Law Times

Page 16 March 9, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com GOWAN PAINTING RESTORED An iconic portrait of the first judge in Simcoe County at the Barrie, Ont., courthouse will return to its place in bet- ter shape thanks to a community that rallied to restore the old oil painting. The painting of justice James Gowan had been showing its age with dust and grime accumulating on it, says Ted Chadderton, president of the Simcoe County Law Association. A project began three years ago to have the portrait restored and refur- bished. The Simcoe County Law Association used one of its annual general meeting dinners as a fundraiser for the project that raised $2,300 to start the campaign, says Chadderton. Eventually the County of Simcoe, the City of Barrie, and a num- ber of private donors came on board with funding. The restored painting was unveiled on March 5 at the Simcoe County Law Association annual general meeting that hosted Ontario Chief Justice George Strathy. "The Simcoe County Law Association is proud to have been a contributor and sponsor for the restoration of the portrait of Sir James Gowan, bringing a piece of Simcoe County legal history to back to life," says Chadderton. "Justice Gowan wasn't just the first Judge in Simcoe County; he helped shape the legal system here and across the province for decades to come." JUDGE SEEN DRIVING ACCUSED MAN'S PORSCHE SAO PAULO, Brazil — Apparently, it's normal for judges to take assets seized by the court. That's the word from a Brazilian judge who's presiding over criminal proceedings against charismatic entrepreneur Eike Batista, once Brazil's richest man, after reporters saw him driving a Porsche belonging to the fallen tycoon. Reporters for Estado de S.Paulo's news agency saw Flavio Roberto de Souza, who is overseeing Batista's trial for insider trading, driving the white Porsche Cayenne after a tip from the accused man's lawyer. According to Reuters, the car was one of a number of luxury vehicles confiscated by po- lice following a court order. Local media said investigators had seized the cars because of concerns Batista had been selling or donating assets that were frozen as part of the insider-trading case. When asked why he was driving the Porsche, Souza told local business daily Valor Economico: "The federal police did not have a safe place for the car and it was exposed to sun, rain, and pos- sible damage. As I want the car to be preserved in good condition, I took it to a covered parking space [in the building where I live]." He added: "I did not take it to use, just to look after it. . . . It is a normal situation." Batista lost almost everything as his EBX conglomerate fell apart and his f lagship oil firm OGX filed for Latin America's largest bankruptcy in 2013. The business magnate, whose rise and fall have mirrored Brazil's own fortunes, recently resigned as chairman of Oleo E Gas Participações SA. According to Reuters, prosecutors accuse Batista of selling 236 million reais (about $101 million) of OGX stock based on privileged in- formation that its offshore oil fields would miss production forecasts. Batista denies selling the stock based on insider information and says he had a legal obligation to sell it to pay off debt. The Porsche incident is likely to give further ammunition to Batista's lawyer, Sergio Ber- mudes, who has been trying to get Souza taken off the case. Bermudes has argued Souza has a bias against Batista, pointing to comments the judge made on the first day of the trial in No- vember. Souza told reporters at the time that Batis- ta's career had been a "megalomaniac dream." POLICE PROBE REPORT OF STOLEN LOG CABIN KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Is the case of a missing log cabin a criminal matter or a real estate issue? According to Reuters, sheriff 's deputies in Oregon are investigating the peculiar case of a log cabin reported stolen only to turn up two days later not far from where it had disap- peared. "I've seen a lot of scams but I've never seen an entire house gone missing," said Klamath County sheriff Frank Skrah. "I was sitting in a meeting and one of the deputies from the front desk came in and said, 'Frank, you're not going to believe this. Someone just stole a house.'" After some investigation, detectives found the house in the Sprague River community northeast of Klamath Falls. It turned out, said Det. Eric Shepherd, that one of three individu- als claiming to hold title to the cabin had sold the property to a fourth person without in- forming the putative co-owner who had dis- covered it missing. Skrah said police were still trying to de- termine if the situation is a criminal case or a civil matter. "To quote the guy who bought the place, 'It was a hell of a steal.' Yeah, it was a hell of a steal," said Skrah. LT u Seen, heard or been involved in a bizarre brief ? Tell Viola James about it at clb.lteditor@thomson reuters.com. REACH ONE OF THE LARGEST LEGAL AND BUSINESS MARKETS IN CANADA! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT 8JUINPSFUIBOQBHFWJFXTBOEVOJRVF WJTJUPSTNPOUIMZDBOBEJBOMBXMJTUDPNDBQUVSFTZPVSNBSLFU FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Colleen Austin T: 416.649.9327 | E: colleen.austin@thomsonreuters.com www.canadianlawlist.com Get noticed by the lawyers, judges, corporate counsel, finance professionals and other blue chip cilents and prospects who find the contacts they need for Canadian legal expertise at canadianlawlist. com with an annual Gold or Silver Enhanced listing package. ENCHANCE YOUR LISTING TODAY! Untitled-7 1 2015-02-17 11:14 AM u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story ARTICLING PROGRAM EXPANDS TO TORONTO Dentons Canada LLP says it's bringing its articling program for internationally trained law- yers to its Toronto office. The program, which allows foreign-trained lawyers to com- plete their articling term at the firm, will continue for the sec- ond year in Calgary in partner- ship with Imperial Oil Ltd. "Fundamental to Dentons' cul- ture is our dedication to diversity and inclusion, and to professional development, making the launch of our ITL articling program in Toronto a perfect complement to our firm's practice," said Natasha Prasaud, acting assistant director of professional development. "With an increasing number of new Canadians arriving in our city, we are delighted to offer the opportunity to enhance profes- sional growth and access to re- sources to internationally trained lawyers who want to practise law in Canada," Prasaud added. Dentons' Toronto and Cal- gary offices will each accept a candidate who has completed their national committee on ac- creditation process. JAMS AND NEESONS PARTNER UP Mediation provider JAMS says it has partnered up with court reporting service company Nee- sons Court Reporting Inc. "This partnership enables us to work alongside one of the best court-reporting services in the country and allows us to add an additional value to our clients," said Chris Poole, president and chief executive officer of JAMS. JAMS will now serve as a sec- ond location for Neesons' dis- coveries and arbitrations. "This now establishes JAMS and Neeson as the preeminent centre for court reporting and ADR needs in Toronto," said Kim Neeson, president of Neesons. "While we'll operate sepa- rately, we'll also work together to make sure we continue to pro- vide excellent client service." POLL RESULTS The results of the latest Law Times online poll are in. Following the arrest of crimi- nal lawyer Laura Liscio on drug charges after she delivered a change of clothing to a client in custody, 43 per cent of poll respondents say defence counsel should refrain from delivering clothes due to the risks. A further 19 per cent of poll participants said counsel shouldn't stop delivering court- appropriate clothing to clients in custody because there's no other option. The remaining participants said they're unsure because the full details of what happened in the Liscio case have yet to emerge. LT Justice James Gowan

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