Law Times

Law Times • OcTOber 5, 2015 Page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com 2015 Call To The Bar Lawyers get primer on how to stay safe BY NEIL ETIENNE Law Times espite a letter bomb that left her severely injured this summer, lawyer Maria Mitou- sis is emphasizing her plan to resume her practice. "What happened on an ordi- nary Friday afternoon in the sum- mer was unprecedented, frighten- ing, confusing," wrote Mitousis in a letter to The Advocates' Society ahead of an event in Toronto last Monday to raise more than $10,000 to help her recovery. Despite her ordeal, Mitousis emphasized that she intends to return to practice. "While I do believe what hap- pened to me was an isolated, terrible act, I know that when I return I will be viewing my prac- tice differently and I will be more mindful of personal safety issues. I am proud of my role in the fam- ily justice system; I am convinced more now than before that the majority of people who interact within the system appreciate and value the work and services that the lawyers and other profession- als provide. That's why I'm opti- mistic about returning." Mitousis, 38, sustained several serious injuries in the July attack, including the loss of one hand. At a panel held as part of the event last week, lawyers noted threats against them aren't uncommon. "As family lawyers, we've all had the experience of hang-up phone calls, people looking at us oddly . . . and we've all had the experience of getting back to the office after a very busy day and tending to mail and getting a package from some- one you don't know. So there, but by the grace of God, go any of us," said lawyer Aaron Franks during the Sept. 28 discussion. A panel of three experts who addressed the crowd of lawyers, judges, and paralegals warned they must be as vigilant in pro- tecting themselves as they are about adhering to the letter of the law. "It's a very conscious pattern of thought that's designed to help all of us identify, assess, and manage risk," said lawyer Hilary Linton of Riverdale Mediation. "Unfortunately, these cases aren't random anomalies; these are often predictable and prevent- able risks," she added. "One of the patterns we see in all of these cases is people, often families, often friends, have intuitions that some- thing might happen." Particularly in family court, she said, fear is an immediate in- dicator of potential trouble. "We see often that people who are at risk are afraid," said Linton. "We want to, as professionals, take that very seriously as a pre- dictor of risk. There is a direct relation between family law and spousal homicide. We know that spousal homicides are the most predictable and preventable of all types of murder. We also know that the people who are at risk are at greatest risk when they are going through a separa- tion agreement and when they are in contact with lawyers." Linton said that when lawyers are gauging potential risk with a high-conf lict client, they should look into patterns of past abuse or violence and consider those who are controlling over their spouses or have prior convictions, histo- ries of substance abuse or mental- health issues as warning signs. "We've evolved to the point, as professionals, where we have an emerging duty of care to pay at- tention, to recognize when a client or an opposing party, not just our client, is being abused," said Lin- ton. "Take this into account when making strategic decisions as law- yers. The decisions that counsel make and mediators make can expose them to risk of retaliatory harm as well as the parties." During the discussion, Justice John McMahon of the Superior Court spoke about courtroom safety, saying "the safety and secu- rity of everybody — the litigants, the lawyers, the staff, and every- one — has to be a paramount cor- nerstone of our justice system." "What has happened, and I see it time and time again, is that the respect for our justice system with the litigants has di- minished," he said. "If we don't take the threat seri- ously, we empower the person do- ing the threat," he added. McMahon said lawyers need to be aware of their client's risk of violence before entering the court and express any con- cerns to court security in order to make arrangements for an increased presence or alter the locations of security officers. A veteran of the RCMP, Sgt. Mark van den Eerenbeemt, gave his views on how legal profes- sionals could recognize and limit a potentially violent situa- tion. He said one of the best de- fences to a situation like the one facing Mitousis is to simply be aware of the type of mail com- ing into the office each week and note anything anomalous, such as lopsided packaging with far too much postage that's oily or greasy, has misspelled names or locations or carries a note that a particular person should open it. Van den Eerenbeemt said those with street-level offices should look into their exte- rior lighting and landscaping to eliminate places for people to hide themselves or danger- ous items. He suggested secu- rity cameras should all be high definition but he noted the best surveillance is through