Law Times

Page 16 February 26, 2018 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com NEW BEST PRACTICES TO BE ADOPTED The Canadian Bar Association is set to adopt new best practices for the case management of multi- jurisdictional class actions at the beginning of cases. CBA membership passed a resolution at the organization's AGM last week that will add to an existing judicial protocol ad- opted in 2011, which addressed settlement approvals and issu- ance of notices. The new pro- tocol will include best practices for multi-jurisdictional actions where no settlement is proposed to encourage judges and lawyers to co-ordinate their efforts in the early stages. Toronto lawyer Margaret Waddell, who proposed the resolution, says the new protocol will likely lead to less overlap and fewer conf licting decisions from province to province. "Rather than the judges working blind in each jurisdiction without really knowing what's going on in other jurisdictions, there is more transparency," she says. Under the protocol, judges presiding over actions started in differ- ent provinces on the same subject matter would communicate and potentially have a joint-case management hearing to deal with all of the different cases at the same time. Judges will then know when certification motions are happening in the other actions and allow parties to make certain submissions up to the discretion of the judge in the certification proceedings in other jurisdictions. WLAO AWARD DEADLINES Applications for the 2018 Wom- en's Law Association of On- tario awards are now open. Nominations for the WLAO President's Award are due March 16. Nominations for the WLAO General Counsel Chapter Award are due March 30. Submissions for the The Honourable Sandra Chapnik Women-in-Law Award, the Avril A. Farlam Advocacy Award, the Aird & Berlis LLP Equality Award and the Tor- kin Manes LLP Trailblazer Award are due April 30. More information can be found at https://wlao.on.ca/. WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR FAMILY LAW AWARDS The County of Carleton Law Association has announced Justice V. Jennifer Mackin- non and E. Jane Murray as the first recipients of the Hon. Hei- di Levenson Polowin Award for Family Law. The CCLA gives the award to a lawyer "who has made an outstanding contribution to the practice of family law through their career." The Polowin family will make a $1,000 donation, in Justice Levenson Polowin's memo- ry, to a charity of the recipient's choice. The medal is only given to a current or former member of the association and will be presented in April at the Annual Institute of Family Law. YES, I AGREE 86 % 14 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE LAW TIMES POLL In this week's poll, Law Times asked readers if they agreed with a recent Court of Appeal deci- sion that found the effects of in- ternet defamation distinguishes it from defamation in other me- diums when it comes to award- ing damages. Eighty-six per cent said yes, the decision shows specific con- demnation for internet defama- tion. Fourteen per cent said no, each case is highly contextual. LT u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story Margaret Waddell says a new proto- col on the case management of multi- jurisdictional class actions will likely lead to fewer conflicting decisions from prov- ince to province. DUBIOUS ARCADES CAN'T STOP POT SHOP SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane County judge has nixed an attempt by the owners of a dubious arcade to shut down a marijuana store down the street, according to the Spokesman-Review. Superior Court Judge Julie McKay denied a request from the owners of Old Fashioned Fun Arcade, an amusement centre that has opened two locations in a largely industrial area of the East Sprague corridor, to nullify a licence for re- tail outlet Smokane to sell pot within 1,000 feet of the arcade's front door. The dispute followed a legal change by the Spokane City Council allowing Smokane to move, with lawmakers suggesting the arcade venture was a sham designed to prevent the pot shop from opening. Arcades are among a category of properties, including day care centres, schools and librar- ies, that require a buffer between them and state-licensed marijuana stores under city law. The intent is to keep children away from a busi- ness that can only sell to those 21 and older. Smokane plans to push its counterclaim against the arcade, arguing unfair business practices, said Dan Bariault, an attorney for the marijuana store. The lawyer representing the arcade has repeatedly cited attorney/client privilege when asked about the interests behind the arcade, a question prompted by evidence of other businesses across the state opening up qualified "buffer zone" entities, including an ar- cade in Seattle, to elbow out competition. "There's always been something more to this story than meets the eye," Bariault said. The two locations do not charge patrons to play the machines, and the marijuana store con- tends there's minimal business activity. DOG CAN'T RUN FOR GOVERNOR HUTCHISON, Kans. — In the dog-eat-dog world of U.S. politics, a three-year-old wire- haired Vizsla in Kansas was scratching his head, and behind his ears, after being denied a chance to run for governor, reports Reuters. The Kansas man who registered his dog named Angus for governor said the secretary of state's office has halted the campaign to put his pooch in politics. "His platform was going to be free Chuckit balls for life," said Terran Woolley. "He is a little heartbroken and a little relieved because he doesn't have to go to all those point- less debates," Woolley told Reuters by telephone. Woolley said he registered Angus after read- ing news reports that teenagers had filed can- didacy paperwork and there were almost no requirements on who could run. But there is at least one. "A dog cannot run for governor," Kansas Sec- retary of State spokeswoman Samantha Poetter said in a statement. WOMAN RIDES IN X-RAY SCANNER SHANGHAI — A woman in southern China accompanied her purse through a train station's luggage X-ray machine rather than part with the bag amid the Lunar New Year holiday rush, Chinese media reported. Reuters says video from the digital news platform Pear Video, linked on the Facebook page of the state-run People's Daily newspaper, showed a guard apparently telling the woman that, yes, small bags need to go in the machine, too. The security video shows her leaving the screen and then emerging from the device. Still X-ray images online show a person in high heels kneeling among bags and other items. The woman rode through the security screening machine on Feb. 11 in the southern city of Dongguan because she wanted to pro- tect her money, the People's Daily's Facebook post said. Many Chinese migrant workers carry their annual earnings home to family in cash during the Lunar New Year holiday. LT "Now they allow therapy dogs in the courtroom, so I thought, why not a therapy shark in the boardroom?" Untitled-2 1 2018-02-20 9:35 AM

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