palities of Ontario. In addition, his son is the current mayor of Kingston. Given the association's long push to reform the law around joint and several liability, Oatley questions whether Gerretsen is in a conflict of interest when it comes to the issue. "I suspect that association is pretty close to the attorney general because he was head of the association at some point in his career," says Oatley, who notes the government has given the legal profession just two weeks to provide feedback on proposals for reforming municipal liability under the Negligence Act. Gerretsen's spokesman, Michael Ferguson, referred ques- tions about the matter to Ministry of the Attorney General spokesman Brendan Crawley. Crawley sent a response that didn't address the concerns about conflict of interest. One proposal would modify joint and several liability in situations where the plaintiffs were partly responsible for their own injuries. e other proposal would limit a munici- pality's exposure to twice its proportionate liability in motor vehicle cases. So if the court found a town or city to be five- per-cent liable for an accident, it would be on the hook for up to a maximum of 10 per cent of the damages. at con- trasts with the current situation where municipalities may have to cover all of the damages if the at-fault driver can't pay. Municipalities have long called such cases unfair and, in response, have been pushing for reforms to joint and several liability. ey argue that, as supposedly deep-pocketed defen- dants, they're more vulnerable targets for litigation that may put them on the hook for the full damages award. "It's a big issue and it's leveraged," says Borden Ladner Gervais LLP's Kevin Mc- Givney of municipalities' vulnerability as litigation targets. "It really hits hard at municipalities," adds McGivney, a partner at BLG whose practice focuses on municipal liability. "In particular, it can be devastating to small municipalities." Oatley, however, argues any change to joint and several liability would be unfair and discriminatory to seriously injured plaintiffs. "e capping it at twice the proportion of negligence . . . is just a bizarre, arbitrary approach," he says. And he argues the change would have the greatest impact on the most serious cases, particularly those in- volving catastrophically injured plaintiffs, since they're typically the only matters people will pursue against mu- nicipalities as they're so hard to prove. "ey're very, very tough cases," says Oatley, who compares the difficulty of successfully proving municipal liability in motor vehicle accidents to medical malpractice cases. "ose are the people who tend to take these cases on," he says, referring to catastrophically impaired plaintiffs. In ad- dition, because those cases can sometimes exhaust the neg- ligent driver's insurance coverage, it's the municipality that ends up being on the hook for the balance of the damages, he notes. Municipalities, however, have fought a long battle against joint and several liability in such cases. According to a back- grounder released by the municipal association in August, municipalities are paying $35 million more in insurance premiums than they were five years ago. "Courts continue to award mas- sive claims on the backs of property tax- payers, including to some plaintiffs who, through their own negligence, contributed to their own loss," the association wrote in its backgrounder on liability reform. A case cited is Fordham v. Municipal- ity of Dutton-Dunwich, in which the court found the municipality 50-per-cent liable in a January 2007 accident. e plaintiff was a 16-year-old driver who had been drinking prior to the accident and wasn't wearing a seatbelt. While he failed to stop at a stop sign, he argued the municipality had failed to warn about a change in the road alignment through the intersection. e court agreed and found the municipality liable for its failure to warn about "the change in road alignment through the intersection, or the concrete abutments on the other side of the intersection." According to the municipal association, the case will un- fairly cost the municipality $5.5 million. But for Oatley, any change to the rules around munici- pal negligence will be unfair to injured plaintiffs. ey'll be the ones without full recourse despite a court finding that the municipality had failed to adequately care for its roads, he argues. ey should pay, he adds, since they were neg- ligent and the law as it stands is a deterrent to municipal negligence in general. "e irony of this is the municipality who is careless about the safety of their roads is the munici- pality who ought to be fixed with the full responsibility for their injuries by way of deterring," he says. McGivney, however, says the reform proposals make a "good deal of sense. "e proposals are meant to achieve a level of balance." LT BY GLENN KAUTH Law Times A A lawyer says Attorney General John Gerretsen is 'very close to the munic- ipal community.'

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