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: 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: Blakes absent, but Gowling shines on YouTube | Investment fund liable for “greenwashing” | Lawyer forgives client who stabbed him in court | Ukraine wants to trademark “go fuck yourself” war slogan | Adultery now legal
By Julius Melnitzer | April 4, 2024 BIGLAW MISSES THE YOUTUBE BOAT According to Eric Troutman, a prominent class action defence lawyer with California-based Troutman Amin LLP, writing in Practice Source, YouTube is “the world’s second most visited website and an absolutely critical communication channel for businesses (including law firms) seeking to engage with new […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: | Litigation funders in 80% of cases | Humans not necessary: AIs negotiate contract amongst themselves | Fani Willis clone? | Lawyer elevates courtroom tardiness | IBA wellness guidelines |
By Julius Melnitzer | March 18, 2024 LITIGATION FUNDING PROLIFERATING The Law Society Gazette reports on a London Solicitors Litigation Association report which concludes that 80% of London litigators are working on cases where a litigation funder has financed at least one party. Although a recent UK Supreme Court decision makes some such arrangements unenforceable, […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Single mother sacked for sandwich “theft” from law firm| Re-admitted drug-dealing lawyer faces new LSO allegations | Study IDs ‘Burning Issues’ for law firm leaders | Is it time for an inquiry into public inquiries? | Creditors allege Sullivan & Cromwell enabled FTX crypto fraud |
By Julius Melnitzer | February 29, 2024 FOOD FOR THOUGHT: WILL LAWYERS EARNING MILLIONS MISS LEFTOVER GRUB? Gabriela Rodriguez, a 39-year-old single mother, lost her cleaning job after eating a leftover sandwich valued at $2.50 and found on a discarded platter in the kitchen of London, UK law firm Devonshires, where lawyers earn up to […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: “Most positively reviewed” lawyer faces new misconduct allegations | Law firm openly adopts slippery slope | Calling colleague “pathetic human” is professional misconduct | FCA boosts climate litigation | FC certifies “older inmates” class action
By Julius Melnitzer | January 31, 2024 SAMFIRU TO FACE MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS IN ALBERTA Lior Samfiru, the Toronto-based national co-managing partner of employment law boutique Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, a firm that claims to be the “most positively reviewed employment law firm in Canada”, must now contend with allegations of professional misconduct in Alberta in addition […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: OCA upholds $2.5 million award to human rights lawyer | Jeremy Diamond appeals from de facto suspension and $100,000 fine for professional misconduct | Are law firms paying ransomware? | Report: Lawyers are high on AI extinction list | Unaware council passes ChatGPT-drafted law |
By Julius Melnitzer | December 17, 2023 LAWYER’S CAREER-ENDING INJURY JUSTIFIES $2.5 MILLION AWARD: OCA The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a $2.5 million award to Geraldine Sanson, a “highly respected human rights lawyer” whose career ended when a car struck her as she was cycling home from work in 2012. The trial judge […]