Law Times

Page 16 May 26, 2014 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com KENORA LAWYER TO LEAD CDLPA e County & District Law Presi- dents' Association has announced Ke- nora, Ont., lawyer Cheryl Siran will be its next chairwoman. Siran, called to the bar in 2006, is a liti- gator practising primarily in civil matters, construction liens, and family law. Aer joining Hook Seller & Lundin LLP in 2006, she became a partner in 2010. "As a lawyer practising in a small, northern community, I will be particu- larly focused on the challenges facing lawyers in sole and small practice and particularly those in rural and remote communities," said Siran. "But I will also be seeking in my term to increase CDLPA's presence and voice on a wide range of issues such as the future of legal aid, ad- equate judicial resources, and the future of legal education — all issues that cut across the entire province and impact lawyers everywhere. I'm excited to be taking over leadership of this great organization at this time." Siran succeeds outgoing chairwoman Janet Whitehead in the role. "She will make a great leader of our organization and continue to provide a strong voice in matters impacting the practising bar," said Whitehead of Siran. WOMAN REPORTS BOMB TO HIDE DROPPING OUT HAMDEN, Conn. — It's hard to see what a Con- necticut college dropout thought she might ac- complish by showing up to her graduation even though she wasn't on the list of those graduating. But calling in a bomb threat to keep her family from finding out hardly seems like a good solu- tion to the dilemma. Now, according to Reuters, she's in even more trouble. Last week, police arrested her aer she admitted to calling in two bomb threats to keep her family from learning she had quit Quinnipiac University. Danielle Shea, 22, of Quincy, Mass., made the threats aer arriving at the graduation ceremony in a cap and gown with her mother, who didn't know she had dropped out. She "panicked" when relatives noticed her name wasn't on the list of graduates, police said. Shea called in two bomb threats to the Quinni- piac University library so the school would cancel the graduation ceremony, police said. Instead, it delayed the Sunday evening ceremony by 90 min- utes and moved it to a different campus. "We cannot speculate what she was thinking," said John Morgan, a university spokesman. "But we had to act quickly in the interest of safety." Police said a female caller contacted school security twice on Sunday, first saying, "Bomb in the library," and calling back 20 minutes later to say, "Several bombs are on campus. You haven't cleared out graduation. at's not a good idea." Police tracked the caller down by tracing the phone number she called from. Shea faces charges of threatening in the first degree and falsely reporting an incident. POLICE HUNT FOR TOILET THIEF SEATTLE — You might need a toilet, but steal- ing one, besides being illegal, is hard to do given its size. But earlier this month, Seattle police say they were looking for a man suspected of steal- ing the toilet tank from a restaurant bathroom as workers at a Subway sandwich franchise pre- pared his family's meal. e man had gone to a Subway shop in west Seattle with his family. Aer placing an order, he entered the restroom and remained inside even aer his wife knocked on the door to ask why he was taking so long and then le without him, Seattle police said in a statement. When the man eventually emerged from the bathroom, he hurriedly exited the store in posses- sion of a large plastic garbage bag, police said. An employee who later entered the bath- room discovered the toilet tank was missing. In addition, the bathroom sink was full of paper towels and still running while the bathroom key was gone, police said. Subway workers valued the stolen toilet tank at $550, police said. TOP U.S. JUDGES CRITICIZED AS TECHNOLOGICALLY BEHIND WASHINGTON — One U.S. Supreme Court judge referred to Netflix as "Netflick." Another seemed not to know that HBO is a cable channel. ese and other apparent gaffes by the judg- es during oral arguments have become a source of derision, as commentators have taken to so- cial media and other outlets to proclaim them black-robed fogeys. "Everyone who's anyone inside that court- room is most likely an incompetent Luddite," Sarah Jeong, a 25-year-old Harvard Law School student, wrote on her personal blog following a recent Supreme Court argument dealing with online TV startup Aereo. According to Reuters, Justice Sonia Soto- mayor ranked No. 1 because she appeared to be familiar with such products as Roku Inc.'s streaming video device and services that store files on the Internet. Ranked last, Justice Antonin Scalia came under criticism for the HBO remark. LT The title insurer that puts you front row, centre Putting the legal community front and centre has made us the #1 choice with Canadian lawyers for over a decade. Stewart Title does not support programs that reduce or eliminate the lawyer's role in real estate transactions. For more information call (888) 667-5151 or visit www.stewart.ca. Untitled-2 1 7/19/11 12:31:45 PM u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story NEW TAMIL LEGAL GLOSSARY PUBLISHED With few fully accredited Tamil interpreters in Ontario, Ryerson University has released a new English-Tamil legal glossary. e glossary includes 700 con- cepts in English and Tamil and is available online for free through the web site of the department of languages, literatures, and cultures at Ryerson. "is online resource is the first step in ensuring that the Tamil community, as well as or- ganizations and interpreters who work with the community, use standardized, commonly accepted terminology," said Marco Fiola, chairman of the department. In announcing the glossary, Ryerson noted the gaps in legal services for the fast-growing Tamil community. It pointed to a 2010 provincial government report that found there were only a few fully accredited court interpret- ers in certain languages, including Tamil. e glossary, then, will help interpreters better prepare them- selves for their courtroom duties, according to Ryerson. LSUC AWARDS HANDED OUT e Law Society of Upper Can- ada handed out its annual awards at a ceremony last week. e recipients of the law soci- ety medal were Frank Bowman, Clare Lewis, Derry Millar, Sandra Stephenson, and Wil- liam Trudell. e law society also awarded the Lincoln Alexander award to Nigel Gilby, the Laura Legge award to Susan Opler, and the law society distinguished para- legal award to Paula Stamp. e ceremony took place last Wednesday at Osgoode Hall in Toronto. POLL RESULTS e results of the latest Law Times online poll are in. According to the poll, 69 per cent of respondents said they wouldn't take on Rob Ford as a client with the remaining partici- pants saying they'd willingly repre- sent the embattled Toronto mayor. e poll follows a recent Law Times profile of Ford's counsel, Dennis Morris. In the profile, colleagues noted Morris' low-key approach despite having high-pro- file clients like Ford. In the crimi- nal law bar, Morris has a reputa- tion as an "exceptional negotiator" also known for his subtleties and his ability to keep things under the radar, according to Greg La- fontaine, who worked in an office next to Morris' for several years. "Dennis is a lawyer who is never really worried about capturing the limelight. It's not as though he's somebody who is involved with Mayor Ford because of a desire to get attention," said Lafontaine. Morris, of course, has had his hands full representing Ford, who took a temporary leave of absence recently following more video revelations of homopho- bic and sexist comments and al- leged use of crack cocaine. LT " . . . and then we get 'em all for distracted driving." Cheryl Siran

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