Canada

Raptors season-ticket holder sues MLSE for $1.6M, Toronto Star

Truck driver in 5-hour police chase to appear in court, Hamilton Spectator

Vancouver's Stanley Cup riot cases to be in court by late Nov., The Globe and Mail

United States

Judge blocks H&R Block's bid to buy rival, Reuters

Ex-attorney sues law firm for alleged race discrimination, Reuters

International

Nigerian court rejects election challenge, Reuters

Ex-South African police chief appeals jail sentence, Reuters

A law graduate who lost her discrimination claim against her articling principal has once again found herself stymied at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

In a new ruling, the HRTO dismissed Anica Visic’s request for reconsideration of a decision earlier this year that there was insufficient evidence for a finding of discrimination stemming from the employer’s request for her final law school transcript.

Visic submitted unofficial grade reports from her studies at the University of Windsor between 2002 and 2005. The reports didn’t include her original failed attempt at first-year law school before she gained readmission in 2002.

Visic experiences myofascial pain, which involves shoulder, arm, neck, and upper-body muscle spasms that restrict her ability to sit and write for extended periods of time. Still, she has failed at repeated legal efforts to get the first-year failures expunged from her records on the basis that the university had provided inadequate accommodation for her disability.

Visic ended up articling at Toronto-based Elia Associates Professional Corp. When Patricia Elia, a senior lawyer at the firm who acted as Visic’s articling principal, discovered her fight with the university, she asked for a full transcript. Visic claimed the request violated her human rights because it forced her to reveal her disability and that her termination several months later was discriminatory.

In a June 28 decision, Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario vice chairwoman Ena Chadha sided with the Elias and dismissed all of Visic’s allegations, almost three years after she first made them and nearly four years since her termination by the firm.

Elia Associates was entitled to check the full transcript and hadn’t acted in a discriminatory manner, ruled Chadha.

At the time, Elia said she was relieved at the decision. “It just feels humiliating after you’ve spent your life really working for justice and equality to be called this, so it was actually kind of sweet, the decision,” she told Law Times.

But Elia once again found herself fighting the case after Visic requested a reconsideration of the June decision on the grounds that it misapprehended or ignored evidence in the case. Visic was unsuccessful, however, in making that argument before Chadha.

“There are no new facts or evidence that could potentially be determinative of the case,” Chadha wrote. “The applicant’s request does not establish that the decision conflicts with established jurisprudence and that the reconsideration raises issues of general or public importance. Nor are there other factors identified in the request that outweigh the public interest in the finality of tribunal decisions.”

Canada

Accused B.C. serial killer expected in court, CBC News

Child abductor Stanley Tippett named dangerous offender, London Free Press

Man charged in crash that killed 4 Alta. teens to appear in court, CTV News

United States

Woman reaches deal with U.S. gov't over anthrax death, Reuters

Supreme Court won't hear case over Utah memorial crosses, Reuters

International

Ex-Bank of Italy chief jailed for market-rigging, Reuters

Ex-Israeli soldier jailed for leaking secret documents, Reuters

In a case involving a sexual harassment complaint, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal does not have the authority to award legal costs.

In Canada (Canadian Human Rights Commission) v. Canada (Attorney General), Donna Mowat worked with the Canadian Forces for 14 years. Over the course of her career, she made several complaints about her superiors. Three years after her employment with the military ended, she filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission alleging “sexual harassment, adverse differential treatment, and failure to continue to employ her on account of her sex.” The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled in her favour and awarded her $4,000 in damages and $47,000 in legal costs.

The Attorney General of Canada applied for judicial review at the Federal Court regarding the tribunal’s jurisdiction to award legal costs. Following that decision, the attorney general appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal, which ruled that the tribunal did not have the authority to make a costs award under the Canadian Human Rights Act and quashed the tribunal’s decision.

In its ruling, Supreme Court justices Louis LeBel and Thomas Cromwell wrote: “In our view, the text, context, and purpose of the legislation clearly show that there is no authority in the Tribunal to award legal costs and that there is no other reasonable interpretation of the relevant provisions.

“Faced with a difficult point of statutory interpretation and conflicting judicial authority, the Tribunal adopted a dictionary meaning of ‘expenses’ and articulated what it considered to be a beneficial policy outcome rather than engage in an interpretative process taking account of the text, context and purpose of the provisions in issue.”

The SCC upheld the Federal Court of Appeal’s ruling and dismissed the appeal.

Corporations need to pay more attention to information governance, a recent survey has found.

The survey shows 70 per cent of respondents are unsure if board members comply with the corporation’s document-retention policies. Photo: Nenad Djedovic

A survey of global corporations' corporate and company secretaries and general counsel, conducted by Thomson Reuters Governance, Risk & Compliance, found that corporate boards aren’t necessarily in compliance with their corporations’ document-retention policies.

“Information governance, which in practice can be very difficult, may not be a major priority for many corporations, but needs to be applied and practised,” said Ely Razin, head of business law and governance at Thomson Reuters.

“When sharing business-critical information with their boards, corporations must be able to manage their information effectively and appropriately, and also know where the information resides. And information governance is critical so that directors and executives can manage and authenticate the information’s validity and chain of custody.”

Eighty-one per cent of those surveyed said board e-mails and communications are included in the corporation’s document-retention policy. But 70 per cent were unsure if board members are in compliance with the corporation’s document-retention policies. More specifically, 70 per cent didn’t know if board members destroyed all paper copies of board-related e-mails, etc.

This poses a security threat to corporations. For example, if a corporation was required to conduct a discovery process, it would need to check all board members’ computers, files, and other data storage, which would likely be time-consuming and expensive.

