Canada

Son of former N.L. premier to be sentenced in drunk-driving death, The Globe and Mail

Lawyer accuses Ontario government of delaying class actions, The Globe and Mail

Charges dropped in Mexico hotel blast that killed five Canadians, Toronto Star

United States

Drug company, hospital named in lawsuit over suspected murder case, Reuters

New York appeals court upholds manslaughter conviction, Reuters

International

Court orders former Ukraine PM to detention, Reuters

Tommy Sheridan appeal against perjury conviction thrown out, The Guardian

As one of the world’s largest legal conferences kicks off in Toronto today, the Canadian Bar Association and its U.S. counterpart have announced a groundbreaking deal that ushers in an era of greater co-operation between lawyers in the two countries.

‘The possibilities are exciting,’ says CBA president Rod Snow of the agreement.

“The possibilities are exciting,” said CBA president Rod Snow. “The protocol underscores the growing significance of cross-border legal business between our two countries and the increasingly global nature of the practice of law.”

American Bar Association president Stephen Zack noted the two organizations have long maintained a cordial relationship. “The signing of the agreement, on the occasion of the ABA’s annual meeting in Toronto, will formalize our mutually beneficial co-operation that has been in place for the past 80 years,” he said.

The agreement includes provisions for expanded ties both domestically and internationally.

Closer to home, the deal will see the two groups work together to promote legal ethics, pro bono legal work, and legal aid. Issues such as diversity, attorney-client privilege, conflicts of interest, and access to justice will also be examined, as will joint professional development offerings.

On the international level, the deal urges the groups to work together on efforts to promote human rights and the rule of law. The associations’ international law sections, the CBA international development committee, the ABA Centre for Human Rights, the ABA section of individual rights and responsibilities, and ABA rule of law initiative are each expected to play a pivotal role on those efforts.

As noted by the ABA’s president Zack, the pact comes as the U.S. association flocks to Toronto for it’s annual meeting from Aug. 4 to 9, with more than 1,400 programs, events, and presentations scheduled. More than 5,000 lawyers are expected to attend the conference.

The co-operation agreement is expected to survive the formality of an official ABA board of governors vote, before being signed into force at an Aug. 6 ceremony at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory. The ABA’s annual meeting opening assembly will take place immediately following the ceremony, with remarks from Canada’s Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

The ABA is considered the world’s largest voluntary professional membership organization, claiming almost 400,000 members. The CBA has about 37,000 members.

Canada

Ex-N.S. bishop faces sentencing hearing for child porn, CBC News

Former Leaf captain in court for impaired driving charge, Toronto Star

B.C. man arrested after woman viciously beaten, CBC News

United States

Man charged in $5.7M Columbia University theft pleads not guilty, Thomson Reuters

Feds charge 72 in massive international child porn ring, Toronto Star

International

3 Pakistan navy officers face court martial in base attack, Reuters

Indian court begins $2.5B Vodafone tax hearing, Reuters

A survey released today shows legal employers take eight weeks to fill management-level legal positions and six weeks to fill staff-level roles.

“Law firms and corporate legal departments are hiring selectively — they want the right skills match and the right fit for their work environment,” said Chris Volkert, executive director of Robert Half Legal. “In addition to tenure, employers look for a combination of professional experience, practice area expertise and business connections.”

Volkert cautioned, however, that employers who delay making hiring decisions for too long might miss out on the best job candidates. “Senior-level associates with experience in high-demand specialties, such as corporate law, litigation, and foreclosure/insolvency, are in particularly strong demand and may receive multiple offers,” he said.

The survey, developed by Robert Half Legal — a firm specializing in lawyers, paralegals, law clerks, and other skilled legal professionals — included responses from 350 lawyers at large law firms and corporations in North America.

The recruiting firm offers the following tips for identifying skilled job candidates and expediting the hiring process:

• Try a variety of recruitment tools. In addition to referrals from current employees and colleagues, more employers are using a range of resources such as personal connections, alumni groups and online networks to reach prospects and advertise job openings.
• Fine-tune the job description. If a job posting is too vague or general, it will attract a flood of applicants, many of whom may not possess the necessary requirements. Highlight key responsibilities and summarize the skills needed for success in the position.
• Work with a specialized staffing firm. Such firms have a pipeline of candidates they've interviewed and tested for critical skills, and can help employers quickly find good prospects.
• Streamline the screening process. For candidates who make it past the first interview, consider having follow-up meetings with a hiring committee, rather than holding several individual meetings with the prospective employee.
• Use the temporary-to-hire approach. This allows the employer to observe first-hand candidates' work styles and whether they are a fit with the firm's culture. Companies also can hire professionals on an interim basis until a job is filled to help handle workload spikes or specialized, time-intensive projects such as e-discovery.

