Law Times

Page 16 May 12, 2014 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com LAWYERS INDUCTED TO ORDER Several members of the legal community were among those inducted into the Or- der of Canada in Ottawa last week. e citation for new Order of Canada member Linda Silver Dranoff honours her as being "instrumental in advanc- ing equality in Canadian family law. As a lawyer, she has argued many precedent- setting cases that have directly benefited women by recognizing marriage as a so- cial and financial partnership. Notably, her lobbying efforts resulted in essential reforms to family law legislation, includ- ing equal sharing of all matrimonial property between spouses follow- ing a separation or death, and automatic cost-of-living adjustments in support payments." e ceremony took place last Wednesday at Rideau Hall. Gov. Gen. David Johnston bestowed the honour on 35 members and 10 officers. Also honoured was Wesley Nicol, an Ottawa man named a mem- ber of the Order of Canada and described as a "self-made man, lawyer, and community developer" who has shared his wealth through his fam- ily foundation. e honourees also included Shelagh Day, founding president of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund and co-founder of the court challenges program, who becomes a member of the order. GUILTY VERDICT FOR MAN WHO TIED ROOSTER TO PENIS PARIS — Is tying a rooster to your penis art? An artist in legal trouble in France thinks so. A court has found a South African perfor- mance artist who tied a live rooster to his penis during an impromptu open-air show near the Eiffel Tower guilty of sexual exhibitionism but it didn't impose a sentence, prosecutors said. Last September, Steven Cohen danced on the tourist-filled Trocadero Plaza dressed in a cor- set, high heels, long red gloves, and an elaborate feathered headdress with a rooster attached to his penis by a ribbon. Against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower and under the amused and perplexed gaze of tour- ists, including a group of nuns, the spectacle lasted only a few moments before police arrested Cohen and then dragged him across the plaza with the rooster attached. Cohen's lawyer told Reuters she was "relieved." "is is a rather measured decision," said law- yer Agnès Tricoire. "In my opinion, this case should never have gone to court." In a March interview with Le Figaro, Co- hen said authorities had "no understand- ing of what art is, what performance is." "If I'm found guilty . . . I will see it as a failure of French justice," said Cohen, who has lived in France for about 10 years. Prosecutors had asked for a 1,000-euro ($1,500) fine. Cohen is famous for "interventions in the public realm," according to his biography. e Paris piece was a reaction to an increasingly ho- mophobic, xenophobic, and anti-Semitic world, Cohen told the newspaper. "In showing the most intimate part of me, I'm saying: 'I'm male, I'm Jewish, I'm queer, I'm white,'" he said. He said the performance didn't harm Franck, the rooster. He chose the animal "because it's the emblem of France." DOGS KEPT ALIVE FOR BLOOD FORT WORTH, Texas — In yet more bizarre allegations of animal cruelty, a Texas veterinar- ian is facing accusations of cruelty to animals aer several dogs brought to his clinic to be eu- thanized were kept alive in squalid conditions for use in blood transfusions, Fort Worth po- lice said. Millard Tierce, who operates the Camp Bow- ie Animal Clinic in Fort Worth, turned himself into authorities, police said. An owner of one of the dogs, Marian Harris, told the Fort Worth Star Telegram she believed her dog Sid had been euthanized last fall aer Tierce diagnosed it with a degenerative spinal disease. e dog was found alive and covered in filth. It was then returned to its owner. "e biggest hurt in all of this is the deception and what it means with something that means so much to you," Harris told the newspaper. Local media said investigators had found five dogs who were to be euthanized that Tierce is suspected of keeping alive. OFFICER HANDED BEER AFTER STOPPING DRIVER ATLANTA — It seems prosecutors may have some useful evidence when it comes to handling this impaired-driving case. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitu- tion, police say Damon Tobias Exum handed an officer some beer aer he asked him for his licence. e officer had stopped him aer Exum, 37, struck his patrol car last week. e Journal-Constitution quoted police spokesman Sgt. Fidel Espinoza as saying Exum was "heavily intoxicated." He's facing eight mis- demeanor charges, including reckless driving and driving under the influence, according to the Journal-Constitution. It's hard to imagine Exum did much to help his case when he handed over the beer. LT THE MOST COMPLETE DIRECTORY OF ONTARIO LAWYERS, LAW FIRMS, JUDGES AND COURTS More detail and a wider scope of legal contact information for Ontario than any other source: ȕ0WFS27,000 lawyers listed ȕ0WFS9,000 law firms and corporate offices listed ȕ'BYBOEUFMFQIPOFOVNCFSTFNBJMBEESFTTFTPGȮDFMPDBUJPOTBOEQPTUBMDPEFT Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation 1FSGFDUCPVOEȕ1VCMJTIFE%FDFNCFSFBDIZFBSPOTVCTDSJQUJPOȕ0OFUJNFQVSDIBTF- .VMUJQMFDPQZEJTDPVOUTBWBJMBCMF1SJDFTTVCKFDUUPDIBOHFXJUIPVUOPUJDFUPBQQMJDBCMFUBYFTBOETIJQQJOHIBOEMJOH O N TA R I O L AW Y E R' S P H O N E B O O K Untitled-5 1 14-01-31 12:31 PM u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story MORE MEN JOINING ONTARIO BAR For the first time in 10 years, the number of men who joined the Ontario bar exceeded the number of women in 2013, according to statistics released by the Law So- ciety of Upper Canada as part of its annual report. According to the report, 1,005 men were called to the bar last year compared to 989 women. Every year since 2003, the number of women who joined the Ontario bar had exceeded the number of men. A total of 1,994 new lawyers were called to the bar in 2013, the highest number in the last decade. Meanwhile, women are still outnumbering men in becoming paralegals. ey made up 67 per cent of the 1,344 paralegal appli- cants who got their licences last year. at's also the highest num- ber of admissions to the paralegal profession since the LSUC started regulating paralegals in 2009. POLL RESULTS e results of the latest Law Times online poll are in. About 45 per cent of respon- dents believe the decisions by the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society not to accredit Trinity Western University's law school will survive a legal challenge. Another 42 per cent of partici- pants suggested the law societies' refusals to grant accreditation are wrong in law while the remaining 13 per cent were unsure as they felt the issues are very complex. Last week, the university said it would be going to court in Brit- ish Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia in regards to the law school. "We feel the provincial law so- cieties in Ontario and Nova Scotia have made decisions that are le- gally incorrect and, unfortunately, TWU is now being forced to re- litigate an issue that was decided in its favour by an 8 to 1 decision of the Supreme Court of Can- ada in 2001," said Trinity Western president Bob Kuhn. e school went on to suggest the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society and Law Society of Upper Canada decisions against accrediting Trin- ity Western's planned law faculty had set a "dangerous precedent." While Trinity Western has re- ceived approval from the Federa- tion of Law Societies of Cana- da and several other law societies, Trinity Western is also going to court to apply as a respondent in a B.C. action launched by Clayton Ruby against the B.C. minister of advanced education's decision in favour of the law faculty. e controversy, of course, re- lates to gay and lesbian rights at the law school set to open in 2016. e school's community covenant in- cludes a statement about abstain- ing from "sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman." LT "Nevertheless, I maintain it's about time the law society looked into some paralegals' allegedly inappropriate advertising techniques." Lawyer Wesley Nicol with Gov. Gen. David Johnston. Photo: Master Cpl. Vincent Carbonneau

• Cover