Law Times

Page 16 January 30, 2017 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com LSUC GIVES HONORARY LLD The Law Society of Upper Canada has given former bench- er Thomas Heintzman an hon- orary LLD. Heintzman practised as a liti- gation counsel with McCarthy Tétrault LLP from 1968 to 2012 and has been credited with hav- ing worked on some of the coun- try's most important cases, hav- ing argued before the Supreme Court of Canada 19 times. "I'm very humbled, f lattered and grateful for the profession's recognition of me," he says. Heintzman also served as the president of the Canadian Bar Association, as well as the president of the Ontario Bar Association, and he was appointed to the Or- der of Canada in 1998. Heintzman says he left McCarthy Tétrault in 2012 to do arbitra- tion and mediation work, which he says he could not do at a big firm. He now works out of Arbitration Place, an arbitration chambers on Bay Street in downtown Toronto. As a bencher, Heintzman was the chairman of the governance committee, and he was involved in changes to bencher elections and implementing term limits. The law society gives the honorary degree "in recognition of out- standing achievements in service and benefit to the legal profession." Heintzman was given the honorary LLD at a Call to the Bar cer- emony in Toronto on Jan. 27. CALL FOR APPLICATIONS The Law Foundation of On- tario has put a call out for appli- cations for its responsive grants program. The program has funded hundreds of access to justice projects administered by non- profit community groups that look to harness innovation to provide legal information to those in need that might not have access. The Law Foundation has two rounds of grants in the program. The first provides grants of up to $100,000 and the second gives smaller amounts of up to $15,000. The deadline to submit appli- cations is March 31. LERNERS LLP ADDS INSURANCE LAWYERS Insurance lawyers Jamieson Halfnight and Anne Jun- tunen have joined Lerners LLP. The two lawyers left Half- night & McKinlay Profes- sional Corporation to join Lerners' Toronto office. Halfnight has represented in- surance companies and policy holders at every level of trial and appellate courts across the coun- try. He has served as a chairman of the Advocates' Society's insurance committee and has also been a director of the society. Juntunen has worked with Halfnight for four years after moving to Toronto from Atlanta. 14 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE YES, I AGREE 86 % LAW TIMES POLL Lawyers say many will be de- nied legal representation in On- tario's courts due to cuts made by Legal Aid Ontario to plug a $26-million deficit, but officials say this is not the case. Readers were asked if they believe the deficit will mean more self-rep- resented litigants. Roughly 86 per cent said yes, this deficit is troubling and will clearly impact the number of self-represented litigants in On- tario courts. The remaining 14 per cent said no, while the deficit needs attention, it will not impact the number of self-represented liti- gants in Ontario's courts. LT u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story "We might need warrants to use the latest high-tech, cell tower mimicry surveillance devices so we're employing more traditional methods instead." DRIVER BANNED FOR BEING TOO TALL NEWCASTLE, England — A man who is more than two metres tall says he was banned from driving — for being too tall. Adam Elliott, 26, from Newcastle, was con- victed of dangerous driving after he drove along the Tyne Bridge in a convertible Ford Ka with his head poking out of the top, reports British newspaper Metro. The 6-foot-7-inch car dealer was accused of standing up while driving and showing off to other motorists, but despite pleading guilty, he maintained it was down to his height, reports Metro. Elliott, who runs I Buy Any Car North East, said he had been delivering the vehicle to a customer. Speaking after the hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, he said, "I was not stood up, I am just tall. I pleaded guilty to this because I was advised to, but I still insist I was not standing up. It's just because of my height," he told the me- dia. "I'm an excellent driver, but I was advised to plead guilty to get it over with." Adjourning the case for sentencing next month, Judge Robert Adams said, "It was pret- ty obvious you were showing off, demonstrat- ing your height to people in an open-top small car," according to Metro. "You were clearly dis- tracting other drivers. It was a dangerous thing to do." The incident took place in January last year, when Elliott drove along the Felling Bypass in Gateshead before making his way over the Tyne Bridge. The court heard he had 12 previous convic- tions of driving while disqualified, although El- liott said that happened when he was younger and he had since turned his life around, accord- ing to Metro. Judge Adams gave him an interim driving ban of 12 months until the case would be heard next, reports the newspaper. FARMER PROTEST TURNS MILKY BRUSSELS — Dairy farmers protesting low milk prices sprayed milk powder on to a build- ing used by EU leaders for summits in Brussels on Jan. 23, saying a planned sale of milk pow- der stocks would depress prices in Europe and abroad, according to Reuters. The European Union has bought large quantities of skimmed milk powder to stabi- lize the market, but it said in November that it would start disposing of some of it after prices had improved. According to Reuters, protesters used farm machinery to cover the building and nearby police officers in a thick coat of the sticky, white powder. The European Commission said that only a small amount of the total milk powder stock of 354,000 tonnes was for sale and sales would be made without affecting prices or market stabil- ity, reports Reuters. MUSICAL SHOPLIFTING? FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth police say a man walked out of a music store with a guitar hidden in his pants, according to NBC5 News. On Jan. 18, an unidentified man was cap- tured on a security camera walking around the Guitar Center at 8957 Tehama Ridge Parkway. The man, wearing a dark-coloured tracksuit with a bright orange vest, can be seen pick- ing up the guitar and stuffing it underneath his clothes, according to the TV station. After about 30 seconds, he walks away with his hands in his pockets. Police said he walked out of the store with a Tobacco Sunburst Fender guitar underneath his clothes. Investigators did not say what the guitar was worth, but Guitar Center's website listed the price at US$1,549, according to NBC5 News. No further information was released. LT Thomas Heintzman has received an honor- ary LLD from the Law Society of Upper Canada. One-Year Subscription Includes: • 11 issues of both print and digital editions • FREE exclusive access to the Canadian Lawyer digital edition archives • FREE weekly e-newsletter: Canadian Legal Newswire Access a free preview at: bitly.com/CanLawyer-FreePreview @canlawmag 7KHXOWLPDWHVRXUFHIRUWRGD\·VOHJDOSURIHVVLRQ Canlawyer.lawtimes@thomsonreuters.com 416.609.3800 I 1.800.387.5164 To place an order please call 416.609.3800 or order online at: bitly.com/CanLawyer-Subscription *Plus applicable taxes Subscribe to Canadian LawyerWRGD\IRURQO\ Untitled-10 1 2017-01-24 3:11 PM

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