Law Times

Law TiMes • March 5, 2012 NEWS PAGE 5 Lawyer believes cure close at hand Continued from page 1 Continued from page 1 to seize control of Barrick's practice and suspended his licence. It went a step further in August by registering a caution on the condo at the land registry office in Ottawa, accord- ing to documents obtained by Law Times. The LSUC then asked the court to remove the caution on Nov. 8, 2011, so the property could sell under a power of sale. However, the sale shortly after resulted in net proceeds of $51,564, a far cry from the total amount of money claimed by clients. A spokeswoman for the law society says the regulator has taken the necessary steps to retrieve the missing money or will be doing so. "Some funds have been recovered as a result of the trusteeship," says the LSUC's Susan Tonkin. "It would be premature to state whether or not additional funds might be available, but our efforts are ongoing. We will report to the court as required. In general, the law society does whatever it can to recover money that one of its licens- ees is alleged to have taken from clients." Tonkin notes the LSUC seeks a trusteeship when lawyers abandon their practice or "there are reasonable grounds for believing that the lawyer has dealt improperly with client funds or property." So far, the law society has obtained 181 boxes of docu- ments and five computers from Barrick's office and homes. In the meantime, former clients and other parties seek- ing money, files or property have made 39 inquiries and requests. In Barrick's two trust accounts, the law society recovered $3,814. But following a preliminary examination of his books and records, "it appears that it will not be possible to reconcile the trust account to create an accurate client trust liability listing," Lina Caldaroni, an officer with the LSUC's trustee services department, said in an affidavit filed in the ongoing court matter involving the law society and Barrick. Two days after the Ashbury web site went down, it was back up but without Barrick's picture and details. But a saved version shows a picture of Barrick smiling in a section on the school's team. Next to his picture is a description of Barrick as being born and educated in Canada with degrees in his- tory and law. The site notes he's a fluently bilingual lawyer with 10 years' experience. A search of the web site also shows some of his informa- tion remains there. By searching the name Luc, a photo of him appears. One person who held out hope for Barrick was fellow Ottawa lawyer Bruce La Rochelle. He gave him the benefit of the doubt when Barrick never returned from France. La Rochelle had been helping Barrick, someone he called a friend, with his work before he left. Now that Barrick hasn't returned but has resurfaced in such a prominent way, La Rochelle says the entire situation is tragic. "Some people have very high degrees of negative senti- ment towards Luc, sometimes bordering on the obsessive, given how shabbily he treated so many who were close to him," says La Rochelle, who claims Barrick owes him several thousand dollars. "Others regard his situation as primarily tragic. I see myself in the latter category, despite having been burned financially just like so many others. LT median age for someone living with CF is up to 47. Chris has always stayed ahead of that curve and he's just below that median age right now." But while advances in treatments and medicine have been helpful for people like MacLeod, Blake is quick to add that a positive attitude can be even more potent in combating the chronic condition. "I think Chris has been able to ride that curve precise- ly because he is so positive and allows himself to be really full of life. He'll be very modest and say it's because of the doctors and the hospitals that treated him, but I think when someone is told throughout their life that they are going to die, it really puts life into perspective. I mean if you look at Chris, he never seems to have a bad day. He's just really positive." But while MacLeod admits that managing the disease and his career as a partner at a busy law fi rm can seem daunting at times, he wants to focus on other things like fi nding a cure for cystic fi brosis as well. Th at's why he got involved in the Suit Up for CF campaign aimed at legal professionals in Toronto. "Th e sooner we fi nd a cure, the better, and I think we're just around the corner," says MacLeod. "Th at was sort of the idea behind Suit Up for CF. We wanted to make sure we gave a really good push as we get so close to fi nding a cure." Suit Up for CF is a new campaign that aims to raise February 14, 2011 Covering Ontario's Legal Scene $4.00 • Vol. 22, No. 6 $1 million in a year to help fund cystic fi brosis research. Working with Italian-Canadian menswear designer Antonio Valente and Cystic Fibrosis Canada, the cam- paign encourages lawyers and legal professionals to get personally fi tted by Valente for either a custom shirt or a suit at their law fi rm. A portion of each sale from the fi tting will go to Cystic Fibrosis Canada. Lawyers will get a tax receipt in return. Th e campaign will begin on March 22 at an event at the Barristers' Lounge at Osgoode Hall in Toronto. Each major law fi rm representative who attends the event will get a custom-fi tted shirt for free from Valente. "Anyone who is interested is welcome to come out and take part in the event," says MacLeod. "Because this is our fi rst year, I'm hoping Toronto will act as a catalyst to the project nationally and will eventually raise enough money to help fi nd a cure." Derry Millar, former treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada and a spokesman for the campaign, says the event is particularly important as researchers come closer to fi nding a cure. "Our knowledge of the disease keeps expanding as we learn more and more," says Millar. "I think we've come very close to fi nding a cure and I think this cam- paign is really a kind of win-win for everyone. I hope it'll be a very big success." For more information about the campaign, see cystic LT fi brosis.ca. 5 Black History Month 6 Legal Repertoire 9 BY KENNETH JACKSON For Law Times NAPANEE, Ont. — A Northumberland County assistant Crown attorney is trying to keep her job after pleading guilty earlier this month to having more than double the legal limit of alcohol in her blood while driving. Police first charged Nancy Rae with im- Inside This Issue paired, over 80, and obstructing a police offi- cer on Nov. 26. On her second court appear- ance, she pleaded guilty to having more than 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood while behind the wheel. She blew 190 twice, but authorities Guilty Crown wants to keep job Prosecutor Nancy Rae gets driving prohibition for over-80 plea dropped the other charges in light of her guilty plea. Rae received a one-year driving prohi- Focus On International/ Cross-Border Law bition, as agreed upon by an out-of-town Crown, and accepted by the presiding judge, who also fined her $1,800. Rae stood alone when the agreed state- ment of facts was read in court. Court heard personal and professional stresses were aggravating her drinking prob- lem when she got behind the wheel of her GMC Suburban while attending a hockey tournament for one of her four children in Napanee, a small town about 200 kilometres east of Toronto. She was driving along High- way 2 just west of Napanee when Rae's large vehicle that was crossing over the centre line numerous times forced oncoming motor- ists off the road at about 4 p.m. They called 911 to report Rae and described her as an "erratic" driver. Police detachment in Napanee who caught up to Rae observed her driving in a similar fashion. After stopping the Suburban near Unger Quote of the week BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times T he bar and the bench must embrace the new Rules of Civil Procedure on mo- system should be forced to re- spond," van Kessel said during a session on the new Rules one year after their introduction. "There should be fewer trials, less costs for clients, and speedier results. I hope we don't make summary drinking, according to the agreed statement of facts. The officer also noticed a blue blanket Island Road, the officer detected a strong smell of alcohol on Rae's breath. Rae, who had blood-stained eyes, said she hadn't been A police officer from the Ontario Provincial concealing a container of wine on the floor of the Suburban. In the back seat sat one of her children, Clarity on summary judgment needed: lawyer judicial authority for Rule 20 mo- tions, according to van Kessel. He said one judge told him he was reluctant to grant a motion for summary judgment in one case before the new Rules because it would just be on "a bungee cord back from the Court of Appeal." 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April 27 May 4 May 18 May 25 June 1 Running Your Practice May 2 June 8 June 15 June 29 May 30July 13 LegalAidOnt_LT_Mar5_12.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 12-02-28 10:27 AM 'primarily tragic' Situation News, Commentary, Focus Sections, Analysis, Caselaw OH FE T U AP WP SE OR C C IA EN T D L A Y A S p eil c a p r i n t a n d o n l i n e o p p o r t u n i t i e s f r o m F e b r u a r y 1 4 t h t h r o u g h A p r i l 2 9 t h

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