Law Times

Page 16 November 10, 2014 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com LAWYER COMMENDED FOR WORK ON POSTHUMOUS CALL The minister of veterans affairs has awarded Gowling Lafleur Hender- son LLP lawyer Patrick Shea a com- mendation for his work in piecing to- gether the stories of 59 law students who died in the First World War. As a result of Shea's work, which in- cluded writing a book of biographies of the students, the Law Society of Up- per Canada will hold a posthumous call to the bar ceremony on Nov. 10. "He has dedicated hundreds of hours of research, including multiple trips to the archives in Ottawa, to pre- pare biographies and photos of these 60 soldiers," the announcement of Shea's commendation said. The law society ceremony begins at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 10 at Os- goode Hall in Toronto. MAN ACCUSED OF EATING EVIDENCE TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — If you don't like the evi- dence police have against you, why not eat it? According to Reuters, that's what a man al- legedly tried to do when police took him in for suspected drunk driving. Police are accusing the Connecticut man ac- cused of snatching his breathalyzer test results and attempting to eat them. He's facing charges of obstruction and criminal tampering, accord- ing to police. New York state police stopped 40-year-old Kenneth Desormes on suspicion of speeding on Interstate 95 recently, police said in a statement. Police arrested Desormes, who appeared drunk, and took him to a trooper station in Tarrytown. When troopers printed out the results of Desormes' breathalyzer results, which showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.13 per cent, he grabbed the paper printout and attempted to eat it, police said. FAILED DIET SPARKS SUBWAY ROBBERY HUEYTOWN, Ala. — Robbery is one way to take revenge for a failed diet but it's still a poor excuse for committing a crime. In this case, the suspect in an armed robbery of a Subway sandwich restaurant in Alabama told investigators he acted out of anger because of his failed Subway diet, according to police. Police say they arrested Zachary Rapheal Torrance, 18, at a Walmart store after a patron there recognized him from surveillance foot- age of the suspect posted online. "He told the detective that he had been on the Subway diet and it had not worked for him and he felt like he wanted his money back," said Hueytown police Chief Chuck Hagler. "The detective felt like he was being serious," Hagler added. The diet, created by a man who claims he lost more than 90 kilograms on it, revolves around two low-fat sandwiches from the restaurant chain per day. Torrance, who admitted to holding up a Sub- way in Hueytown, is also a suspect in three other recent robberies of Subway stores, all in the vi- cinity of Birmingham, Ala., said Hagler. According to Reuters, police have charged him with first-degree robbery. A MICROMANAGING PRESIDENT? ISTANBUL — Talk about a hands-on approach to law enforcement. According to Reuters, an Istanbul cafe has received a fine of 6,000 lira (more than $3,000) after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan scold- ed one of its clients from the street below for smoking and demanded authorities punish the establishment. The sight of Erdogan wagging his finger at the smoker as crowds of curious onlookers took pictures with their phones triggered a backlash on social media with his opponents seeing it as evidence of an increasingly authoritarian nature. "There is a penalty for this!" Erdogan shout- ed, pointing towards the second f loor of the cafe. "That rude man, look at him. The president is telling him [not to smoke] but he is still con- tinuing," Erdogan told his aides as he contin- ued a stroll after a ceremony for government buildings. Smoking is far more widespread in Istanbul than in many European cities. The governing party has taken a raft of steps to try to curb it, from an indoor ban to blurring out images of cigarettes on TV and imposing high taxes. "The president saw it. The TVs recorded it," the Hurriyet daily quoted local government of- ficial Yuksel Unal as saying. "Our authority to fine is between 1,200 lira and 6,000 lira and we used our rights here . . . by imposing a fine from the upper end of the band." LT ARE YOU RECEIVING CANADIAN LEGAL NEWSWIRE? Keep abreast of essential late-breaking legal news and developments with our electronic newswire. VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM AND LOOK UNDER "LINKS" SIGN UP FOR FREE From the publisher of and Untitled-5 1 14-05-27 1:38 PM u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story LEADERSHIP CHANGE AT NORTON ROSE Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP has announced Charles Hurdon will become the firm's new managing part- ner in the new year. Hurdon, currently managing partner of the firm's Ottawa of- fice, will replace John Coleman. Coleman didn't seek re-election after the end of his three-year term, according to the firm. Hurdon said it's an "exciting" time to lead the firm. "It's a very exciting time to be in this role. We have grown tremendously as Norton Rose Fulbright in Canada in the past several years as a legal practice and with our clients," he said. "This growth will continue as Canadian companies keep expanding their reach glob- ally and even more international businesses invest here. We have a very bright future ahead of us and I look forward to building on our success." EQUALITY EFFECT HONOURED International law firm Clifford Chance has named the Equal- ity Effect the winner of its an- nual Access to Justice award. Equality Effect, an organiza- tion based in Canada, uses human rights law to advocate for girls' and women's rights around the world with a particular focus on educa- tion, health, and sexual violence. The award comes with a do- nation from the Clifford Chance foundation and 500 hours of pro bono work. The charity says it will use the funds to implement a landmark court ruling by the High Court of Kenya that ordered "prompt, effective, proper, and professional inves- tigations" into child-rape cases. Fiona Sampson, executive director of the Equality Effect and one of Canadian Lawyer's top 25 most inf luential lawyers this year, says the law can serve as "a crowbar to pry open jus- tice" for women and girls. "Women and girls around the world suffer unthinkable oppression and disadvantage, including sexual violence, lack of education, and the inability to own property," she said. "We know that the law can be used as a crowbar to pry open justice for these women and girls, empowering them and achieving social justice. With this award, we will be able to expand our successful projects including '160 Girls,' our legal knowledge, and our contacts." NEW BOOK PROBES DIFFICULT CRIME CASES Some of Canada's most promi- nent criminal lawyers will tell the stories of some of their most difficult cases in a new book set to launch this month. Tough Crimes: True Cases by Top Canadian Criminal Lawyers includes insights from several lawyers on some of the major cases they've worked on. The 19 lawyers featured include Ed- ward Greenspan, Marie He- nein, Bill Trudell, and John Rosen. The book is about cases that had "weird or surprising turns, or that presented personal and ethical challenges," according to the publisher. The launch takes place in Toronto on Nov. 27 at the Spoke Club from 5 to 10 p.m. LT Patrick Shea "So after the condominium corporation removed the restrictions, we thought this unit was particularly suited for short-term rentals."

• Cover