Canada

Vancouver riot defendant gets absolute discharge after guilty plea, The Globe and Mail

Manitoba man charged with fraud for alleged bogus furnace business, Winnipeg Free Press

Toronto man charged in driver-cyclist incident, Toronto Star

United States

Cain hires defamation lawyer to monitor accusations, Reuters

Lehman Brothers Holdings ends mortgage case for 0.5 cents on dollar, Reuters

International

Australia pilot union in court over Qantas conflict, Reuters

Israel court upholds ex-PM's rape conviction, Reuters

A B.C. judge has sentenced a disbarred Ontario lawyer to jail after citing him for civil contempt.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice John Savage found John Gorman in contempt of a 2001 order that he refrain from practicing law in the western province. In his Oct. 26 decision, Savage sentenced Gorman to two weeks in jail and a $5,000 fine. The Law Society of British Columbia, which brought the motion for contempt, was also awarded special costs in the case.

“There has been wilful disobedience of a court order in this case,” Savage wrote.

Gorman, who failed to show up in court for argument on the application, was given 60 days to set aside the penalties, but Savage said he would have to appear in person to do so.

In 2001, Gorman was found to be illegally practicing law in B.C. after his disbarment from the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1984, and ordered to stop providing legal services in the province.

The LSBC made its application after Gorman became involved in disputes on behalf of two separate couples. In 2007, Gorman sent demand letters on behalf of a couple in dispute with a property management company, threatening legal action if the company refused to negotiate. In 2010, he sent demand letters on behalf of another couple in a dispute with an educational institution.

Although Gorman’s “clients” claimed in affidavits filed with the court that he hadn’t charged for his services and told them that he wasn’t a lawyer, Savage found that he’d done enough to violate the 2001 order, which barred him from preparing documents for use in a proceeding or “negotiating in any way for the settlement” of a claim or demand for damages.

Savage also extended the prohibition on Gorman to permanently enjoin him from representing himself to be a lawyer in B.C.

According to the judgment, Gorman had initially seemed prepared to defend himself on the application at the Oct. 25 hearing, but had a change of mind in August when he wrote to law society officials in B.C., telling them he had “no intention of being present at your silly motion.”

“I have returned to Ontario to commence a civil and criminal case of conspiracy by the Law Society of Upper Canada and British Columbia for defamation of my reputation. I have already commenced an Action for $20,000,000.00 damages for wrongful disbarment in 1984,” Gorman wrote.

The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to grant commercial fishing rights to an aboriginal group in British Columbia.

In Lax Kw’alaams Indian Band v. Canada (Attorney General), the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation was seeking the right to harvest and sell seaweed, shellfish, and fish in its territory in Prince Rupert, B.C. The band is allowed to fish for food, social, and ceremonial purposes, but not to sell.

In 2008, the Supreme Court of B.C. ruled that the Coast Tsimshian, the Lax Kw’alaams’ predecessors, only conducted limited trade of one species of fish. Justice Deborah Satanove (now Kloegman) found that general fish trading was not an integral component of their society and so the foundation for an industrial fishery did not exist.

“In my opinion, it would be stretching the concept of an evolved Aboriginal right too far to say that the Coast Tsimshian practice of trading in eulachon grease is equivalent to a modern right to fish commercially all species in their Claimed Territories,” she stated.

The B.C. Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s decision.

The Lax Kw’alaams argued that the courts erred in their characterization of the claim and did not comprehensively analyze the supporting evidence.

In dismissing the Lax Kw’alaams’ appeal, former SCC justice Ian Binnie wrote on behalf of a unanimous bench: “The trial judge acknowledged that prior to contact with Europeans, the Coast Tsimshian largely sustained themselves by an extensive fishery. They did not, however, engage in any significant trade in fish or fish products except for a grease derived from a smelt-like species called the eulachon. . . .”

The band also claimed that at the time of the reserve’s creation in the 1880s, the government made promises regarding access to a commercial fishery. However, Kloegman ruled that the Crown made no such promises and therefore no fiduciary duty was owed.