the law- yer keeping accurate notes on a client's demeanour and tracking any escalation or change toward a position of conf lict. "I believe it is extremely im- portant to you to get a baseline idea of your client — who your client is, what makes them tick, find out what they do outside of work and their lifestyle," said van den Eerenbeemt. LT NEWS Natasha Abittan Neda Amini Mohammad Rahman Amjad Jessica Marie Silvia Laura Arasimowicz Chadi Azzi Sukhchan Kaur Bal Reza Barari Seyghalani John Roger Marshall Barr Jonathan Maxwell Barrentine Pierre-Arnaud Barry-Camu Rachel Victoria Ann Beaupré Hartej Singh Bhandal Sarah Elaine Blackburn Eric Anthony Blau Rosemary Claire Book Stephanie Anne Boomhour Jamie Anne Tan Boongaling Michael Paul Robert Bourque Jillian Christie Bowman David John Brattan Ian Rahul Britto Eric David Brown Christopher Paul James Burt Vlad Andrei Calina Genevieve Jeannine Cantin Matthew Adam Beau-Thane Carson Michael John Castellan Melissa Wing-Yan Chan Mirella Cherny Zenna Choi Jatin Chopra Christopher Chi-Wai Chu Michelle Joanne Clément Daniel Paul Cooper Natalie Dorothy-Myrle Cooper Paloma Ann Lejohnna Corrin Monick Maryse Corriveau Marc-André Olivier Cyr Christina Sophia Da Silva Justin Alexander John D'Aloisio Alexandra Silvia De Gasperis Christopher Andrew De Giorgio Peter Frederick de Jong Meredith 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Shantel Jacqueline Kalmanson Fasiha Halim Khan Parkha Khilji Trevor Jeremy Kirsh James William Kitts Chloé Kodrun Dubé Louise Christine La Fleur Raphaëlle Marie Suzanne Monique Lamarche Ferland Michael David Joseph Landell Aria Sarit Kronitz Laskin Francine Law Sophia Jeanette Lee Sarah Marie Sylvie Lemay Francis Lévesque Morgan David Lipchitz Areta Nadia Lloyd Rebecca Jacqueline Lockwood Veronica B Lorimer Monica Victoria Machado Andrea Maggiacomo Sanaa Mahmood Christina Markie Kathryn Mammoletti Chelan Marouane Mansour Justin Robert John Marchand Shelan Dawn Markus John Joseph Marrese Kathryn Victoria Marshall Sonia Suman Masih Laurence Lise Constance Marie Massicotte Meghan Elizabeth Mc Dermott Andrew Mc Donnell Jeffrey James Brian Mc Goey Samantha Crystal Mary McBride Jessica Kedersha McClay Wesley Randell McDowell Ciaran Terence McGrath Michael John McHugh Christopher Alexander Bota McNamara Stephane Fabric Mechoulan Sushrat Mehan Natasha Elizabeth Meier Sherley Mérise Laura Patricia Mijares Zamora Claire Elizabeth Aileen Millgate Matthew Bryan Mitchell Adrian Martin Molder Shannon Leigha More Alexander Robert William Morrison Hossein Motevalli Ashish Naagar Pallavi Nautiyal Harrison Daniel Notkin Josephat Ogochu Nwabuokei Anna Okorokov Shannon Alex Padippurathu Matthew Sung-Kook Paik Mark Joseph Palombi Maxine Ann-Mari Palomino Jessica Suzette Parise Sunyoung Park Lindsay Erin Parris Siavosh Pashang Chenxi Peng Allison Leanne Perlman Jessica Joanna Pliszka Matthew William Prager Navdeep Singh Purewal Vasilios Pylarinos Shahzad Ahmed Quadri Christopher Alexander Raimondo Nivedhya Srambickal Ramaswamy Raeika Ravani Syed Mohsin Raza Jun Ren Kayla Bryn Renken Eric Edward Richmond Scott Richard Ridgeway Sherif Magdy Girgis Azmy Rizk Lisa Rossi Ligia Cornelia Rus Kiran Salooja Ramanbir Singh Sandhu Haralambos Harry Sarros Natasha Scarano Randy Schliemann Erika Lynn Scholl Stéphane Sérafin Serina Sharda Chang Min Shin Michael James Shortt Hena Tariq Sial Christopher Indio Simoes Baljinder Singh Reshana Tarah Devi Singh Man Sai Macy Siu Stephanie Joan Skogan Jeffrey Anthony Smart Rahul Soni Adam Anthony Stewardson Catherine Kirsty Strong Alexander Yat-Tsun Sung Samir Suri Aaron Pal Tamber Davin Singh Tamber Jia Ning Tang Feven Solomon Tefferi Vladislav Tereshchenko Puneet Tiwari Sukhneel Toor Jessica Kimtram Tran Jesse Alexander Travis Jason David Tree Christina Nicolette Trotta Melissa Bichtram Truong Vahan Tutunjian Pavlo P Tverdokhlib Megha Sarvkalyan Uberoi Nkemjika Ngozi Chiazo Ubochi Sutharsan Vasanthan Tyna Anna Vayalilkollattu Raman Verma Adamo Lars Veroni Gowriharan Viswanathan Peter Willem Vlaar Cristina Elizabeth Pacheco Wadhwa Patrick Kirby Walker Stacey Katherine Waterman Lisa Ashley Watzinger Simon Daniel Weisz Matthew Edward Abram Wiens Lauren Nicole Willcocks Mitchell Yon-bin Wong Ran Yang Alexander Yu Anna Zajkowski Reuben Zaramian Jelena Zivanovic Source: Law Society of Upper Canada Law Times congratulates the 228 new lawyers called to the bar on Sept. 25 at a ceremony in Toronto. The ceremony included the awarding of an honorary doctor of laws degree to Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Russell Juriansz. In his speech to the new lawyers, Juriansz encouraged them to embrace change and take the lead in searching for ways to improve the law and legal process. "Don't be satisfied with just practising law," he said. "I urge you to lead in searching for ways to improve the law and legal process and then work to change things." 'What has happened, and I see it time and time again, is that the respect for our justice system with the litigants has diminished,' said Justice John McMahon. Photo: Neil Etienne D

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