Law Times

March 12, 2018

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Page 16 March 12, 2018 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com MILES BECOMES NEW CEO OF LAW SOCIETY OF ONTARIO The Law Society of Ontario has appointed Diana Miles to be its next chief executive officer. Miles, who has served as act- ing CEO of the law society since September 2017 and has been an active member of the group for 16 years, says she aspires to improve the future state of the legal pro- fession and future legal profes- sionals. "That means placing more emphasis on risk management and ensuring that we promote high standards of professional- ism for our lawyers and paralegals by regulating in a way that's both practical and realistic, especially in these changing times," she says. Called to the bar in 1990, Miles joined the law society in 2001 as the executive director of professional competence. She has also worked at the Law Society as an executive director of organizational strategy and effectiveness, executive director of communications and acting executive director of professional regulation. A focus for Miles going forward is risk management. "It's about how we reduce risk and it's about how we address the issues facing the public at high-quality standards," she says. FIRM WELCOMES NEW PARTNER Dentons has welcomed a sea- soned business lawyer to the firm. Kip Daechsel is now a partner with the Dentons' cor- porate group in Toronto. Dae- chsel focuses on mergers and ac- quisitions, regulatory matters of financial institutions and private equity and strategic issues. He has led and advised nu- merous transactions and proj- ects throughout Canada and the international realm including the Caribbean, the U.S., Europe, South America and the Middle East. Before Dentons, Daechsel worked at McMillan LLP and Heenan Blaikie LLP. "We are delighted to welcome Kip to our team at Dentons," said Blair McCreadie, man- aging partner of Dentons' To- ronto office, in a news release. "Kip's depth of experience, cou- pled with his knowledge of the business and legal communities in multiple jurisdictions, ideally position him to support our col- leagues and clients, locally, na- tionally and globally." WRITING PRIZE ANNOUNCED Submissions for The Advo- cates' Society's David Stock- wood Memorial Prize are due March 31. Interested applicants should submit a previously unpub- lished, advocacy-related article. Lawyers within their first 10 years of practice are encouraged to submit their articles. The best article will receive $1,000. The award will be pre- sented on June 7. More informa- tion can be obtained at www. advocates.ca. YES, I AGREE 39 % 61 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE LAW TIMES POLL In this week's poll, Law Times reported that an Ontario Court of Appeal justice had warned against "summary judg- ment at all costs" in her dissent of a ruling in a personal injury case. Law Times asked readers if summary judgments are being granted too freely. Thirty-nine per cent said that yes, the judge's dissent is a natu- ral response to a general trend of granting summary judgments. Sixty-one per cent said no, there should be more summary judgments granted. LT u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story Diana Miles says she'll be focusing on risk management as the chief executive officer of the Law Society of Ontario. PEPE CREATOR SUES INFOWARS LOS ANGELES — Pepe the Frog is headed to court. Rather, his creator, Matt Furie, is. Furie, who debuted Pepe in 2005 in a com- ic, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the far-right-wing site Infowars for us- ing Pepe without permission in a poster for sale on the site, reports the Los Angeles Times. The poster shows the "heroes of the 2016 anti-establishment revolution," including U.S. President Donald Trump, Infowars creator Alex Jones and Pepe. MAGA, which stands for Trump's "Make America Great Again" presi- dential campaign slogan, is written across the bottom. "Furie did not authorize the use of the Pepe image or character in this poster, and does not approve of the association of Pepe with Alex Jones or any of the other figures shown in this poster, or with the 'MAGA' slogan," reads the complaint, filed March 5 in the Central District of California. Pepe first became a meme in 2008. It began innocently enough, with people using Pepe as a stand-in for their own goofy behaviour. In 2015, white supremacists on the website 4chan launched a campaign to "reclaim Pepe" for the alt-right. After Hillary Clinton referred to some Trump supporters as a "basket of deplorables," Donald Trump Jr. posted an image on Insta- gram showing Trump, Pepe, Jones and others Photoshopped on to a poster from the movie "The Expendables" reading "The Deplorables." DEPT. SUED FOR EXCESSIVE FORCE SELLS HOUSE OF PAIN T-SHIRTS ELIZABETH, N.J. — At least one member of a North Jersey police department is selling T- shirts with the department's name and a logo some people believe is in bad taste — given some of its officers have been accused of using excessive force in arrests, according to NJ Ad- vance Media. The shirts have the Elizabeth Police Depart- ment's name and feature a "fighting Irish" man in police uniform, modelled after the Universi- ty of Notre Dame's fighting leprechaun, as well as the words "House of Pain." But Police Chief John Brennan said he's fine with it because the image is just a play on an al- bum cover for the 1990s hip hop group House of Pain. "The shirt has nothing to do with violence," he said. Brennan said the T-shirts were being sold to raise money for a charitable cause. Activist Salaam Ismiall has called for city of- ficials to do something. "It's kind of a disservice to the police depart- ment for members to have such a T-shirt be- cause it sends the wrong message," he said. The city has settled at least two excessive force lawsuits over the last few years. In November, it agreed to pay a man US$250,000 after he alleged he was beaten and had his head stepped on by four officers during a traffic stop in 2013. UTAH BAR SENDS LAWYERS EMAIL OF TOPLESS WOMAN SALT LAKE CITY — Lawyers across Utah opened their email inboxes on March 5 to be greeted by an image of a topless woman, reports FOX 13. The email was advertising the Utah State Bar's annual spring convention in St. George when an image of a woman's breasts was some- how attached. The Utah State Bar, which certifies all law- yers in the state, was mortified and quickly sent out an apology to everyone on the email list. "We are horrified," said John Baldwin, ex- ecutive director of the bar. "We are investigating to discover how this occurred . . . and insure [sic] it never happens again." LT "If you really don't want a conquering hero, what about being a pan-Canadian, federally created, securities regulator, keeping all the provinces in line?" Visit www.store.thomsonreuters.ca or call 1-800-387-5164 for a 30-day, no risk evaluation ONTARIO LAWYER'S PHONE BOOK 2018 Ontario Lawyer's Phone Book is your best connection to legal services in Ontario with more than 1,400 pages of essential legal references. More detail and a wider scope of legal contact information for Ontario: • Over 26,800 lawyers listed • Over 8,500 law firms and corporate offices listed • Fax and telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, office locations and postal codes Perfectbound Published December each year On subscription $85 One time purchase $88.50 L7798-7858 Multiple copy discounts available Plus applicable taxes and shipping & handling. (prices subject to change without notice) Your instant connection to ONTARIO'S LEGAL NETWORK Untitled-2 1 2018-03-06 1:08 PM

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