Binnie added: “The Lax Kw’alaams live in the twenty-first century, not the eighteenth, and are entitled to the benefits (as well as the burdens) of changing times. However, allowance for natural evolution does not justify the award of a quantitatively and qualitatively different right. It was in part the lack of continuity and proportionality in the Lax Kw’alaams’ attempt to build a full-blown twenty-first century commercial fishery on the narrow support of an ancestral trade in eulachon grease that concerned the trial judge. Her concern, in my view, was well founded.”

Canada

B.C. soccer mom fraud case carries on into 9th year, The Vancouver Sun

Father accused of 'honour killings' says daughters were liars, The Globe and Mail

University of Calgary seeks reversal of Facebook ruling, The Vancouver Sun

United States

Judge questions SEC-Citigroup accord, Reuters

Goldman faces $15.8B in mortgage lawsuits, Reuters

International

Australia anti-smoking law bans brand labels, Reuters

Israeli court upholds ex-president's rape sentence, Reuters

In sentencing a Toronto man who pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine, a Windsor, Ont. judge told him to “keep your drugs in Toronto.”

Justice Micheline Rawlins of the Ontario Court of Justice sentenced 24-year-old Ahmed Ahmed to 30 days of house arrest and two years’ probation.

She also banished him from Essex County during that time.

Windsor police stopped Ahmed, Ibraham James, and Adrian McCurvin in a high drug traffic area on Aug. 4, 2010. Following a search, the officers found 2.3 grams of crack cocaine in their rental car and an additional 3.9 grams in Ahmed’s rectum.

Ahmed was originally charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, but he pleaded guilty to simple possession. His friends’ charges were withdrawn in exchange for his guilty plea.

The judge expressed concern about people bringing drugs to Windsor, especially with Detroit right next door.

“Detroit makes Toronto look like Toronto the Good,” said Rawlins. “We don’t need to import people from other jurisdictions to bring drugs to Windsor. We have plenty coming across the border. Drugs, guns, we have it up to here.”

She also emphasized the meaning of house arrest, saying if the police show up at Ahmed’s house to check on him, he better be there. "It's what I call jail at home," she said.

Rawlins reiterated her point by telling Ahmed to ask himself the following question if a friend invites him out for coffee: “If I were in jail would I be able to go to his house for coffee?”

Ahmed has a 26-year-old sister living in Essex County who Rawlins said could visit him in Toronto.

"And she won't have cocaine up her butt," she added.

Canada

Liberals could take PM to court over unilingual AG, The Globe and Mail

Police evict Occupy protesters from London, Ont. park, Toronto Star

B.C. Supreme Court to release polygamy ruling in 2 weeks, The Vancouver Sun

United States

Supreme Court expresses concern over police GPS tracking, Reuters

Hedge fund founder sentenced to 11 years, ordered to pay $92.8M, Reuters

International

Former Libyan PM to be extradited, Reuters

Ex-Pakistan cricket captain appeals sentence, Reuters

ACC president and CEO Veta T. Richardson says the ACC will be looking for people who have achieved great things for its Value Champions program.

Is your in-house team doing something innovative to bring greater value to the company or have you created an innovative partnership with your outside law firm?

If so, the Association of Corporate Counsel wants to know. On Nov. 14, the ACC will officially launch its Value Champions program. Nominations will be open until March 15. Details will be released on the ACC web site on Nov. 14.

The ACC Value Champions will be an annual recognition program designed to showcase successful law department efforts and firm and client collaborations under the banner of the ACC Value Challenge. The ACC Value Champions will highlight individuals in departments and law firms that are making a difference for their organizations through creativity and value-based legal management skills.

“We want to celebrate people who are doing great things and this is the whole concept of the Value Champions,” said Veta Richardson, president and CEO of the ACC, during the organization’s recent annual meeting in Denver.

“We’re looking to identify people who have achieved great things in terms of their relationships, efficiencies, communications, predictability of results, lowered costs and identifying those that are really ahead of the pack. We’ll hold those up as role models and drill down into the practical steps they took to get to that wonderful status.”

Richardson said those selected as value champions will be examples of how to put best practices into action. “People look at someone at the top in terms of achieving great results and they want to know, ‘How can I do the same?’ We want to be able to say here are the things you can do to move your company and your relationships in the same positive direction.”

There will be two categories of winners: a law department that has achieved great results for its division and a partnership between in-house and outside counsel that can describe how the two have worked together to achieve results.
 
