Law Times

Page 20 aPril 27, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com PROF HONOURED FOR LEGAL WRITING The attorney general has awarded the David Walter Mundell medal to Univer- sity of Ottawa Faculty of Law Prof. Elizabeth Sheehy for excellence in le- gal writing. Sheehy's "extensive body of work" includes a recent book titled Defending Bat- tered Women on Trial: Les- sons from the Transcripts, according to the Ministry of the Attorney General. "The book addresses issues of gender equality and the challeng- es of the criminal justice response to violence against women," the ministry said in an announcement last week. "Exceptional legal writing has the power to move and inspire us to take action," said Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur. "Professor Sheehy's work has made an outstanding contribution to our knowledge of the broader social and legal implications of vio- lence against women." TOP COURT SAYS NO TO FISH PEDICURE APPEAL PHOENIX — The legal battle over fish pedi- cures appears to have reached its final front. According to Reuters, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the owner of a Phoenix-area spa that ran afoul of Arizona state regulations that barred her from provid- ing pedicures in which clients have their feet nibbled by small fish to remove dead skin. The high court's action, made without com- ment by the justices, ends a years-long case over fish pedicures, a popular alternative to exfoliation for some spa-goers in recent years that some U.S. states have banned for health and safety reasons. The procedure involves customers placing their feet in a water tank filled with toothless Garra rufa fish, also known as doctor fish, that suck the dead tissue off their feet to leave them feeling softer. Cindy Vong, who has operated a nail salon in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert since 2006, introduced the treatment in 2008. According to Reuters, she imported fish from China and remodelled her business to create a separate fish spa area. In 2009, the Arizona State Board of Cos- metology told Vong the treatment violated the agency's safety standards and she could face criminal charges. Later that year, Vong closed the fish spa part of her salon, and the Phoenix-based conserva- tive Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit against the board on her behalf. Vong's lawsuit, according to Reuters, argued that the board had exceeded its statutory au- thority by unconstitutionally applying regu- lations to her business and said it should have considered an alternative to banning the prac- tice outright. After a lengthy legal fight, Judge Margaret Downie, writing for a unanimous panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals, ruled in May 2014 that the board had acted within its powers. Downie wrote that the board had made a "considered, deliberative decision about wheth- er and how to regulate fish pedicures" and that its action didn't put Vong out of business. The state's Supreme Court affirmed that ruling, and so Vong had taken her appeal to the justices of the nation's top court. WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS SOUGHT FOR CHIMPS NEW YORK — Are chimpanzees "legal per- sons?" The answer could make a big difference in the case of a group seeking a writ of habeas corpus on the animals' behalf. According to Reuters, a judge has granted an animal rights group a court hearing in which it will argue a New York state university can't hold two chimpanzees captive because they're autonomous, intelligent creatures. New York State Supreme Court Justice Bar- bara Jaffe in Manhattan has issued an order requiring the State University of New York at Stony Brook on Long Island to defend its right in court to keep the primates, Hercules and Leo. A writ of habeas corpus requires a person to be released from unlawful imprisonment. In what it said was the first case of its kind in the world, the Nonhuman Rights Project claims that because chimpanzees are autono- mous, intelligent creatures, their captivity amounts to unlawful imprisonment under the law. They want the pair of chimps to go to a sanctuary in Florida, Reuters reported. Under the law, the court can grant such or- ders only to "legal persons," so Jaffe would need to find that chimpanzees have at least some lim- ited rights traditionally reserved for humans. In separate cases, the group, founded by Boston attorney and animal rights activist Steven Wise, sued the owners of two chimpan- zees who live in upstate New York. State judges tossed out both lawsuits, and separate appeals courts upheld those rulings. 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 LAW SLAM SET FOR JUNE 7 Lawyers can battle it out on a different kind of court this sum- mer as two law firms announce this year's Law Slam tennis chal- lenge this June. Howie Sacks & Henry LLP and Paliare Roland Rosen- berg Rothstein LLP say the event will take place at the Tim- berlane Athletic Club in Aurora, Ont., on June 7. The firms say the event has raised more than $30,000 for various organiza- tions over the past three years, including Pro Bono Law On- tario, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospi- tal, and Tennis Canada's Ten- nis Matters program. All of this year's proceeds will go to PBLO. The event is limited to 40 participants of 20 doubles teams and participants don't have to be lawyers. This year, each team will compete in doubles and singles matches. Those interested in partici- pating can register by e-mailing pfoster@hshlawyers.com. NEW LAO REFUGEE STANDARDS Immigration and refugee law- yers have until July 17 to show they meet new panel standards to represent legal aid clients, Legal Aid Ontario has an- nounced. "LAO is strengthening the panel standards to ensure cli- ents are able to access high qual- ity legal aid providers. Lawyers will need to meet a new general standard for refugee protection division and other tribunal mat- ters and an appellate standard for practice before the courts and the refugee appeal division," LAO said in an announcement last week. "To demonstrate that they meet the new panel standards, all existing panel members must submit a panel standards form and associated documen- tation," LAO noted. POLL RESULTS The results for the latest Law Times online poll are in. According to the poll, more than half of respondents say the latest improvements to the legal tariff in Ontario are enough to make it viable and attractive for criminal lawyers to take on legal aid cases. Legal Aid Ontario imple- mented the last of a series of tariff hikes for certificate work on April 1. The increases were a result of a 2010 memorandum of understanding signed by LAO, the Criminal Lawyers' Asso- ciation, and the Ministry of the Attorney General. Sixty per cent of poll respon- dents said taking legal aid work is more viable as a result of the tariff hikes. The Criminal Law- yers' Association recently told Law Times the next push for the private bar will be to convince LAO to invest more in certificate services as opposed to expand- ing staff lawyer duties. LT Elizabeth Sheehy Photo: University of Ottawa "I used to be a whistleblower but nobody paid any attention."

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