Law Times

Page 16 July 24, 2017 • law Times www.lawtimesnews.com WEBSITE RECOGNIZED Notice Connect, a website for estate trustees in Canada to post legal notices to credit- ors upon someone's death, has been recognized by the On- tario Superior Court on July 7, in a court order, as satisfying requirements of the Trustee Act for the estate trustee's duty to ad- vertise for creditors. The decision is significant because it confirms that Notice- Connect.com is an accepted plat- form for advertising to creditors, something that has traditionally been done in newspapers. "To get a court to sign off on it like that is very special for us because we really feel that we've created a new convention under the common law. That's pretty exciting," says the website's co-founder, Patrick Hartford, business partner of Ori Barbut. The Trustee Act has never specified which methods are acceptable for advertising to creditors, but under common law, it has now been confirmed that using Notice Connect as a means to post these notices is allowed in the eyes of the law. LAWYER AVOIDS CONTEMPT FINDING A well-known criminal defence lawyer has avoided a contempt finding after he skipped out on a sentencing hearing to attend a television interview. Ari Goldkind faced a rare contempt of court hearing af- ter he missed a sentencing for a client on June 8. The former long-shot mayor- al candidate and prolific media commenter had agreed to ap- pear on CP24 to talk about a separate case, drawing the ire of Ontario Superior Court Jus- tice Michael Dambrot. The judge initiated contempt proceedings against Goldkind, but he ended them July 17 after the lawyer apologized in court and said he would not repeat such conduct. The sentencing on June 8 concerned the trial of four men accused in R. v. Triolo. Goldkind represented Eman- uel Lozada, one of the co-accused in a fatal stabbing at Toronto's Nuit Blanche festival in 2013. Goldkind did not show up that day, leaving the judge, co-accused and their lawyers waiting, but appeared on CP24. He had contacted the Crown the night before to try to re- schedule the proceeding, but that was not possible. NEW LAW FIRM LAUNCHED Alex Van Kralingen and Megan Keenberg have formed a new law firm known as Van Kralingen & Keenberg LLP, alongside lawyers Mark Repath and Katherine Chau. The law firm launched on June 19. Lawyers will specialize in commercial litigation, civil liti- gation, regulatory proceedings and employment law. Keenberg also has experience as a mediator, with specialized training in dispute resolution. 27 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE YES, I AGREE 73 % LAW TIMES POLL Law Times reports that law- yers need to improve their social media skills to properly repre- sent their clients as litigation involving evidence from social media platforms surges. We asked readers if they have used evidence from social media platforms in their practices. About 73 per cent said yes, they had used evidence from social media platforms in their practices. About 27 per cent said no, this is not something that affects their practice at all. LT u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story Patrick Hartford says he's pleased with a decision that recognizes his website as satisfying requirements of the Trustee Act. REWARD FOR STOLEN CHEDDAR LONDON — A British cheesemaker has of- fered a £500 ($816) reward for the recovery of 40 kilograms of prize-winning cheddar stolen from an agricultural show in southwest Eng- land, reports Reuters. The award-winning cheddar and the reserve champion, each weighing 20 kg, were allegedly stolen on July 15 after being left in a marquee in Yeovil, not far from the village of Cheddar, after which the world-renowned cheese is named. The two blocks disappeared along with the certificates that prove their prize-winning qual- ity, which could raise their value. "Such a quantity of prize-winning cheese would retail [at] between £500 [and] £600. But with their certificates, they could be worth thousands," Rich Clothier, managing director at Wyke Farms, told Reuters. "Prize-winning cheese, along with a certifi- cate like this would be very famous all around the world." Staff at Wyke Farms, which exports cheese to 160 countries, were devastated over the missing cheese and feared that whoever took it could try to ship it abroad. LAME FRAME GAME BY RED SOX FAN HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut man wearing a Red Sox shirt was caught on camera defacing signs at a school playground with anti- Trump graffiti last month in an effort to make the "Left" look bad, according to the Hartford Courant. Security cameras caught the vandal, 32-year- old Steven Marks, drawing on the signs. After getting caught, Marks admitted to police that he supported the U.S. president and vandalized the property out of "anger towards liberals and they are breaking major laws ev- ery day and being disrespectful towards our government," according to the warrant for his arrest. He told police it was his hope that the vandalism would appear to have been done by the "Left." In the arrest warrant, West Hartford police officer Dante Ursini said Morley Elementary School Principal Ryan Cleary said "students in- formed him that there were 'swear' words writ- ten on the playground equipment." Some of the messages were written on the playground welcome sign, a piece of playground equipment, a yellow concrete barrier pole, a playground bench and on a "Little Free Library" located on the playground. "On the record, I want to say I'm sorry," Marks told the Courant. "It was a stupid deci- sion. I hope nobody wants to do the same be- cause it's wrong. I'm sorry." COCKROACHES INVADE PHILADELPHIA PHILADELPHIA — Health department work- ers in Philadelphia are working to fight an infes- tation of cockroaches after thousands of them emerged from a sewer drain on July 18, forming a swarm so big that it covered the street at one stage, reports Reuters. "There were thousands of them," resident Pat Wall told NBC10 television of the incident. "It was a horror story that I couldn't believe I was living." A small task force of city workers found the source of the infestation, a drain clogged with refuse, John DiGiulio, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Water Department, told Reuters. That may have contributed to the swarming in the city's riverfront Bridesburg neighbourhood, he said. Roaches are a fact of life all over the city, and the creatures thrive in warm, moist envi- ronments, DiGiulio said. "It's unfortunate, but they do live in those type of environments," he said. Sewers are normally cleaned out every few months by the water department and more frequently when a complaint is received, according to DiGiulio. Health department workers will also bait the sewer line in an effort to fight the bugs. LT "I was so pumped about my performance in the case, I tweeted at opposing counsel #NailedIt." 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