Law Times

Page 16 June 8, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com ALLGOOD TO JOIN DENTONS Following his departure from the Roy- al Bank of Canada in April, David Allgood is making the switch to life at a law firm. Allgood, former executive vice president and general counsel at RBC, is joining Dentons Canada LLP as counsel at the firm. "Dentons' core focus on diversity and inclusion, pro bono, and community ser- vice makes the firm a natural fit for me," said Allgood. "I look forward to working with the highly talented Dentons team and to being a part of the strategy, drive, and energy at the firm." Allgood, who had held the position at RBC since 2000, will join Dentons on June 15. "We are delighted to welcome David and we look forward to working with him to bring his exceptional experience and invalu- able perspective to our clients and our people," said Elliott Portnoy, Dentons' global chief executive officer. FORTUNE-TELLING TRIAL BEGINS PHILADELPHIA — Who knew fortune-telling could be against the law? According to Reuters, a Pennsylvania woman has gone on trial for the rarely prosecuted offence of fortune-telling over accusations of persuading a client she could lift a cloud of "spells and curs- es" in exchange for payments that likely reached thousands of dollars. April Uwanawich, 38, of Philadelphia faces 55 counts of fortune-telling, theft by unlawful tak- ing, and theft by deception in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas. Authorities accuse her of approaching Jenni- fer Gardiner in 2009 at a convenience store where she identified herself as a fortune teller and said she could rid Gardiner of her "dark cloud," ac- cording to a police complaint. During the following two years, Gardiner met with Uwanawich on a regular basis, "continually paying Uwanawich to work on her life, to rid it of evil, and to get rid of spells and curses," the com- plaint reads. Uwanawich allegedly persuaded Gardiner to stop taking prescribed mental-health medication and buy candles, oils, perfumes, and crystals to help ward off evil spirits, it said. Her financial loss probably ran into "tens of thousands of dollars" but only about $10,000 could be verified, the complaint said. Uwanawich has two previous arrests for for- tune-telling fraud in Chester County, according to court records. Uwanawich faces a cumulative life sentence if convicted of all 55 counts and sentenced to the maximum on each. The state's fortune-telling statute bans fortune-telling for money as well as the use of "spells, charms, necromancy or incan- tation" in the perpetration of fraud. The Daily Local News of West Chester re- ported that Uwanawich may have more fortune- telling arrests than anyone else in the state in the 21st century. It cited legal research saying fortune-telling was so rarely prosecuted that the state's appellate courts have never ruled on an appeal. REGULATOR IN HOT WATER OVER GOLF BALLS DUBLIN — It seems doing an effective job of overseeing Ireland's financial system would have been a better way for the country's regula- tor to promote itself than handing out branded golf balls. Ireland's financial regulator, whose "timid" supervision came under criticism for not halting the country's banking crash, produced the golf balls to promote itself before an overhaul, a par- liamentary inquiry has heard. Promotions such as golf balls or umbrellas bearing the logos of banks were commonplace in Ireland during their rapid growth a decade ago. That growth ended in the most expensive bank bailout in the euro zone when a property bubble spectacularly burst. An inquiry member recently asked Patrick Neary, who was head of financial regulation from 2006-09, what the regulators were thinking when they handed out the golf balls. "Your job was the micro-prudential supervi- sion of the banks. What was going on?" inquiry member Susan O'Keefe asked Neary. "It must have been a package of things that were delivered. I really don't know much about it other than when it was unearthed and I became aware of them, it was discontinued," said Neary. "I regret that. It was a mistake." An official 2010 report by central bank gover- nor Patrick Honohan, who has since overhauled the system, described regulation in Ireland before its banks imploded seven years ago as "excessively deferential," "timid," and "accommodating." According to Reuters, Neary said that cracking down on Ireland's banks before the crash would have conf licted with government policy to promote the country as a financial services centre. LT CANADIAN LAWYERS MOST INFLUENTIAL TOP THE OS OS OST ST ST OST MO TOP TOP TOP OP OP T THE THE THE TH THE THE T VOTE NOW Who do you think are the most influential law yers in Canada? Vote in Canadian Lawyer's TOP 25 MOST INFLUENTIAL LAWYERS IN CANADA poll. VOTING IS OPEN UNTIL JUNE 9 TH Visit WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM for details Untitled-1 1 2015-05-20 2:38 PM u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story FRENCH-LANGUAGE PILOT LAUNCHED After the Ontario Court of Ap- peal raised significant concerns about the provision of bilingual services during a drug trial, the province is launching an effort to improve courthouse access to as- sistance in French in Ottawa. On May 29, the Ministry of the Attorney General an- nounced a pilot project to improve services for French-speaking liti- gants, lawyers, and others. Among other things, the program will designate French-speaking coun- ter service representatives and set up a system to electronically ad- vise when a client selects a French- language service ticket. "I look forward to seeing the results of this important initia- tive for Ottawa's French-speaking community," said Ontario Chief Justice George Strathy. "The concepts tested here will help us determine how we can continue to improve justice ser- vices for the francophone popula- tion in courts across Ontario." The pilot project comes as the appeal court made a strong state- ment about bilingual services in R. v. Munkonda last month. Be- sides issuing a costs order against the Crown, the appeal court also quashed the committal for trial in the case of a francophone defen- dant who suffered linguistic dis- advantages in the proceeding. OTTAWA LAWYER JOINS THE BENCH The federal government has appointed a new judge of the Ontario Superior Court. On May 29, it announced Ot- tawa lawyer Sylvia Corthorn would replace Justice Lynn Ra- tushny on the bench. Corthorn, a lawyer at Kelly Santini LLP in Ottawa, primar- ily practised personal injury law, medical and dental malpractice, and insurance defence, commer- cial, and estate litigation. She had been a partner at the firm since 1994. She joins the bench after Ratushny elected supernumerary status on June 30, 2014. POLL RESULTS The results of the latest Law Times online poll are in. According to the poll, 60 per cent of respondents felt the Supe- rior Court was right to order a new trial over a paralegal's dona- tion to a Small Claims Court deputy judge's cycling fundraiser. The poll followed a ruling in Robinson v. Lepage. Nine days before the trial, deputy judge Lyon Gilbert received an un- disclosed amount as a dona- tion from Phoenix Paralegal & Advocacy Services for his cycling fundraiser in support of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. On Gilbert's web site, paralegal Tami Cogan, who represented the respondent, had left a com- ment after making a donation: "A great effort for a great cause. Enjoy the ride Mr. Gilbert!" The situation created a reason- able apprehension of bias, accord- ing to Justice Patrick Smith in his May 13 ruling in which he set aside Gilbert's decision and or- dered a new trial. LT David Allgood "So in order to do more time with my family, I will not be putting my name forward for re-election."

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