Law Times

Page 20 April 23, 2018 • lAw Times www.lawtimesnews.com u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story "Actually, the building lease doesn't specifically prohibit renting out courtrooms on Airbnb." KIRK BOGGS TO RECEIVE INSURANCE LAW AWARD The Ontario Bar Association is set to give its 2018 award for ex- cellence in insurance law to Kirk Boggs of Lerners LLP. Called to the bar in 1984, Boggs is a certified specialist in civil litigation and a partner at Lerners, where he has practised since 1994. Boggs says one of his recent cases that he's most proud of resulted in an unreported 2016 decision in Onex Corporation v. Aon Reed Stenhouse Inc., which was a complex insurance case in- volving limitations. In that case, Boggs says, his client avoided a large lawyer's negli- gence claim against them by convincing the court that their analysis with respect to when the claim against the broker arose was correct. Boggs says there are a number of things that motivate him to do this kind of work, including the problem-solving aspect of it, the di- versity of claims to which his clients have exposed him, as well as the opportunity to travel around the province working with people who are proud of what they do. "You often meet them when they are down and under attack," he says. "If you can help them get back to doing what they do and feeling proud about that again, it's a really good feeling." Some of Boggs' more high-profile cases have concerned acting for municipalities and defending police from negligence claims. One of his reported cases that he is particularly proud of is the 2016 decision in 495793 Ontario Ltd. (Central Auto Parts) v. Barclay, which clarified the law with respect to claims for negligent investigation. Boggs will receive the award at a dinner on May 29. NEW JUDGES APPOINTED Three new judges have been ap- pointed to the Ontario Court of Justice. The attorney general has appointed lawyers Kevin Mc- Callum, John North and Glen Donald to serve on the bench. McCallum, who specialized in criminal law for more than 25 years, will preside in Brampton. North, a former senior Crown counsel, will preside in Toronto and Donald, who focused on criminal law and acted as coun- sel for police associations, will preside in St. Thomas. CLA BLASTS BILL C-75 IN POSITION PAPER The Criminal Lawyers' Asso- ciation released a position paper criticizing the federal govern- ment's bill to amend the Crimi- nal Code of Canada. The CLA supported some amendments in Bill C-75, but it took issue with a number of pro- posals that concerned scrapping preliminary inquiries and pe- remptory challenges. The associa- tion is concerned that many of the amendments will "undermine the fairness of trials and adversely affect already marginalized and over-represented people in the criminal justice system." 8 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE YES, I AGREE 92 % LAW TIMES POLL An Ontario judge is once again calling on the provincial govern- ment to fix long waits at assess- ments offices. Readers were asked whether they think the province needs to step up its efforts to address these delays. Roughly 92 per cent said yes, there clearly need to be more re- sources committed to address- ing this problem. The remaining eight per cent said no, they have noted an im- provement in services in the last two years after a commitment to finding solutions for the prob- lem. LT Kirk Boggs has been named as the recipient of the 2018 award for excellence in insur- ance law by the Ontario Bar Association. Just like our New Home Program New Condo Select is quick and easy Selected new condominium developments in Ontario qualify for an easy title insurance 1 application process. 1 The TitlePLUS policy is underwritten by Lawyers' Professional Indemnity Company (LAWPRO ® ). Please refer to the policy for full details, including actual terms and conditions. To learn more, call 1-800-410-1013 or visit titleplus.ca ® Registered trademark of Lawyers' Professional Indemnity Company. © 2018 Lawyers' Professional Indemnity Company Lawyers' Professional Indemnity Company (LAWPRO ® ) 250 Yonge Street, Suite 3101, P.O. Box 3, Toronto, ON M5B 2L7 • Prepopulated underwriting • Streamlined searches • Saves time and money Untitled-3 1 2018-04-17 12:44 PM FREE WEED FOR YEAR CONTEST PROBED HALIFAX — Halifax police say they're looking into a contest by a chain of East Coast smoke shops that promises four winners "free weed for a year," reported The Canadian Press. Mary Janes, which has a store in St. John's and three stores in Nova Scotia, is promoting the contest on social media and says the draw will be made the day marijuana becomes legal in Canada. Customers must make a purchase to get a ballot. Employees at one of the chain's two Halifax- area outlets say there has been a lot of interest, but they didn't have details on the amount to be won or the legality of the contest. They say the stores only sell smoking para- phernalia and have no intention of marketing cannabis. The owner of the stores did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In an email, Halifax police say the federal legislation will allow only provincially appoint- ed entities to sell and distribute cannabis. "Presently, it is illegal for any person, busi- ness or entity to sell, give or distribute cannabis unless authorized by the federal government," Const. Carol McIsaac wrote. Each province and territory is developing its own legal regime for cannabis production and consumption. WOMAN ATTACKS TWO AFTER DOG EATS HER WEED SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Police in Ohio say a dog ate a woman's stash of pot, leading her to at- tack two other women because the dog's owner refused to pay for the marijuana, according to the Associated Press. Springfield police say 20-year-old Desarae Smith was arrested on Monday and charged with assault. Clark County Municipal Court records don't list a lawyer for her. The Springfield News-Sun reports that Smith became upset with an unidentified woman because the woman's dog ate Smith's marijuana. Smith refused to leave the woman's house and fell asleep on her couch, where she was found by responding officers. Officers say Smith stormed out of the house, when asked to leave, and assaulted two women. Police pulled Smith away and arrested her. BROCCOLI PASSED OFF AS WEED AVENTURA, Fla. — A South Florida drug dealer named Silas Spence thought he was buy- ing US$3,000 worth of marijuana he hoped to re-sell on the streets for a profit. Turns out, it was the green stuff most kids hate. "He got broccoli that resembled marijuana," Aventura Police Detective Tom Mundy testified on April 17. The mystery man passing off the veggies then robbed Spence at gunpoint, leaving him and his drug-dealing buddy, Lucas Seeger, out US$3,000. It was that botched drug deal that spurred Spence, days later, to plan a series of drug rip- offs that ultimately led to the killing of Omar Darwish in January. The new details emerged April 17 at a bail hearing for Seeger, who is charged in the rare homicide case in Aventura, northeast of Miami. Darwish was Gonzalez's friend and was shot once in the neck when the robbery went south in the LA Fitness parking lot in Aventura on Jan. 19. Gonzalez has not been charged. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Victoria Del Pino decided prosecutors had enough evidence to keep Seeger in jail before trial. He is charged with armed robbery and first-degree felony murder. In Florida, someone who participates in a violent felony can be convicted of murder if someone dies during the crime. Spence, 18, is also behind bars and awaiting trial on the same charges. LT

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