Canada

B.C. woman with ALS makes case for right to die, The Globe and Mail

Saskatoon teen in court to face murder charge, CBC News

Feds to repossess classified docs from man accused of terror ties, The Vancouver Sun

United States

Couple on trial for allegedly keeping indentured servants, Reuters

Latin jazz artists sue Grammys, Thomson Reuters

International

French court to decide on IMF chief investigation, Reuters

4 soldiers jailed over Guatemalan civil war, Reuters

Most survey respondents say unrepresented litigants often have worse outcomes than they would if they had a lawyer. Photo: Jupiter Images

A new study has revealed that the increasing number of self-represented litigants is creating serious problems for the family court system.

The study, conducted by Queen’s University professor Nicholas Bala and University of Western Ontario professor Rachel Birnbaum, surveyed 325 family lawyers at the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Family Law Summit in Toronto in June.

“There is growing concern about litigants without lawyers, especially for family cases, which are often complex and have profound effects on litigants and their children, and where the judgment of litigants is particularly prone to be being influenced by emotions,” says Bala.

Their findings include:

• In 27 per cent of family law cases the opposing side had no lawyer at all and another 21 per cent had no lawyer for part of the case.
• In the last five years, 81 per cent of respondents said there were either many more or more cases with litigants without representation, 19 per cent said it was roughly even, and no one reported fewer litigants without representation.
• The inability to afford a lawyer was listed by 96 per cent as the most important or an important reason for the increase.
• In terms of the reasons that litigants represent themselves, the respondents said they think they can do as good of a job as a lawyer or want to confront their former partner in court.
• More than 90 per cent said when the opposing side is not represented it increases the costs for the represented side.
• 57 per cent reported that judges treat litigants without representation “very well” and 31 per cent think judges give “good treatment” to them. Almost 90 per cent said their clients are sometimes or always concerned that the judge seems to favour the unrepresented side.
• Most respondents reported that unrepresented litigants often have worse outcomes than they would if they had a lawyer, especially family violence victims who are in need of protection.

Despite the Ontario government’s efforts to improve access to information about the family court process, the majority of respondents give little value to its programs, the authors note.

The authors suggest “unbundling” of legal services with lawyers offering partial representation as a way to decrease the number of litigants who represent themselves in court.

“There is no single or simple solution to these problems, but it is clear that the challenges posed by family litigants without lawyers needs to be better understood and addressed,” says the study.

Canada

Police under fire for banishing B.C. homeless man, Toronto Star

SIU investigate couple's deaths in Markham home, CP24

B.C. group heads to court over right to die, CTV News

United States

Ex-executives win reversal of insurance fraud convictions, Reuters

Man jailed in Boston for smuggling whale teeth, Reuters

International

Israeli court orders evacuation of West Bank settlers, Reuters

Parcel bomb sent to Bosnian court, Reuters

A high-profile civility case will be before a Law Society of Upper Canada disciplinary panel tomorrow. The proceedings against securities lawyer Joe Groia are set to run from Aug. 2-4. Earl Cherniak is representing Groia, while J. Thomas Curry and Jaan Lilles will present the case for the law society.

The long-running case stems from Groia’s actions in R. v. Felderhof. His client, John Felderhof, was facing insider-trading charges related to the infamous Bre-X Minerals Ltd. gold-dusting scandal. During the proceedings, Groia accused prosecutors for the Ontario Securities Commission of abuse of process and professional misconduct, largely over disclosure issues, said they were trying to convict his client “at all costs.” Judges later sharply criticized his rhetoric.

The LSUC allegations accuse Groia of repeated instances of “rude, improper or disruptive conduct” and of failing to treat the court with respect. They also accuse him of making “uninformed criticism of the conduct of prosecutors for the OSC.” In addition, he allegedly undermined the integrity of the profession by dealing with prosecutors in a manner that was “abusive, offensive or otherwise inconsistent with the proper tone of a professional communication from a lawyer.”

