The Lawyers Weekly - June 3, 2011

n;Out West there continues to be stiff competition between firms to hire the best and brightest. Jonathan Liteplo has joined Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP’s energy practice group. He was lured away from Calgary’s Burnet Duckworth & Palmer LLP. Liteplo works extensively in the energy and utilities areas, acting as counsel to participants in the electricity, oil and gas, water and wastewater industries in a broad range of matters before regulatory authorities and the courts. Robert McCue has joined Bennett Jones LLP as a partner in its Calgary office. McCue was previously a partner in the tax department of McCarthy Tétrault LLP. He focuses on tax litigation and dispute resolution, corporate structures and strategic planning.

CHANTAL SAXE

When Catherine McKenzie’s literary agent called on Canada Day in 2009 to tell her she had landed a two-book deal with HarperCollins Publishers Canada, it was a case of life imitating art.

In Arranged, McKenzie’s
second book, there’s a scene where
her main character gets a book
deal. “She’s alone and can’t get
anybody on the phone” McKenzie
explained. “That’s exactly what
happened to me. It was a holiday,
and I called about 15 people and
couldn’t get through to anybody.
Sometimes I write things and
then they come true.”
Usually, however, this Mont-
real lawyer and author likes to
keep her fictional life separate
from her real one. A litigator and
partner with Irving Mitchell
Kalichman, S.E.N.C.R.L./LLP,
McKenzie has seen her share of
interesting cases but said she
isn’t trying to become the next
John Grisham.

“It was a deliberate choice”
McKenzie told The Lawyers
Weekly of her decision to steer
away from fictionalizing her day
job. “It’s not supposed to be about
my work. The whole idea is to use
my imagination to try to go some-
where else.”
This might come as a relief to
her family and colleagues, given
the subject matter of her books.
In Spin, her debut novel pub-
lished in January 2010, the main
character, an aspiring journalist,
is sent to a rehab facility to do an
exposé on a troubled actress. The
protagonist in Arranged, dis-
couraged after a string of failed
relationships, finds herself in an
unusual marital situation. “No, I
have not gone into rehab, under-
cover or otherwise, and I have
not had an arranged marriage”
McKenzie confirmed.

She has, however, penned back-to-back national bestsellers. Shortly after its release in January, Arranged hit number 10 on The Globe and Mail’s Canadian bestseller list while Spin was

APPOINTMENTS
EVENTS

n;Remember happenings? Well now there are unconferences. The inaugural law Techcamp will be tentatively held in Toronto on June

18. The event is dubbed an uncon-ference, and is aimed at new media and technology enthusiasts, as well as those curious about new media technology and its intersection with the legal profession. For more information check out: lawtechcamp.com.

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

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

n;Michael Johnston, a Brock-ville, Ont. Lawyer and Partner of Stewart Corbett LLP, has been named the new chair of the County & District Law Presidents’ Association. Johnston plans to focus his term as chair on the unbundling of legal services, the scope of practice for paralegals and the greying of the bar. The County and District Law Presidents’ Association, in association with the Toronto Lawyers Association, represents the 47 county and district law associations in Ontario with over 13,000 members of the practicing Bar.

LAWYER OF THE WEEK

Name: Catherine McKenzie Law school: McGill University Called to the Bar: 2000

Career highlights:

2004 Member of the legal team (along with Colin Irving and Martha McCarthy) that successfully argued for the legalization of same-sex marriage in Quebec

2007 Promoted to partner at Irving Mitchell Kalichman, S.E.N.C.R.L./LLP

2011 Arranged, her second book, appears on The Globe and Mail’s Canadian bestseller list

Catherine McKenzie

number 15 last year. Book number three is in the works and McKenzie recently signed another two-book deal with her publisher.

While she is thrilled to have her novels on store shelves, the road to becoming a published author was not as glossy as the covers of her eye-catching books. “It took a long time” McKenzie acknowledged, noting that she started writing Arranged in 2006 and it took about a year and a half to hook a publisher. It was actually her second novel, Spin, that clinched the deal, which she wrote while her agent was pitching the first book.

It’s hard to believe McKenzie
even finds time to write. A part-
ner with IMK since 2007 (she’s
been with the firm since 1997),
she has a demanding practice
with a focus on employment and
constitutional law. She has
already made two trips to the
Supreme Court of Canada (“I’ve
never spoken but my name is on
the judgments”) and has been
involved in a couple of high pro-
file cases, including the recent
decision against Bombardier Inc.
in which a Pakistani-born pilot
who was denied training was
awarded $319,000 by the Quebec
Human Rights Tribunal (leave to
appeal granted February 17, 2011).

Got news?

Contributions to Names in the News can be emailed to names@lexisnexis.ca

Publisher

Anand Ablack, LL.B.

Managing Editor

Tim Wilbur, JD

Focus Editor

Natalie Fraser, LL.B.

Legal Business Editor

Melissa Dunne

Ottawa Bureau Chief

Cristin Schmitz

Art Director

Tammy Leung

Production Coordinator

Pauline Braithwaite

Interns

Yuti Hu & Anum Lateef

Correspondents

Luigi Benetton, Toronto Arnold Ceballos, LL.B., Toronto Thomas Claridge, Toronto Christopher Guly, Ottawa Jeremy Hainsworth, Vancouver Geoff Kirbyson, Winnipeg Luis Millan, Montreal donalee Moulton, Halifax Gary Oakes, Victoria Mike Sadava, Edmonton

® 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

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

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

HOW TO REACH US
Phone: (905) 479–2665
Toll-free: 1–800–668–6481
Fax: (905) 479–3758
Email: tlw@lexisnexis.ca
Main Office
123 Commerce Valley Drive East
Suite 700, Markham, ON L3T 7W8
Phone: (905) 479–2665
Ottawa Bureau
c/o Parliamentary Press Gallery
Rm 350-N, Centre Block
Parliament Hill, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 820-2794
Fax: (613) 995-5795
Website: www.lawyersweekly.ca
Member, Ontario Press Council
2 Carlton Street, Suite 1706, Toronto, ON
(416) 340–1981; Fax: (416) 340–8724

ADVERTISING Team Lead, Advertising Sales Jodie Carrera (905) 415–5805

CIRCULATION
Circulation Controller
Scott Welsh (905) 479–2665, ext. 324

SUBSCRIPTION RATES
1 year (48 issues): $270, plus tax
2 years (96 issues): $460, plus tax
U.S. and international subscriptions: $375/year
Law student rate: $62, plus tax
Individual copies: $9.50, plus tax
GST/HST/QST No.: R121051767

Postal Information: Please forward all postal returns to: Circulation Controller, The Lawyers Weekly, 123 Commerce Valley Drive East, Suite 700, Markham, ON L3T 7W8. Return postage guaranteed. ISSN 0830- 0151. Publications Mail Sales Agreement Number: 40065517.

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK The Lawyers Weekly is published on Fridays, 48 times a year, by LexisNexis Canada Inc., 123 Commerce Valley Drive East, Suite 700, Markham, ON L3T 7W8. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner, except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act. The Lawyers Weekly is a registered trademark of LexisNexis Canada Inc.