“As corporations face daily challenges surrounding their information and its security, document retention and discovery at the board level is emerging as an increasing issue,” added Razin.

“Many corporations have not harnessed all the benefits that technology can provide to protect the organization and its board members.”

Get the full 2011 Thomson Reuters Board Governance Survey here.

Canada

Judge overturns cop killer's $9,500 award, National Post

Windsor doctor sues police for $14M over alleged assault, The Windsor Star

Privacy commissioner concerned about online surveillance laws, CBC News

United States

Judge orders Louisiana to turn over documents to BP, Reuters

Women file new discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart, Reuters

International

Moscow court sentences Muslim man to 20 years in jail, Reuters

German court suspends government's bailout committee, Reuters

Ontario’s lawyers are scrambling to complete their continuing professional development requirement, and the Law Society of Upper Canada is scrambling to help them.

Thomas Conway says the LSUC is doing everything it can to make sure lawyers know they need to get their CPD credits.

With the looming Dec. 31 deadline for the first year of mandatory CPD, Bencher Thomas Conway, who chairs the society’s professional development and competence committee, told Convocation today that many of its remaining CPD offerings are already oversubscribed. But work remains to be done to make sure all lawyers fulfil the necessary requirements.

Any lawyer or paralegal who has been practising for more than two years needs 12 hours of CPD, including a minimum of three hours of professional responsibility and ethics.

To report their hours to the law society, lawyers and paralegals in Ontario must log on and register them on the LSUC’s online portal. However, about 15 per cent have yet to even register on the portal.

“Phone calls are being made, notices are being given, e-mails are being sent,” Conway said. “We want to make sure as few members as possible get an administrative suspension a the end of this. And we certainly don’t want anybody saying nobody told me.”

LSUC CEO Malcolm Heins told benchers that the law society’s CPD offerings have had 80,000 registered attendees for 2011. The previous high for annual registrants was in 2007 was 19,500.

One recent session, Ethical Considerations in an Age of Technology, alone attracted 2,500 attendees for a live Webinar.

According to Heins, about 60 per cent of the attendees were at free sessions put on by the law society.

Canada

Consumers sue RIM for BlackBerry outage, Reuters

Cdn Wheat Board to fight government in court, Reuters

Alleged serial killer's mother accused as accomplice, National Post

United States

3 Marines face court martial following suicide, Reuters

SeaWorld accused of violating killer whales' rights, Reuters

International

Surrender of Gaddafi's son would challenge ICC, Reuters

Egyptian police officers jailed over activist's death, Reuters

Vancouver law firm Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP is a big supporter of the United Way and this year raised $32,018.77, surpassing its $30,000 goal.

Managing partner David Garner put his money where his hair was and promised to shear off his “infamous” ponytail if members of the firm ponied up $10,000. That they did and Garner’s snip actually brought in $10,924 toward the firm's pledge drive.

David Garner was willing to cut off his famous ponytail for charity.

Post-ponytail Garner.

This morning, Statistics Canada released its latest numbers on homicides in Canada and they’re at their lowest level in 45 years.

In 2010, police reported 554 homicides in Canada, 56 less than the year before. The homicide rate fell to 1.62 for every 100,000 population, its lowest level since 1966.

The overall drop in homicides was driven largely by fewer incidents in the western provinces. With 35 fewer homicides in 2010 than in 2009, the rate in British Columbia fell to its lowest point since the mid-1960s. Police in Alberta reported 18 fewer homicides, while those in Manitoba reported 12 fewer.

In the face of these statistics, it becomes even harder to swallow the current Conservative government’s new omnibus crime bill that proports to make Canada’s streets safer.

As Eric Gottardi, vice chairman of the Canadian Bar Association’s national criminal justice section has noted: “Criminal law should be based on the most effective policies and best use of public resources.”

In a 100-page submission made last week to a Parliamentary committee and critiquing bill C-10, the CBA says the legislation focuses too much on punishment and not on how to prevent criminal behaviour in the first place, or rehabilitate those who offend. “As most offenders will one day return to their communities, prevention and rehabilitation are most likely to contribute to public safety,” the brief notes.

These recent stats that show some of the most violent crimes are on the decline flies in the face of the so-called safe streets and communities act as well as coming on the heels of the government’s decision to kill the long-gun registry and all documents related to it. Rates of homicide involving rifles or shotguns in 2010 were about one-fifth of those seen 30 years ago, reports Stats Can.

Thunder Bay remains Canada’s murder capital, according to Stats Can with the highest homicide rate for the second year in a row (4.2 per 100,000). The next highest rates were in Saskatoon and Regina, both at 3.7 per 100,000.

With 35 fewer homicides in 2010 than in 2009, the rate in British Columbia fell to its lowest point since the mid-1960s. Police in Alberta reported 18 fewer homicides, while those in Manitoba reported 12 fewer. However, Ontario saw 11 more murders in 2010 than the year before.

Police in several of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas reported substantially fewer homicides in 2010. The rate in Vancouver, with 25 fewer killings, fell 42 per cent to its lowest level since data in metropolitan areas became available in 1981.

Visit Statistics Canada’s web site for the full Homocide in Canada report.

Homocide and other crimes are decreasing and while bill C-10 has some laudable aspects to it — like laws against luring children on the Internet — to lump together nine previous bills into one doesn’t serve Canadians. The bill should be split up to allow for proper examination of the costs and overall value to society and the justice system of many portions of it while separting out measures that are fully supported and would be happily passed by all parties.