The Lawyers Weekly - May 6, 2011

BACKSTORY The Lawyers Weekly takes a glimpse behind some of the greatest cases in Canadian legal history

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Highlights VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6, 2002 Vol. 31, No. 1 May 6, 2011 www.lawyersweekly.ca

Auditors negligent: 763-page ruling

LUIS MILLAN MONTREAL

NON-TRADITIONAL
MARKS
Canada to allow
registration of non-
traditional marks?
DUTY TO DEFEND
FONTS

In a ruling that puts an end to a chapter in one of the longest running judicial sagas in the legal history of Quebec and Canada, Quebec Superior Court Justice Marie St-Pierre ruled that a former accounting giant and its partners were negligent in the preparation of the audited consolidated financial statements of a Montreal real-estate financing and investment firm that collapsed nearly three decades ago under the weight of a $1.6-bil- lion debt, prompting speculation that the judgment may increase the responsibilities of auditors in the performance of their audit function.

In a 763-page ruling described by some as a “tour de force,” Justice St-Pierre ruled that Coopers & Lybrand failed to perform its professional services as auditors in accordance with generally accepted auditing and accounting standards, and issued various “faulty opinions” relating to the financial position of Castor Holdings Ltd.

“There were two Castors, Cas-
tor as depicted in its audited con-
solidated financial statements
and the real Castor,” said Justice
St-Pierre, who pointed out that
while auditors do not have an
obligation for a certain result,
they do have an obligation of
means and diligence. “When aud-
itors do not act accordingly, and
it is shown that their audit results
would have been different had
they discharged their obligation
properly, auditors engage their
professional responsibility.”
Castor Holdings, the brain-
child of German financier Wolf-
gang Stolzenberg, who is now
believed to be living in Germany
even though he is charged with
39 counts of fraud, was an

Avram Fishman (left) and Mark Meland represented the successful plaintiff in a case that has dragged on for 16 years.

WASSIM NJEIM FOR THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

See Castor Page 3

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

Vol. 22, No. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION December 6, 2002

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6, 2002

PAGE 9

Insurer must defend
homeowner in 3 actions

PAGE 14

How to use fonts and layout to your advantage

PAGE 21

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PAGE 23 Ont. benchers give go-ahead for new law schools

THOMAS CLARIDGE TORONTO

At the last Convocation of their four-year terms, benchers of the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) cleared the way for two new Canadian law schools to come into being, one as early as next September.

Meeting the day before the
April 29 deadline for ballots to
be received in the 2011 bencher
election, they passed a motion
approving the proposed aca-
demic programs for law schools
being established at Lakehead
University in Ontario and
Thompson Rivers University in
Kamloops, B.C.

In each case, the only poten-
tial stumbling blocks for stu-
dents planning to enroll at the
schools will be “issuance by the
approved governmental author-
ity of such approvals as are
necessary,” implementation of
financial and other undertakings
made to an ad hoc committee of
the Federation of Law Societies
of Canada and the schools’
ongoing compliance with meas-
ures established by the Federa-
tion in implementing the Task
Force Report on the Canadian
Common Law Degree so that
they meet the report’s national
requirement for those seeking
entry to licensing or Bar admis-
sion programs.

The benchers were advised that the Federation’s ad hoc committee recently completed a

See Schools Page 27 THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

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