BARE BONES BRIEFS: LSO goes after Jeremy Magence for $250K in undisclosed referral fees | Dentons cleared of AML charges | Lawyer faces jail for stealing clients
By Julius Melnitzer | June 25, 2024 JEREMY MAGENCE ACCUSED OF FAILING TO DISCLOSE MORE THAN $250K IN REFERRAL FEES TO PARALEGALS The role of referral fees will again be front and centre on June 27, when the Law Society Tribunal Hearing Division hears the Law Society of Ontario’s allegations that Jeremy Magence of Toronto […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Law Society Tribunal: child pornographer can practise | NS Provincial Court judge pursues misconduct allegations against fellow jurist | Excuse me: juror had accused’s pictures on T-shirt | Suspended driver motors into court | IBA: Lawyers contribute $1.6 trillion to GDP
By Julius Melnitzer | June 6, 2024 TRIBUNAL LICENSES APPLICANT WHOSE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS WERE STAYED FOR DELAY The Law Society Tribunal has allowed an applicant whose convictions were overturned on appeal for unreasonable delay to practise law. Jordan Cristoferi-Paolucci, formerly a youth basketball coach, was charged with various child pornography and luring offences in […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Appeal panel: Jeremy Diamond denied procedural fairness – Mercer should have recused | Report: international and domestic arbitration growing in Canada | “Most positively reviewed” lawyer misconduct hearing set | BLG appoints Canadian law firms’ first chief AI officer | Jason Kroft joins Gowling as head of structured finance
By Julius Melnitzer | June 4, 2024 DIAMOND WILL GET NEW PENALTY HEARING A new panel will determine the penalty Toronto lawyer Jeremy Diamond will face in his advertising misconduct case. A split (3-2) Appeal Division of the Law Society Tribunal has sent the case back for re-hearing after finding that the original panel’s chair, […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Lawyer fined for x-exam of rape survivor | Fired: Receptionist couldn’t pronounce firm’s name
By Julius Melnitzer | May 29, 2024 LAWYER “CROSSED LINE” QUESTIONING RAPE VICTIM Scotland’s Faculty of Advocates imposed a fine equivalent to C$3500 on defence lawyer Lorenzo Alonzi, concluding he “repeatedly crossed the line” while cross-examining rape victim Ellie Wilson and during his remarks in closing argument and his client’s sentencing. Among other things, Alonzi […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Trump judges, citing university’s failure to condemn antisemitic acts, won’t hire Columbia grads | European Human Rights Court opens floodgates for climate change litigation | Kielburgers’ mother can proceed with defamation claim | Federal Court certifies class action for “mental illness stigmatization” by Canadian Armed Forces | Bennett Jones appoints new office managing partners
By Julius Melnitzer | May 21, 2024 TRUMP APPOINTEES BOYCOTT COLUMBIA GRADS NBC reports that 13 federal judges appointed by Donald Trump chose Holocaust Remembrance Day to announce that they would not hire students who graduated from Columbia University, which they called “an incubator of bigotry” in which “professors and administrators are on the front […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Climate disruption and natural asset management: perfect legal storm? | Neurodivergent lawyers stay under the radar for fear of discrimination
By Julius Melnitzer | May 6, 2024 NATURAL ASSETS INITIATIVES’S LEGAL PRIMER EXPOSES RISKS IN NATURAL ASSETS MANAGEMENT The growing frequency of climate disruption with its associated impacts in costs, combined with the steady growth of climate and nature-related litigation will doubtless increase the legal risk associated with natural asset management, the process of inventorying […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: 60-year-old lawyer seeks Miss Universe crown | OCA to trial judges: don’t call parties’ testimony ‘self-serving’ | No correlation between ‘attack dog’ counsel and success | AI legal robot sued: lacks license to practice
By Julius Melnitzer | May 2, 2024 SEXAGENARIAN IN-HOUSE COUNSEL CROWNED MISS BUENOS AIRES Alejandra Rodriguez, a 60-year old Argentinian hospital lawyer, pictured above, has won the Miss Buenos Aires contest. If she wins the next round in the Miss Universe competition by becoming Miss Argentina, she will enter the final, international round as the […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Gender pay gap has ‘little to do’ with caring responsibilities: study | Will wearing robes deter violence in the courtroom? | Alberta still only province to recognize tort of harassment | No favours for self-represented: UK court | Lemon lawsuit a lemon
By Julius Melnitzer | April 29, 2024 KIDS DON’T FACTOR MUCH IN GENDER PAY GAP While confirming the ubiquity of the gender pay gap across seniority groups and practice areas, a UK Bar Council study concludes that caring responsibilities “are not the sole, or even a primary, factor in the median earnings difference.” The Law […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Lawyer convicted of racketeering too closely connected to judges for court to sanction him | Corporate veil still eroding? | Bail for RCMP official sentenced to 14 years for leaking state secrets to organized crime | FC: Google not exempt from PIPEDA | IBA Annual Conference coming to Toronto
By Julius Melnitzer | April 22, 2024 MAJORITY OF APPEAL COURT RECUSE THEMSELVES FROM WELL-CONNECTED LAWYER’S CASE The Chicago Tribune reports that Illinois’ Supreme Court was unable to act on an an interim license suspension application brought by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission against Ed Burke, a Chicago lawyer and the city’s longest-serving alderman, […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: “Jobs bloodbath”sparks DLA Piper cuts to paternity leave | Good looking lawyers win more frequently in courtroom: study | Crown: directors, officers face increased OHSA prosecution risks | Federal Court OKs RCMP’s lengthy delays in harrassment cases | Receivables crisis coming for law firms?
By Julius Melnitzer | April 16, 2024 DLA REDUCES PATERNITY LEAVE IN WAKE OF ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY The Daily Mail reports that global firm DLA Piper has reduced non-partners’ (other than birth mothers) paternity leave by six months, leaving them with 12 months’ eligibility, four less than the 16-week average of most major law firms. “It […]