The LSUC has held up the case an example of its commitment to taking civility matters seriously. Groia, however, has defended his right to advocate vigorously for his client and argues the law society isn’t the place to be regulating courtroom conduct.

The “Scud Stud” Arthur Kent has fired a couple of missiles of his own after an unflattering piece by National Post columnist Don Martin that Kent claims derailed his bid for provincial office in Alberta in 2008.

And one of the targets in his crosshairs is Kristine Robidoux, his former election agent and legal counsel during his failed run at the Alberta legislature under the Progressive Conservative banner.

Kent, a former NBC journalist famous for his reports during 1991’s first Gulf War, and brother of federal Conservative MP Peter Kent, launched the lawsuit against Martin, the National Post, and Canwest (as it was then) within months of losing to the Liberal incumbent in the Calgary-Currie riding. A further suit against the Post’s new owners Postmedia Network Inc. followed after it republished the story, “Alberta's Scud Stud a 'dud' on campaign trail” on its Web site.

But earlier this year, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Dallas Miller allowed Kent to add Robidoux, a partner in the Calgary office of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, as a defendant in the $8-million suit, after Martin revealed during discoveries that she was the main source of the Feb. 13, 2008 story.

Miller also granted Kent permission to report Robidoux to the Law Soicety of Alberta based on the information garnered from Martin under examination, finding that it met the “public interest of greater weight” test for an exception to the implied undertaking rule.

“It is clear that Robidoux acted as Arthur Kent’s lawyer during his election campaign. The evidence reveals that she virtually begged to be on his campaign team and readily agreed to be his counsel and official agent,” Miller wrote.

“There is a price that needs to be paid in order for a higher public interest to be protected. In this case there is no prejudice to the original defendants. Robidoux may very well face some sanction for her actions, but so does every lawyer if they are found to breach solicitor-client privilege.”

Kent has an application pending to join the Postmedia and Canwest actions together, and last week, Justice William Tilleman denied Postmendia President Paul Godfrey’s bid to have himself removed as a defendant. Godfrey claimed he had no personal involvement in the publication of the story, but Tilleman said it was not “plain and obvious” that the claims against him could not succeed.

Kent is providing updates on the action on his web site.

Photo: Thinkstock

OTTAWA — Tobacco companies suffered a major defeat in Canada Friday when the Supreme Court ruled the federal government is not liable for damages from health-related lawsuits, possibly amounting to many billions of dollars.

The tobacco industry — facing suits from several Canadian provinces seeking to recoup health-care costs — had argued that Ottawa had allowed and regulated the use of tobacco and should therefore take at least some of the responsibility.

“I conclude that all the claims of Imperial [Tobacco] and the other tobacco companies brought against the government of Canada are bound to fail,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the long, complex, and unanimous 9-0 judgment.

The case revolved around a suit that the province of British Columbia has launched against major tobacco companies.

British Columbia is suing R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Japan Tobacco’s JTI-Macdonald unit, Rothmans Benson & Hedges Inc., which is partly owned by Philip Morris, and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., a unit of British American Tobacco.

"This decision represents a significant defeat for the tobacco industry," said Rob Cunningham, a lawyer and senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society. "This industry has long tried to shift the blame to others for the enormous health burden caused by smoking, but the Supreme Court has rejected industry arguments.

"With this issue now decided, the B.C. government can move forward and focus on preparing its case to recover health-care costs caused by smoking," he added. "It's time for this case to get to trial. If the tobacco companies lose the B.C. case and other provincial lawsuits against them, they will be responsible for paying billions of dollars in damages, just as they should be."

Several of Canada's 10 provinces have sued or say they will sue the tobacco industry but British Columbia filed first and Canadian courts are using it as the lead case.

British Columbia declined to say how much money it was seeking in damages.

Ontario, Canada's most populous province, launched a suit against the companies in 2009 seeking $50 billion.

In a separate but similar case, the Supreme Court also ruled against Imperial Tobacco, which wanted Ottawa to be liable for any damages awarded against it in suits alleging the company wrongly marketed some tobacco products as “mild” or “light.”