Law Times

Page 16 March 3, 2014 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com NEW CHAIR AT MILLER THOMSON Kent Davidson is the national chair- man of Miller omson LLP. Davidson, a partner with the fi rm, practises labour and employment law as well as litigation. In a news release, he touted Miller omson as a leading national law fi rm. "Miller omson has the most com- plete geographic coverage of any nation- al fi rm in the country," said Davidson. " is unique footprint gives us a tremendous service advantage at a time when being service-minded and responsive has never been a higher priority for clients. Our lawyers are deeply committed to their communities." Davidson replaces Gerald Courage following his three-year term in the role. Among Courage's accomplishments are building an alliance with French business law fi rm FIDAL and expanding Miller omson's services in Saskatchewan, according to Miller omson. "We are grateful for Gerald Courage's contribution to the growth of the fi rm," said Pierre Paquet, a partner at Miller omson's Montreal offi ce. "At the same time, we welcome Kent Davidson's service-minded, entrepreneurial approach. His pragmatic approach refl ects the fi rm's culture and he will do very well in his new national leadership role." TEXTING PENIS PIC NOT A CRIME ATLANTA — It may be unwise for politicians to text pictures of their penises, but could it be a crime? It's not an off ence in Georgia, at least. Ac- cording to Reuters, the Supreme Court has ruled a man accused of texting an unsolicited picture of his tattooed genitals to a married mother of young children didn't commit a crime under a Georgia state nudity law. Charles Lee Warren faced up to three years in prison following his indictment under a 1970 Georgia law that makes it illegal to send unsolic- ited nude photographs by mail without a proper warning on the outside of the envelope. According to Reuters, prosecutors said he texted the picture of his tattooed penis in Octo- ber 2012 to a woman who then complained to police. According to prosecutors, Warren's geni- tals were tattooed with the phrase, "STRONG E nuf 4 A MAN BUT Made 4 A WOMAN." e Georgia Supreme Court said the state law didn't cover photos sent electronically through a cellphone text message. Legislation proposed last year to amend the law to include pictures transmitted electroni- cally didn't pass, according to Georgia general assembly records. e state has no other law governing these types of cases, said Lauren Kane, spokeswoman for Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens. e defendant's attorney, Donald Roch, also challenged the law on the ground that it vio- lated his client's First Amendment guarantee of free speech, but the court didn't address that constitutional issue. MAN WHO TAUNTED COPS CAUGHT AT FRIEND'S HOUSE SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A man who taunt- ed police for a week on Facebook while driv- ing recklessly on a highway may have wanted to go further afar than a friend's house a er daring them to catch him. According to Reuters, police said a motorcy- clist who taunted them with a Facebook video of himself driving recklessly through traffi c along with the message "catch me if you can" was sneaking out of a friend's house when they caught up with him. Police took Alberto Rodriguez, 27, into cus- tody for suspected motorcycle the and in con- nection with several outstanding arrest warrants. Prosecutors were considering whether to charge him with traffi c violations for what ap- peared on the video in which a rider is weaving through traffi c at excessive speeds on a packed San Antonio highway. Police said the video was from a helmet cam- era and fi rst appeared on Rodriguez' Facebook page with the message: "Catch me if you can." "He said, 'Catch me if you can,' and our de- tectives caught him," San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told reporters. JOYRIDING BOY DOES IT AGAIN DOKKA, Norway — Last week, we told you about a 10-year-old Norwegian boy who took his parents' car for a joyride last week and then claimed he was a dwarf who had forgotten his driver's licence. According to Reuters, he has hit the road again. is time, he took off in the car of a relative the family was visiting and managed to drive about 30 kilom etres before stopping, local police said. When the parents realized what happened, they phoned police who sent out messages over Twitter and traffi c radio asking the public for help. e boy eventually stopped and a by- stander took his keys away, said police. Police had considered the fi rst case closed. But they weren't so forgiving about the second incident and have reported the family to child services. "It is scary and very sad that he is allowed to keep going on like this," police spokesman Baard Christiansen told Reuters. LT Get more online Get more online Get more online Canadian Lawyer | Law Times | 4Students | InHouse | Legal Feeds lawtimesnews.com • canadianlawyermag.com Fresh Canadian legal news and analysis every day Visit Us Online 1-8-5X.indd 1 2/28/11 2:37:34 PM u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story PROF HONOURED FOR LEGAL WRITING University of Toronto Fac- ulty of Law Prof. Jim Phillips has received the Ministry of the Attorney General's 2013 David Walter Mundell Medal for legal writing. e Mundell medal honours those "who have made a distin- guished contribution to law and letters," according to a ministry news release. "It celebrates great legal writ- ing and recognizes that the art- ful use of language in the right style has the power to give life to ideas." Phillips, who's also part of U of T's department of history, has written extensively about legal history, particularly on crimi- nal law in Canada, the ministry said. Former attorney general Ian Scott created the Mundell medal in 1986 to honour mem- bers of the legal profession who have made exceptional contri- butions to legal writing. CLASS ACTION TRIO JOINS MCKENZIE LAKE Three former Siskinds LLP class action lawyers have joined McKenzie Lake Law- yers LLP. Lawyers Michael Peer- less, Matt Baer, and Sabrina Lombardi "bring with them an unmatched track record of success," McKenzie Lake said in a news release. Peerless said he and his col- leagues are "thrilled" to have joined the fi rm. "We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to join this dynamic, growing, and progressive law fi rm. e plat- form here at McKenzie Lake is an ideal place for us to continue to serve our class action clients, and to work with many skilled law- yers in a variety of fi elds," he said. McKenzie Lake managing partner Michael Lake de- scribed the trio as "best-in-class lawyers." "Consistent with our resolve to attract the very best legal tal- ent in support of niche practice areas, we are extremely gratifi ed to have the Peerless class action group join us," said Lake. POLL RESULTS e results of the latest Law Times online poll are in. About 64 per cent of par- ticipants say the federal govern- ment is right to look at elimi- nating the immigrant investor program. e poll follows the 2014 federal budget that called the immigrant investor program "an exception" to the progress Canada has made in aligning its immigration system with its economic needs. LT Kent Davidson "John Pendergast for the Crown, your honour. We are ready to proceed."

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