Law Times

Page 16 June 22, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com NEW MANAGING PARTNER AT AIRD & BERLIS Aird & Berlis LLP has a new manag- ing partner with Steven Zakem taking on the role. A partner at Aird & Berlis since 1993, Zakem is a member of the firm's munic- ipal and land-use planning group. He's also a past chairman of the Ontario Bar Association's municipal law sec- tion and has served on Aird & Berlis' executive committee since 2011. FREE SEX OFFERED IN REGULATORY PROTEST SALZBURG, Austria — Boston had its tea par- ty; Salzburg, it seems, will have a sex party as a business owner protests government intrusion into his affairs. According to Reuters, an Austrian brothel is offering customers free sex in a summer-long protest over what its owner sees as punitive tax payments. "We are not paying taxes any more. Effec- tive immediately: Free Entrance! Free Drinks! Free Sex!" the Pascha establishment in Salz- burg posted on its web site. A woman who an- swered the phone there said it was no joke. The Oesterreich newspaper showed a pic- ture of men queued up outside to take advan- tage of the unusual offer. It quoted owner Hermann Mueller as saying he would compensate from his own pocket the up to 10,000 euros (almost $13,900) a month that prostitutes working at the club would forego. Mueller, who also operates brothels in four other cities in Germany and Austria, has com- plained in past media interviews about what he says has been punitive taxation and regulation of his businesses. He said he had paid nearly 5 million euros (almost $7 million) in taxes in Salzburg alone over the past decade. BIZARRE CRIMES ON PUBLIC DISPLAY LONDON, England — Speaking of bizarre incidents, London is about to put objects from some of its most notorious crimes on display for the first time. According to Reuters, artefacts from many of the city's most infamous crimes, including the Jack the Ripper case, are to go on public dis- play this year. Usually housed in a dark corner of the London police force's headquarters, the little-seen objects are from Scotland Yard's Crime Museum. They range from the death masks of executed prisoners and an unexploded bomb planted by Irish nationalists at Paddington train station in 1884 to champagne and wine bottles recovered from the hideout of the gang behind the 1963 Great Train robbery. "What we do not want is something that's a kind of macabre police version of going to the London Dungeon. That is not what this is about," said London police assistant commis- sioner Martin Hewitt. "Every one of these cases involves real peo- ple and real people's lives." Officers set up the Crime Museum in 1875 as an educational tool for detectives and since then it has only been open to police officials and occasional special guests such as King George V, illusionist Harry Houdini, and Sher- lock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle. But from October, about 600 objects will feature in a six-month exhibition at the Mu- seum of London. They include a pistol used in an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria in 1840 and a burnt-out laptop recovered from the 2007 attempt to ram Glasgow Airport with a fuel-laden jeep. Also among the exhibits will be the gloves used by serial killer John Haigh, who dissolved his victims in a tub of sulphuric acid, and ob- jects relating to Dr. Hawley Crippen, the U.S. homeopath hanged for the murder of his wife. "No exhibition about crimes in London would be complete without objects from the Jack the Ripper case," said curator Julia Hoff brand. They include notes written by the detec- tive leading the hunt for the 19th-century se- rial killer in which he names Polish immigrant Aaron Kosminski as the main suspect. According to Reuters, not everything in the collection is to go on public display. The tiny ricin-filled pellet used on the tip of an um- brella to kill exiled Bulgarian dissident Georgy Markov on Waterloo Bridge in 1978 won't be on display because the police investigation remains open. LT legal expertise? Looking for Find exactly what you need at www.CanadianLawList.com It's fast, It's free, s fa , s f and it's available to you 24 hours a day. ay. s available y availabl y Starting a business, making a will or buying a house? Declaring bankruptcy, dealing with a personal injury, insurance claim or job loss? If you're in the midst of one of life's big events, help is as close as your smartphone, tablet or computer. Simply go to www.CanadianLawList.com to find the right lawyer for your particular legal need. www.CanadianLawList.com is Canada's most comprehensive online directory of lawyers and law firms. And it's easy to use! You can search by city, legal specialty, or name for listings and contact information. Find the legal expertise you need at www.CanadianLawList.com. CLLonline_LT_July7_14.indd 1 14-07-02 8:13 AM u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story IP LAWYER HEADS TO ZURICH Former Smart & Biggar/ Fetherstonhaugh chairman John Bochnovic is leaving for a new posting in Zurich this Sep- tember. Bochnovic is taking on a new role as executive director of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, a non-governmental organization focused on develop- ing and improving intellectual property protection. He was a partner at Smart & Biggar for 29 years and has served as counsel since January 2015 as well as firm chairman from 2008- 14. "John has been a valued part- ner and leader at Smart & Biggar/ Fetherstonhaugh, but this is a great opportunity for John," said Ron Faggetter, chairman of the executive committee at Smart & Biggar. UPDATE ON DRAM DILEMMA A plan to get over a hurdle to the distribution of settlement funds in a high-profile class action got a cold reception from an Ontario Superior Court judge recently. "Whatever is going on here, it does not work and whatever it is, it is not an appropriate and respon- sible way for the court to supervise a class proceeding," wrote Justice Paul Perell of an arrangement reached between class counsel and Eric Letts, a lawyer representing five class members objecting to the distribution plan in Eidoo v. Infineon Technologies AG, in his June 8 reasons for the decision. The issue followed concerns by Letts' clients that the distribution plan breaches the Human Rights Code. While class counsel deny such a breach, they reached an ar- rangement to have the claims ad- ministrator include an instruction on the claims web site. It would state: "When more than one claim is filed for the same household, the claims administrator shall provide the class members with the opportunity to explain the circumstances of their claims. The claims administrator may permit a reasonable adjustment of the distribution rules in order to facilitate such claims as it consid- ers appropriate. In doing so, the claims administrator may require reasonable proof and explanation by the class member." Perell, however, wasn't happy with the proposed resolution. "The proposed instruction may or may not be adequate to ad- dress what may or may not be a problem, raised by persons who may or may not have standing to challenge the approved settle- ment distribution scheme, but, in any event, the Court cannot endorse whatever this is at the whim of Class Counsel and Mr. Letts and his clients without rul- ing on the merits of the under- lying dispute," he wrote. "The Court cannot indirectly endorse an anti-suit injunction prohibiting Mr. Letts' clients from taking ad- ministrative proceedings that may or may not be available to them assuming that they are entitled to make claims notwithstanding the releases that are a part of the court approved settlement." Instead, Perell decided a mo- tion for directions would proceed so the court could rule on the merits of the claim. POLL RESULTS The results of the latest Law Times online poll are in. According to the poll, 72 per cent of respondents are against allowing contingency fees in family law. The poll followed a recent call by a group of family lawyers to allow contingency fees in order to make legal services more accessible to litigants. Some lawyers, however, expressed a number of concerns about ethi- cal downsides and the practical difficulties of such a change. LT "Ever since the Supreme Court emphasized the necessity of good-faith dealing in the implementation of commercial contracts, we've enhanced our transparency." Steven Zakem

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