“We’re looking for collaborative stars and individual law department stars,” said Richardson, who sees the Value Champions program as a natural extension of the Value Challenge.

In 2008, the ACC launched the Value Challenge, an effort designed to examine in-house and outside counsel relationships more expansively than just on the hourly billing model. It considers alternative-fee or value-based billing and looks for ways to identify greater efficiencies and improving the way information is exchanged.

Richardson noted the ACC will also be looking at providing programming that addresses project management.

“We can tell from our members and outside counsel involved thus far that these are skill sets they’re seeking to enhance,” she said.

Canada

City seeks injunction to end Occupy Vancouver's tent city, The Vancouver Sun

First Nations group seeks review of proposed Ring of Fire mine, CTV News

B.C. court suspends residential school compensation cases, The Vancouver Sun

United States

Top court reinstates convicted murderer's death sentence, Reuters

Supreme Court to decide constitutionality of juveniles' life sentences, Reuters

International

Australia passes landmark carbon emissions price laws, Reuters

Sri Lankan court rules asset acquisition act constitutional, Reuters

The Supreme Court of Canada will hear the following four appeals this week:

Nov. 8 — Ontario — Ewaryst Prokofiew v. R.

Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Ewaryst Prokofiew and a co-accused were charged with conspiracy to defraud the federal government of $3.25 million by pretending to sell heavy equipment to generate HST that they didn’t submit to the government. Prokofiew was convicted and his appeals were dismissed. The Charter issue in question relates to the trial judge’s charge to the jury.

Nov. 8 — Ontario — R. v. Amandeep Banwait

Criminal law: Amandeep Banwait’s appeal of his first-degree murder conviction was dismissed by the Court of Appeal. At issue is whether the trial judge improperly instructed the jury on the relationship between planning and deliberation and murder as defined in the Criminal Code.

Nov. 9 — British Columbia — Randy Leigh Roy v. R.

Criminal law: Randy Roy was convicted of dangerous driving causing death based in part on the 2006 case R. v. Beatty. The Supreme Court of Canada then reversed Beatty and clarified the mens rea element of dangerous driving. The Court of Appeal applied the curative proviso and dismissed the appeal, ruling that Roy had the mental capacity to be convicted of dangerous driving. There are several judicial questions  raised in this case, including the application of the curative proviso.

Nov. 10 — Quebec — Johan Sarrazin v. Attorney General of Quebec

Criminal law: Johan Sarrazin, a well-known businessman, was charged with sexual activity with a minor, possession of cannabis, and assault. He was released while awaiting trial but then arrested and charged for breaching his conditions. He was confined in prison where he was assaulted by several inmates. After two months, the initial charges against him were dropped. He sued the public authorities for negligence. At issue is whether his Charter rights were violated and if he’s entitled to compensation.

David Shannon meets Governor General David Johnston during Friday’s Order of Canada ceremony. Photo: Sgt. Ronald Duchesne

Not long after receiving the Order of Ontario, Thunder Bay, Ont., lawyer David Shannon became one of the newest members of the Order of Canada on Friday.

Shannon received the honour for his championship of the rights of people with disabilities. After suffering a spinal-cord injury at the age of 18, he has since devoted his legal career to promoting and raising awareness of disability rights and accessibility issues, a description from the governor general’s office noted.

Shannon’s advocacy has taken him to many places, including the North Pole. A couple of years ago, Shannon, who has quadriplegia due to the injury, made the journey with fellow Thunder Bay lawyer Christopher Watkins. The trip made him the first person with quadriplegia to achieve the feat. Also in 2009, the pair made a dangerous high-altitude skydive in another effort at raising awareness of people with disabilities.

Shannon practises at Shannon Law Office in Thunder Bay. He received the Order of Canada honour from Gov. Gen. David Johnston during a ceremony at Rideau Hall on Friday. He became a member of the order, an honour that follows his receipt of the Order of Ontario earlier this year.

Other honourees from the legal community on Friday included Tricia Smith, a B.C. lawyer and four-time Olympic rower. Smith is also senior vice president of the Canadian Olympic Committee.

At the same time, Maureen Sabia became an officer of the order for supporting the advancement of women in the corporate sector and strengthening corporate governance.