Law Times

Law Times • sepTember 18, 2017 Page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com Will operate as single entity Personal injury firms join together BY JENNIFER BROWN Law Times O atley Vigmond LLP and Boland Howe LLP have announced that, effective Jan. 1, 2018, their personal injury law firms will be joining forces, with Boland Howe becoming Oatley Vigmond's Aurora office. The two firms will work to- gether as a single entity under the Oatley Vigmond name. "It was a perfect opportunity for us to say to them, 'Let's open our York Region Oatley Vig- mond office and you'll be a key part of it,'" Jim Vigmond says. "There's an opportunity for us to leverage our practice in a prominent location with a prom- inent firm in a fast-growing area of the country." Tim Boland says he ap- proached Vigmond several months ago after Russ Howe advised him that he wanted to become a mediator. "At this stage of my career, I had to think long and hard about where I saw the direction of my firm," says Boland. "It was an easy decision once I thought about looking for- ward. I've always seen Oatley Vigmond as a firm that shared my belief that properly repre- senting the injured means hav- ing an earned reputation for taking cases to trial — putting the gowns on. In today's mar- ketplace, I think that's mean- ingful." Howe is joining Paul Tor- rie at Global Resolutions Inc., a dispute resolution provider in Toronto. He says he also plans to travel more with his wife, who is best- selling novelist KJ Howe, author of The Freedom Broker. Boland Howe recently pur- chased a new office in Aurora. Vigmond said all the lawyers and staff from Boland Howe will remain. Howe will be moving on to be a mediator this winter. "We will be carrying on the bulk of his practice as well," says Vigmond. "We're going to start the tran- sition now and we've got lots to do." Boland Howe's Aurora of- fice will remain fully staffed and serve as Oatley Vigmond's new York Region location. "I'm going there . . . to meet with some of the staff to reassure them we all share a common in- terest and that's maintaining the presence and staff there," he says. "There's always trepidation when there is change, so we want to reassure them there is change for the right reason not the wrong reason as we are see- ing in some parts of our market- place." Oatley Vigmond serves cli- ents across Ontario with offices in Barrie and Aurora, as well as six consultation offices in To- ronto, North York, Hamilton, Belleville, Sudbury and North Bay. "I think by leveraging the strengths and branding of both firms we will have a much bet- ter market penetration to help accident victims in York Region and, hopefully, beyond," says Boland. LT NEWS Jim Vigmond says his firm will extend its market reach by joining with Boland Howe LLP. pointments Advisory Commit- tee will also amend its own ap- plication forms to include the same options to self-identify this fall. The moves mirror those made by the federal government at the end of 2016 in reforming its own Judicial Advisory Com- mittee with an eye to seeking more diversity on federally ap- pointed benches, including pro- vincial and territorial superior courts and the Federal Court. Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi says the provincial moves are complementary with the federal changes. "We looked at the work they've done in terms of requir- ing people to self-identify their ethnicity, indigeneity, sexual orientation, gender identity . . .," says Naqvi. "[That's] something we're pursuing, but we're going a step further. We are focusing on more unconscious bias training. We're working with the Human Rights Commission on that for members of [the Judicial Ap- pointments Advisory Commit- tee] and [the Justices of the Peace Appointments Advisory Com- mittee]." Naqvi says better outreach among lawyers of diverse back- grounds will help outline the career path to becoming a judge if that's what they are looking to accomplish, starting as early as law school. Quinn Ross, president of the Ontario Bar Association, ap- plauds the changes being made. "I like that they are attempt- ing to understand the systemic barriers [that] currently stand in the way of these communities having the place on the bench that they should otherwise have," he says. Leanne Wight, senior duty counsel for family court in Kingston, says that the only OCJ judges in both Kingston and Napanee are white men. "I happen to be a woman of indigenous heritage, so it's important to me as a practis- ing lawyer to see my commu- nity ref lected on the bench," says Wight. "I think particularly in this era of reconciliation, it's impor- tant that the bench is really re- f lective of the Canadian demo- graphic." Wight adds that she's been pleased that recent federal ap- pointments in the area have seen more women and indigenous members appointed, but the provincial appointments have to catch up. Spratt says that diversify- ing appointments should mean more than just racial and ethnic diversity but also a diversity of experience. Ross also agrees. "A diverse bench that repre- sents the population it serves and the profession from which it's drawn is key," says Ross. "To the extent that the profes- sion is ref lective of the popula- tion is important, so if the pro- fession is not ref lective of the population, simply mirroring what's available in the profession is what we're trying to change." Ross adds that another qual- ity that should be considered is youth and that there would be advantages to appointing younger members to the bench. "There is a preclusion on ap- plication to the bench prior to 10 years of practice, and that makes perfect sense in order to obtain the necessary competencies to sit in judgment," says Ross. "There is a gap between that 10-year call point and when you actually see people starting to get appointed." Ross says the lack of people being appointed in their thir- ties and forties means that some stellar candidates are being overlooked and that younger appointments will mean more time on the bench to hone their skills and to develop institution- al memory. LT — With files from Alex Robinson Important to see community reflected on bench Continued from page 1 © 2017 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00246UU-89009-NP NEW Enhanced Texts and Annotations Library for Authored Commentary The enhanced Texts and Annotations Library on WestlawNext Canada allows you to intuitively browse and search texts and annotations, as well as the Thomson Reuters Canada collection of eLooseleafs on ProView. 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