THOMAS CLARIDGE TORONTO
The number of complaints
received by the Law Society of
Upper Canada (LSUC) last year
was up only slightly from the year
before, and there were fewer
complaints lodged against
Ontario’s 40,000 lawyers.
In a report submitted to
LSUC’s February Convocation,
the law society’s Professional
Regulation Division described the
complaints process as having
been “relatively stable in 2010,”
noting that while the overall vol-
ume of complaints received was
up 1.4 per cent from 2009, com-
plaints against lawyers “actually
decreased by 2.2 per cent.”
It said the increase was “solely
the result of increases in com-
plaints against paralegals and
complaints concerning unauthor-
ized practice or unauthorized
provision of legal services.”
The number of complaints
against paralegals rose to 614
from 494, while those involving
allegations of unauthorized
practice by both paralegals and
lawyers was 310, compared with
277 in 2009.
In all, the division received
4,801 new complaints during
the year, compared with 4,735 in
2009. Of those against lawyers,
84 per cent involved sole practi-
tioners or firms with two to five
members. Although more than
three-quarters of the lawyers
(76 per cent) faced just one
complaint during the year, com-
plaints against the others repre-
sented almost half (47 per cent)
of the total number of new com-
plaints received.
The Canadian Bar Association
(CBA) defended the Federal Court
after Immigration Minister Jason
Kenney slammed its judges for “too
often” questioning “the integrity” of
his officials’ refugee decisions
“without sufficient justification.”
According to the text of his Feb. 11
remarks to students at the University
of Western Ontario, Kenney blamed
the court for “indulging” delays and
countenancing myriad appeals by
refugees, which he contended
showed that even the best efforts of
his government to speed up the
system “are not sufficient if they are
not supported by the courts.”
CBA President Rod Snow wrote
Kenney Feb. 22 complaining that “your
public criticism of judges who follow
the law but not the government’s
political agenda is an affront to our
democracy and freedoms.”
Snow said Kenney’s comments
gave Canadians “a faulty
understanding” about how the justice
system works.
First First Nation to dispense
justice
CONTENTS
NEWS
RICHES, MCKENZIE & HERBERT LLP
PATENTS, TRADE MARKS, COPYRIGHT, LITIGATION
QUEBEC PUBLIC lawyers forced
back to work, but most remain
indignant ......................................1
SUMMARY JUDGMENT motions
escalate in wrongful dismissal
claims ........................................ 12
THE SUPREME Court of Canada
sets out the framework for unjust
enrichment claims in family law...1
TREE PLANTERS saga generates
human rights claim..................... 13
Research Solutions PAUL HERBERT, B.SC., PHM., R.PH, LL.B., J.D., PH.D.
DAN HITCHCOCK, B.ENG. (ELEC. ENG.), LL.B.
JEFF PERVANAS, B.A.SC. (ENG. SCI.), LL. B.
BOBBY ATHWAL, B.A.SC. (MECH. ENG.), M.A. SC., LL.B., J.D.
B YRON THOM, B.A.SC. (ENG. SCI.), LL.B.
BRANT LATHAM, B. A.SC. B. SC. (CHEM. ENG.), LL. B.
GARY M. TRAVIS, B. SC. (GEOL.), LL.B.
MICHAEL ADAMS, B. ENG. (MECH. ENG.), B.SC., LL.B.
MICHAEL YUN, B.SC. (BIOCHEM), J.D.
TRADE MARK AGENT MARTA TANDORI CHENG
BARRISTERS & SOLICITORS - PATENT & TRADE MARK AGENTS
The Teslin Tlingit Council became
the first of 11 self-governing First
Nations in Yukon to sign an
agreement with the territorial and
federal governments to run its own
justice system, pass its own laws
and launch its own court.
The Feb. 21 agreement envisions a
“Peacemaker Court” to prosecute
violations of laws, impose sanctions,
and resolve disputes based on Teslin
Tlingit tradition.
The First Nation will legislate in
such areas as adoption, solemnization
of marriages, wills and estates,
planning and zoning, adoption, control
of settlement land and wildlife
protection. The First Nation will also
run its own corrections for those
sentenced in the Peacemaker Court.
COMPLAINTS AGAINST lawyers
have dropped, according to
Ontario’s law society....................2
Wills, Estates, Charities & Trusts
EXECUTOR’S INSURANCE offers
protection from personal liability.. 15
COMPENSATION DISCLOSURE for
charities causes controversy....... 16
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E-MAIL: riches@patents-toronto.com
Feds expand citizen’s arrest
powers
A LAW professor loses her
discrimination fight against
Dalhousie ..................................... 3
BUSINESS & CAREERS
MORE CANADIAN law firms to
merge with international
behemoths? ............................... 21
BATTLING ADDICTION ............. 22
FIRST IMPRESSIONS count...... 25
See the
DIGITAL
VERSION IN HOUSE COUNSEL IN HOUSE COUNSEL
See the
DIGITAL
VERSION
LAWYER TAKES on former law
firm in lawsuit ............................ 21
Research Solutions See theResearch Solutions
LOBBYIST ROCKS out................. 4
A B.C. landlord’s home is seized
under new marijuana grow-op
legislation ..................................... 8
OPINION
KAREN SELICK ............................ 5 HOW TO backup your files......... 25
FOCUS
Labour & Employment
CONTRACTING ELECTRONICALLY
in employment ............................. 9
DEPARTMENTS
WORKING FOR employers while
pursuing claims.......................... 10
VERSION www.lawyersweekly.ca/IHC
MERGING STYLE and religion in
workplace dress policies............ 10
Careers ................. 21
Classified Ads ............ 19
Lawddities............... 12
Legal Briefs...............2
Letter to the Editor . . . . . . . . . 8
Names in the News. . . . . . . . . 4
Weekly Digest............ 17
The government tabled the
Citizen’s Arrest and Self-Defence Act
Feb. 17 which would expand the
circumstances in which citizens’
arrests can be made, and simplify
the self–defence and defence of
property provisions in the Criminal
Code.
Currently the ability to make a
citizen’s arrest is permitted only when
an individual is caught actively
engaged in a criminal offence on, or
in relation to, one’s property.
The bill authorizes an owner, a
person in lawful possession of
property, or a person authorized by
them, to arrest a person within a
reasonable amount of time after they
find that person committing a criminal
offence either: on their property (e.g.
the offence occurs in their yard); or in
relation to their property (e.g. their
property is stolen from a public
parking lot).
