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.”

Canada

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Top court reinstates manslaughter conviction in robbery, Winnipeg Free Press

United States

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International

Ex-Kenya minister to face trial for graft charges, Reuters

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Melanie Aitken continues to strengthen her reputation as a no-nonsense commissioner of competition, today announcing plans to seek an injunction against several companies and individuals in response to a deceptive marketing scheme targeting companies across the globe.

“This scam has targeted thousands of businesses in Canada and around the world, forcing them to pay for a directory listing of little or no value,” said Aitken, a former Bennett Jones LLP partner.

“We are committed to cracking down on fraud that victimizes consumers and businesses. Significantly, the action we are taking today underscores the importance of working with our international partners to frustrate these types of multi-jurisdictional scams.”

The move follows an international investigation that allegedly exposed a business directory scheme that violated false or misleading and deceptive practices provisions within the Competition Act. The United States Federal Trade Commission is attempting to prosecute on the same set of facts in courts south of the border.

The scheme allegedly involved individuals and companies that faxed to organizations forms that included symbols similar to those trademarked by Yellow Media Inc.’s Yellow Pages Group. Businesses thought the forms were meant to update contact information for online listings. The fine print, however, included a notification that by signing the form the business was committing to a two-year contract at a cost of $1,428 per year.

Aside from the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, Aitken has also received support on the file from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and its counter-fraud partners in the United Kingdom.

Their actions follow a recent court action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission against two of the companies sued by Canada’s Competition Bureau — Yellow Page Marketing B.V. and Yellow Publishing Ltd. The Australian prosecution resulted in fines amounting to $2.7 million.

“It is essential to ensure scammers cannot use borders to evade detection and enforcement action,” said ACCC deputy chairman Peter Kell.

In an action filed before the Ontario Superior Court, the bureau requested more than $11.5 million in penalties and restitution for victims of the alleged Yellow scam.

Canada

2 B.C. cocaine traffickers sentenced to 16 years in jail, Victoria Times-Colonist

Insurance company ordered to pay $1M to Que. firm, The Gazette

Missing Alta. couple declared dead by court, CBC News

United States

N.Y. law firm seeks to stop AT&T's takeover bid, Reuters

Judge upholds federal funding of embryonic stem cells, Reuters

International

Irish court extends investigation into bank collapse, Reuters

Lehman loses appeal in landmark U.K. decision, Reuters

Ian R. MacDonald, a partner and senior litigator with Field Law in Calgary, has devised a “roadmap to resolution” to help parties navigate a litigation plan under Alberta’s new Rules of Court that came into force in November 2010. “The roadmap to resolution provides guidelines for facilitators, litigators, and their clients to navigate Rules 1.2 and 4.16 of the Rules of Court.”

Ian MacDonald has created a ‘roadmap to resolution’ to help navigate Alberta’s new Rules of Court.

MacDonald, who’s been active in dispute resolution for 15 years, says the idea for the roadmap came from an advanced mediation course he took in February presented by Michael Fogel.

Over the years, Alberta’s litigation system has been criticized for being too cumbersome, too slow, too expensive, and too unresponsive for both litigators and their clients’ needs. According to the new Rules of Court, they challenge counsel to “identify the issues in dispute and facilitate the quickest means of resolving a claim at the least expense.” The rules are to be used “to encourage the parties to resolve the claim themselves, by agreement, with or without assistance, as early in the process as practicable.”

“The roadmap helps litigators and their clients get from point A to a desired point B. However, because there are always bumps in the road, the line from point A to point B is not always straight. The roadmap acts as a navigation tool to help all parties involved deal with those bumps,” says MacDonald.

There many advantages to using it include better education of clients on the litigation and resolution process. “It facilitates more meaningful dialogue among the parties which will improve the chances of an agreed upon resolution. The roadmap also provides clients with greater certainty of procedures in the litigation process,” he says.

However, MacDonald says early facilitation does not necessarily mean the parties commit to a settlement. “Early negotiation focuses on how the parties will move toward a resolution and the basis for a potential agreement. It is not an agreement that defines the outcome. Devising a litigation plan ahead of time means fewer diversions should the matter proceed to trial.”

So far, litigators and clients have shown interest in the roadmap and are seeing merit in the process. Richard J. Gilborn, a partner and senior litigator at Caron & Partners LLP, says he has tried MacDonald’s roadmap and would be more than happy to try it again.

“I used the roadmap to resolution for a commercial litigation matter that looked like it could have been a very long, complex, expensive matter that would have wound up at trial. I found the process dramatically reduced the amount of time it would have normally taken to exchange documents. As well, after Mr. MacDonald spent some time with both sides prior to the mediation portion explaining how the process works, we entered into negotiations where the clients did most of the talking, and towards the end of the caucusing, the talks resulted in a settlement.”

MacDonald says he has already talked with various groups of lawyers about his roadmap and plans to engage more lawyers in the future. “The challenge will be to get litigators to take one file and try it. My goal is to find a way to make litigation in Alberta more efficient and more cost-effective.”

Canada

Woman convicted of killing children denied appeal, CBC News

Que. lawyer gets own TV show, The Gazette

Court adjourns hearing for missing girl's father, CTV News

United States

Activist jailed for defrauding government, Reuters

Environmentalists in court over wolf protection, Reuters

International

Prosecutor asks court to detain Ukraine's ex-PM, Reuters

British man can make 'Stormtrooper' helmets: court, Reuters

A Quebec court has ordered the release of two aircraft to Iraqi Airways Co. in its long-running legal battle with Kuwait Airways Corp.

The dispute traces back to 1990 following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait wherein the Iraqi government ordered IAC to seize KAC’s aircraft. KAC is pursuing compensation from IAC over the seizure.

The aircraft, built by Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace for IAC, have been released to the Iraqi company against security provided to KAC, which won judgments for $1.2 billion from IAC and $80 million from the state of Iraq.

A Supreme Court of Canada ruling in October last year allowed for KAC to seize the aircraft as it sought enforcement of the $1.2-billion judgment.

It is the longest-running commercial case in the United Kingdom. Numerous findings of perjury against IAC have contributed to the lengthy case, which then led to 12 years of prior rulings being overthrown.

Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP partner Christopher Gooding, who is also a member of the firm’s aviation practice group, has represented KAC since 1990.

“Our clients’ position is secured fully — effectively Iraq has paid for these aircraft twice, once to Bombardier and again in security for KAC,” Gooding said in a press release. “As we have always said that there is no intention, subject to enforcement of judgment rights, to limit the growth of Iraqi Airways or in any way limit the ability of the Iraqi people to travel freely. KAC will continue to pursue compensation whenever opportunities arise.”

Canada

5 B.C. judges appointed to clear court backlog, The Vancouver Sun

Retired RCMP officer pleads guilty to perjury, The Gazette

3 charged in Aurora armed robbery, CBC News

United States

Fla. execution stayed to allow drug hearing, Reuters

Assistant to Cdn sports doctor gets probation in U.S., Reuters

International

Supreme Court intervenes in Bangladesh ship recyling dispute, Reuters

Australian court rules against Rio Tinto, Reuters

Canada

Canada's anti-bribery cops reel one in, WestLaw Business

Langley police raid medical marijuana dispensary, The Vancouver Sun

Provinces support bids for shipyard deal, Reuters

United States

Appeals court denies motion to stop medicating Loughner, Reuters

Trial of alleged Texas polygamist leader begins this week, Reuters

International

U.K. law society worried lawyers' mobile phones hacked, The Guardian 

China hands out tough penalties for tainted pork, Reuters