Called to the bar and grill
By Marcel Strigberger | January 21, 2025 Can a judge make peace between hostile lawyers by ordering them to have lunch together? In the Alabama case of McCullers v Koch Foods of Alabama, the two lawyers involved were not getting along too well. Defense counsel moved to amend his pleading and plaintiff’s counsel opposed the request unless defendant agreed not […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: No charging order for fees though client refuses to direct settlement to firm; Judge orders duelling counsel to lunch together; Lenczner Slaght obtains $259 million judgment in Manitoba’s first electronic trial; BLG hires Hélène Deschamps Marquis to co-head privacy and cybersecurity group
By Julius Melnitzer | January 5, 2005 BAD WAY FOR LAW FIRM TO START NEW YEAR On New Year’s Eve, Ontario Superior Court Justice Todd Robinson denied Woodrbridge, ON law firm Capo Sgro LLP‘s application for a charging order over settlement fees, brought after the client sought an assessment (still pending) of the firm’s total […]
LST Squirms Its Way to Accepting Reprimand for Jeremy Diamond’s Misconduct
By Julius Melnitzer | December 16, 2024 Far be it from me to judge whether a reprimand was an appropriate sanction for Jeremy Diamond’s misconduct, though I’m a firm believer that the initial Law Society Tribunal that heard his case had no business refusing to let him withdraw his admissions of guilt after rejecting a […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: ECJ: Accountants’ communications not privileged | Alexi AI cuts routine litigation task time by 80% | Legal Risk Assessments: tackling risk proactively | OCA: No appeals of court-ordered arbitrator appointments | Singapore to establish international appeals body for commercial cases
By Julius Melnitzer | October 30, 2024 ECJ RULES THAT PRIVILEGE DOES NOT EXTEND TO TAX ADVISORS WHO ARE NOT LAWYERS The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that privilege in tax matters extends only to lawyers and not to other professionals, even if they perform similar advisory tasks. The court concluded […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: LSO licenses parolee serving 27-year sentence| Caseway AI legal research tool eliminates “hallucinations” | Cecilia Hoover joins BLG | Marcel Strigberger’s hilarious new book | Should Canada adopt UK public inquiry recommendations?
By Julius Melnitzer | October 27, 2024 LST: PAROLED APPLICANT STILL SERVING 27-YEAR SENTENCE CAN PRACTISE LAW The Law Society Tribunal Hearing Division has granted a license to practise law in Ontario to Dr. Serdar Kalaycioglu, a parolee convicted of a multi-million wire fraud in the US who still has about 3 years left in […]
Monkhouse Law v. Belyavsky: Could this be among the worst attempts ever to justify lawyers’ fees?
By Julius Melnitzer | September 18, 2024 It’s not just that Justice Robert Centa of the Ontario Superior Court cut Monkhouse Law’s bill to Yefim Belyavsky by over 90 percent, from $25,163 to $2,000: what’s really astounding is the Toronto employment law boutique’s misplaced presentation of the case it made to support its fees. Centa […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Lawyer disbarred for extramarital affairs | Five-year ban for harassing associate with 900 texts | How not to respond to disciplinary proceedings
By Julius Melnitzer | September 11, 2024 PHILLIPPINES SUPREME COURT HAS A PLACE IN LAWYERS’ BEDROOMS The Phillipines Supreme Court, concluding that sex with a third party while married amounts to grossly immoral conduct, has disbarred a lawyer who had extramarital affairs with at least three different women, “completely disregarding his marital vows”. It’s not […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Lawyer prosecuted for “overstating” client’s case | Failed lawyers cost creditors $1.42 billion | Lawyers abandon Musk | Must-read: Rotfleisch on crypto tax | Japan liberalizes foreign lawyer rules
By Julius Melnitzer | August 20, 2024 IT’S GETTING RISKY TO THREATEN LITIGATION The Law Society Gazette reports that the Solicitors Regulation Authority has decided to prosecute one of the UK’s top media lawyers, Christopher Hutchings of London firm Hamlins LLP, for making false or misleading claims and improperly threatening litigation during a phone call […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Abusive firm leader disbarred for insulting juniors | Vancouver bar icon dies before facing laundering charges | Trending: return to office | UK Court of Appeal: ANNs not patentable | Arbitrator: Taking a diving course counts as “union business”
By Julius Melnitzer | July 24, 2024 TREAT JUNIOR COLLEAGUES WITH RESPECT – OR ELSE! Domenic Pisano, a lawyer with 23 years’ experience and a director of Domenic Levent Solicitors in London, has been disbarred by the UK’s Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for “offensive, intimidating and insulting” behaviour towards junior colleagues. His sins included shouting at […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Litigation funder out $2.1 million when client discontinues litigation | Dentons gets menopause accreditation | UK regulator: lawyers who swear betray the public trust | Musk compensation foes seek $7 billion in legal fees
By Julius Melnitzer | July 17, 2024 DIVORCING PARTIES STIFF LITIGATION FUNDER FOR $2.1 MILLION The Law Society Gazette reports that Level, a litigation loan provider, found itself without remedies to recover the $2.1 million it had advanced in an eight-year long divorce proceedings when the parties reached a settlement that did not include repayment […]