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Law Times • February 9/16, 2009 NEWS Poor economy has little impact on OBA Institute BY ROBERT TODD Law Times had little impact on attendance at last week's continuing education confer- ence, reporting only a 12 per cent drop in attendance. "We're delighted, and I'll say some- O what relieved, because there were early concerns with the state of the econo- my," says Heather McGee, who is the incoming chairwoman for the OBA's Institute committee. "Once again, the excellence of the programming and the profes- sion's commitment to excellence held through, and our numbers were actu- ally comparable to last year," she says. There were 1,300 registrants, 17 programs, and 275 speakers at the con- ference, says McGee. And, despite the current economic woes, that represents a "very minor reduction" in registrants from last year, she says. "By and large, people come for the programming," says McGee in explaining the larger than ex- pected turnout. "The panels are excellent, the materials are re- lied upon by practi- tioners, and there just seemed to be a spark this year as well with the programming di- rection of bringing in professional speakers and international ap- proaches." There was extra rganizers of the Ontario Bar Association Institute confer- ence say a weaker economy with all the materials from each session in the conference. "So no matter what program you signed up for, you had all the materials," she says. "People are raving about that opportuni- ty because you're get- ting the best minds, not only in Ontario, but in some respects in the legal profession internationally." A few new pro- develop best practices from different juris- dictions." McGee says her committee is deter- mined to continue enhancing the event. "We don't want to grams also were of- fered at this year's conference — edu- cation law, construc- tion law, and insol- vency. The latter was planned well before the economic downturn drew a greater volume of work to that area of the law, notes McGee. "This was a pro- gram that was brought forward in May," she says. "Goodness, talk about the timing of it. So that was a sold-out program." With next year marking the event's 35th anniversary, Mc- Gee says the Institute committee is plan- ning on "even bigger programming." "We're looking for Deputy Attorney General Murray Segal, left, and Mun- dell Medal award winner Justice Robert Sharpe buzz this year from attendees, says McGee, over the OBA's fi rst-time of- fering of a comprehensive CD packed Listserv a private chat site Continued from page 1 assumption of confi dentiality and of people being able to speak candidly about issues. We take all the steps we can to promote the listserv as a confi dential post offi ce for its members." Addario said the e-mail discus- sion group does have a moderator who participates to an extent in maintaining a standard of deco- rum, but does not censor or re- view every communication. Livingstone has been a pros- ecutor for 22 years and has been acting Crown attorney for Hamil- ton since November 2008. Puskas practises criminal law in the city and continues to subscribe to the CLA listserv. In her statement of claim, Liv- ingstone said the defamatory letter was sent to more than 650 crimi- nal lawyers in the province and other parts of Canada. The settlement was negoti- ated by Livingstone's lawyer, Peter Jacobsen, and Puskas, who repre- sented himself. LT Berry_Cdn Pharmacy Law (LT 1-3x4).indd 1 For a 30-day, no-risk evaluation call: 1.800.263.2037 Canada Law Book is a Division of The Cartwright Group Ltd. Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. www.lawtimesnews.com 2/4/09 3:05:50 PM LT0209 innovative ways of delivering what our members and what the profession need," she says. "We're hop- ing to maintain our core of excellent CLE programming, but bring more to the table — skills, training, opportunities to network, to OBA awards committee chair- woman Jacqueline Armstrong Gates presents Marc McAree, the Linda Adlam Manning award for volunteerism. rest on our laurels," she says. "We're al- ready the largest CLE program in Canada, and we've got a tre- mendous staff work- ing here, a core of staff that is enviable." She notes that the OBA is continuing its consultation on programming initia- tives, and asks lawyers with ideas to contact the OBA's direc- tor of professional development, Shem Singh, at ssingh@oba.org. Meanwhile, the OBA handed out a pair of awards at Monday's Institute luncheon. Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Robert Sharpe was awarded the Mun- dell Medal, which goes to individuals who have made a distinguished con- tribution to the law in legal writing. The award, fi rst bestowed in 1986, is named after David Mundell, a top constitutional lawyer and fi rst direc- tor of the Ministry of the Attorney General's Constitutional Law Branch. Marc McAree, counsel with Willms & Shier Environmental Law- yers LLP and chairman of the OBA's environmental law section from 2006 to 2008, received the Linda Adlam Manning award for volunteerism. It honours a member of the asso- ciation who has advanced the OBA's membership and demonstrated the role of the province's legal profession through an accomplishment over the past year. LT PAGE 5 Lawyer must repay client $258,596 BY ROBERT TODD Law Times on a condominium development. The court in last month's Paoletti v. Gibson T decision largely backed an assessment offi cer's fi nding. While Gibson billed the clients over $451,044 on the fi le, the assessment offi cer reduced that bill to $179,250. The offi cer determined that "much of the work billed by the solicitors as additional fees actually fell within the scope of the $50,000 estimated fee set out in the retainer letter," noted Court of Appeal Justice Paul Rouleau, who wrote the court's reasons for Justices Karen Weiler and Janet Simmons. The main issue in the case was the interpretation of s. 3 of the Solicitors Act, noted the court. More specifi cally, said Rouleau, the court needed to rule on "what is meant by the phrase 'where the retainer of the solicitor is not disputed.'" The court noted that the section states that an assessment offi cer has jurisdiction only "where the retainer of the solicitor is not disputed." Among the exceptions to this rule, however, is a provision that states that the assessment offi cer can't be ousted if the dispute is based solely on quantum, noted the court. "In the present case, the dispute between the parties is, in my view, strictly one of quantum and, accordingly, there is no legitimate dispute as to the retainer within the meaning of s. 3 of the Solicitors Act." However, the court was at odds with one aspect of the assessment offi cer's determination. Rouleau ruled that some of the lawyer's work to resolve construction liens was inadequately accounted for, and therefore reduced the amount Gibson must pay back to the clients by $44,000. The case came to the Court of Appeal after a Superior Court judge determined that Gibson took too long to dispute a Praecipe order, and that the jurisdiction of the assessment offi cer was not in dispute. 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