Law Times

Page 16 August 21, 2017 • LAw times www.lawtimesnews.com STEPS TAKEN TO INCREASE DIVERSITY Ontario recently announced the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee will be taking steps to increase diver- sity in the judiciary, including recruiting more judges from in- digenous communities. "Trust in the justice system re- quires a judiciary that ref lects the community," says Renu Mand- hane, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Com- mission. The JAAC is bringing in the OHRC to strengthen member training and education in the hopes of addressing any systemic barriers — such as unconscious bias — that may exist in the recruitment process. Mandhane says the commis- sion will consult with the JAAC to "ensure that they are able to ef- fectively recruit a diversity of new judges." Changes have been made to the judicial application form to give applicants the options to self-identify as belonging to a racialized community, an ethnic or cultural group, as having a disability, as in- digenous and as LGBTQ2+. FELLOWSHIPS AWARDED The OBA Foundation Chief Justice of Ontario Fellow- ships in Legal Ethics and Professionalism has selected two recipients for its 2017-2018 awards. Brooke MacKenzie, co- founder of MacKenzie Bar- risters PC, has been selected to receive the Fellowship in Studies award. Cristina Toteda, a faculty lecturer with McGill Univer- sity's Faculty of Law, has been selected to receive the Fellow- ship in Research award. "Ms. MacKenzie will be researching motions for dis- qualification of counsel on the basis of conf licts of interest and Ms. Toteda will be researching to develop an immersive one- week module in legal ethics and professionalism for students that will serve as a catalyst to- wards more practical experi- enced-based legal ethics and professionalism in the Canadian context," said Anton Katz, one of the trustees of the OBA Foun- dation. NEW ONLINE INFO Community Legal Education Ontario has added a section to its website to help non-profits and the lawyers who guide them regarding Ontario's Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010. "In 2014, Community Legal Education Ontario launched a website to help non-profits get ready for the ONCA," accord- ing to information provided by CLEO. "Since the ONCA is still de- layed, a new section has been added to the site to help non- profits navigate current law in Ontario." The new information can be accessed at nonprofitlaw.cleo. on.ca/current-law/. 13 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE YES, I AGREE 87 % LAW TIMES POLL Law Times reported that an es- tate trustee who took an "egre- gious" position in litigation has been ordered to personally pay more than $140,000 in costs. Readers were asked if this ruling would serve as an appropriate caution to executors on how they conduct themselves in liti- gation. About 87 per cent said yes, this will remind trustees of the potential exposure of significant awards being made against them personally. About 13 per cent said no, it's unlikely this ruling will dis- suade executors from engaging in unreasonable conduct during litigation. LT u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story Renu Mandhane says 'trust in the justice system requires a judiciary that reflects the community.' JAIL TIME FOR PUTTING TOOTHPICKS ON BUS? SINGAPORE — A 60-year-old Singapore man is under investigation for inserting toothpicks into a seat on a public bus, a suspected case of "mischief " that could put him behind bars for up to two years, Reuters reports. "Through extensive inquiries and with the assistance of CCTV footage, officers . . . estab- lished the identity of the suspect," a police state- ment said. Pictures of three toothpicks sticking up from the seat were posted last month by a Facebook user, who said she noticed them just as she was about to sit down. Singapore, a wealthy city-state, has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. However, one of the government's public information slogans is: "Low crime doesn't mean no crime." Authorities come down hard on minor crimes such as vandalism, which is punishable by caning, and the import of chewing gum is banned, in part to keep public spaces clean. The police said investigations into the case of the toothpicks were continuing. The offence of mischief carries a punishment of imprisonment for up to two years or a fine — or both. SIX YEARS FOR SELFIE MISFIRE TAMPA — A Florida man has been sentenced to six years and five months in prison for acci- dentally shooting a gun while taking a selfie in a strip club restroom, according to The Associ- ated Press. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa an- nounced 34-year-old Rorn Sorn's sentencing Aug. 14. The Asian Pride Gang member plead- ed guilty in April to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Court documents say Sorn was at Club Lust in St. Petersburg in December when his gun discharged. The bullet went through the mirror and into the adjacent women's restroom. No in- juries were reported. A security guard approached Sorn as he was leaving, and he reportedly told the guard that it was an accident and that he "was just trying to take a selfie." Police responded, and officers found a handgun, ammunition and drugs on Sorn. Sorn has prior felony convictions for bur- glary and attempted first-degree murder. WOMAN CHARGED WITH FAKING CANCER ORLANDO — A 38-year-old Orlando woman who pretended to have terminal cancer and ac- cepted donations when she lived in New York's Westchester County several years ago was ar- rested Aug. 11 and charged with fraud, Reuters reports. Vedoutie Hoobraj used the name Shivonie Deokaran while perpetrating the scam from about October 2014 through at least March 2016, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Hoobraj was charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum prison sen- tence of 20 years, after being arrested on Aug. 11 in Orlando, prosecutors said. Hoobraj claimed to have seen doctors at can- cer hospitals, including New York City's Sloan- Kettering Medical Center, but prosecutors said in court documents that she never actually un- derwent any cancer treatment. She raised more than US$50,000 from at least 300 people in Westchester County towns, prosecutors allege. Spaghetti dinners were organized to help raise money for Hoobraj, who claimed she had 18 months to live and was suffering from both leukemia and cancer of the liver, a federal com- plaint against her shows. "Hoobraj allegedly concocted an elaborate story about having cancer when she did not, using GoFundMe pages and accepting money raised by a local high school, all supposedly to fund her medical care," acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said in the prosecutors' statement. LT "Uh oh! It looks as if they're going to apply for intervener status in this case." THE ULTIMATE SOURCE For Today's Legal Profession Canlawyer.lawtimes@tr.com | 416.609.3800 | 1.800.387.5164 Online bitly.com/CanLawyer-Subscription Free preview bitly.com/CanLawyer-FreePreview Subscribe today! 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