Law Times

Page 20 November 24, 2014 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com TWO TRUST AND ESTATE LAWYERS HONOURED Two Toronto lawyers were among the honourees of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners founder's awards for outstanding achievement this month. Paul LeBreux, president of Glo- bacor Tax Advisors, and Margaret O'Sullivan of O'Sullivan Estate Law- yers PC were among six winners recog- nized for their contributions at the orga- nization's global congress in Miami. The organization recognized LeBreux for his service since its inception in 1998, includ- ing his role as chairman from 2004-07. It honoured O'Sullivan for her service as a leader and mentor to other members. "Paul and Margaret represent two outstanding members not only of STEP, but of the industry in Canada today," said society chief ex- ecutive David Harvey. "Paul is regarded as one of Canada's pre-eminent international tax practitioners and his experience and acumen has made him a highly sought after adviser by high-net worth clients domestically and overseas." Of O'Sullivan, he said: "Margaret has written extensively in the area of trust and estate planning and often devotes volunteer hours to special projects including the STEP Canada diploma program." LAWYER CHARGED WITH ATTACKING MANAGING PARTNER MCLEAN, Va. — Attacking your former manag- ing partner is one way to take revenge for losing your job. According to the Washington Post, the area's legal community is in shock after a pair of lawyers landed in court over an attack this month at the home of the managing partner of a prominent law firm. When 61-year-old Leo Fisher answered the door, a man stunned him with a Taser and handcuffed him. Over the next several hours, Fisher and his wife, Susan Duncan, were hostages in their own home, ac- cording to the Post. A prosecutor involved in the case has described the subsequent torment and stabbings as a "torture session." According to the Post, the two alleged perpe- trators were lawyers, one of whom had lost her job recently at Fisher's firm, Bean Kinney & Korman, for poor performance. After the pair f led the scene, police managed to get a dying declaration from Fisher, who remains in hospital along with his wife with life-threatening injuries. Charged with two counts of malicious wound- ing and abduction by force are Alecia Schmuhl, the lawyer at Fisher's firm, and her husband, An- drew Schmuhl. Alecia's lawyer, Mark Petrovich, said his client had remained outside during the attack and didn't know her husband had planned to stab and torture them, the Post reported. STRIPPERS NOT INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, AWARDED $10.9M NEW YORK — Here's a good employment law ruling. According to Reuters, exotic dancers at a mid- town Manhattan strip club have won nearly $10.9 million following a decision by a U.S. judge who found they were employees unfairly classified by the club as independent contractors. The damages cover unpaid wages and gratu- ities withheld from dancers employed at Rick's Cabaret, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan said. The action involved some 2,000 dancers employed at the club — owned by Per- egrine Enterprises Inc., a unit of RCI Hospitality Holdings Inc. — going back to 2005. In a September 2013 ruling, Engelmayer sided with the plaintiffs, saying Rick's Caba- ret exercised so much control over the dancers that they were actually employees subject to the club's rules and couldn't make independent decisions about their work. The strippers didn't receive salaries, only tips and fees for dances often of about $20 and payment for time spent with customers in semi-private rooms. Among the issues the judge left for trial is whether RCI Hospitality Holdings is jointly li- able with Peregrine Enterprises. "There is no current or near term obligation to pay any sums as a result of this decision," RCI Hospitality said in a statement. "The case will be appealed once final judgment is reached after trial." MAN EVICTED OVER INCONTINENCE NEW YORK — This case sounds like a good one for a human rights challenge. According to Reuters, a judge has evicted a 30-year Harlem resident who suffers from incon- tinence after finding the stench of his urine jeop- ardized the safety of other tenants. Civil Court Judge Sabrina Kraus said that while she had empathy for Michael Edmonds, the other tenants had a right to live in a building that didn't smell of urine or expose them to biological hazards in the common areas. Edmonds claimed he had suffered from the condition since 2011 and was seeing new doc- tors and taking medication, but Kraus said he appeared to be unable to handle the situation on his own. Edmonds didn't have an attorney, accord- ing to Reuters. It's an unusual but sad case that seems ripe for an appeal of some kind. 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 ONTARIO LOOKS AT ELECTRONIC SIGNING The Ontario government is looking to modernize real estate transactions by setting out the rules for electronic signatures on documents such as agreements of purchase and sale. On Nov. 14, the province an- nounced consultations on the issue to last until the end of the year. The changes would allow it to implement an amendment to the Electronic Commerce Act passed in 2013. The 2013 changes removed a provision in the act ex- empting electronic signatures for land transactions. The act itself dates back to 2000 as an effort to remove legal barriers to the use of electronic communications. The proposed changes in- clude a draft regulation the government is considering for agreements of purchase and sale. It stipulates several re- quirements, including that the method used is reliable for the purpose of identifying the per- son who signs; ensures that the electronic signature is perma- nent; and is accessible so as to be usable for subsequent reference by anyone entitled to have access to the document or authorized to require its production. Some real estate lawyers, such as Toronto's Lisa Laredo, are greeting the latest chapter in electronic signatures with some skepticism, especially in light of the concern over the definition of reliability and the fact that other documents involved in the process would be on paper anyway. "We really do not live in a paperless world when it comes to real estate," said Laredo, As well, she wonders how much effort electronic signa- tures would save given that, in her case, she generally only meets clients once and has to meet with them in person at some point anyway. "You have to be able to identify the per- son," she said, noting if she were to adopt electronic signatures, she'd still need the client to come to the office to do it on her own system. POLL RESULTS The results of the latest Law Times online poll are in. According to the poll, the ma- jority of respondents don't believe the government should relent on its cuts to refugee health care. In an October ruling, the Fed- eral Court of Appeal declined to stay a Federal Court decision that deemed the cuts to be cruel and unusual. But 65 per cent of poll respondents agreed the gov- ernment has a right to restrict ser- vices to failed refugee claimants. In her decision earlier this year, Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish said she was "satisfied that the affected indi- viduals are being subjected to 'treatment' as contemplated by section 12 of the Charter, and that this treatment is indeed 'cruel and unusual.'" LT Margaret O'Sullivan "I'm sorry, but all terroristic threats must be uttered in both official languages."

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