Fixing bad formatting
in legal documents
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
will be
next
on the THE LAWYERS WEEKLY Vol. 22, No. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION December 6, 2002

PAGE 9

SCC?
The Crown’s zero
tolerance policy

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STAR MELTDOWN

CRISTIN SCHMITZ OTTAWA Secured lenders dodged a bullet at the Supreme Court this month in a case where compet- ing creditors were vying to recover part of their separate loans to a fraudster. On May 20 Justice Marie Des- champs dismissed the appeal of i Trade Finance Inc. against a 2009 decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal in favour of the Bank of Montreal (BMO).

The appellant finance company, i Trade, was fraudulently induced to lend money to a company based on its principal’s false claim that computer service contracts had been signed with a large U.S. corporation.

Unaware of that, BMO then made personal loans to the fraudster and his spouse on the strength of the cash fraudulently obtained from i Trade.

The two lenders ultimately wound up in court battling over which was entitled to the limited funds that were obtained after the shares were sold in the fraudster’s BMO investment account — funds which were traceable to the money fraudulently obtained from i Trade.

The top court ruled 7-0 in BMO’s favour, reaffirming the principle that when property ownership is intentionally transferred (as i Trade did in this case) — even when transferred mistakenly due to fraud—the transferee still acquires sufficient rights in the property to pass on a security interest to a third party.

i Trade’s counsel, Benjamin Salsberg of Toronto’s Seon Gus-tadt, told The Lawyers Weekly the Supreme Court has reaffirmed the established law that a fraudulent transaction is

THOMAS CLARIDGE TORONTO

A Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) working group on how best to facilitate the return of women lawyers to practice has suggested that they be given financial assistance in the form of loans as well as professional career counselling.

In a report to LSUC’s Equity
and Aboriginal Issues Commit-
tee, the four-member working
group also proposed the law soci-
ety “make available online infor-
mational resources for lawyers
and paralegals focused on the
departure from and return to the
practice of law,” and “explore ways
to provide or augment educa-
tional initiatives currently avail-
able for women who are transi-
tioning back into practice…by
partnering with external associa-
tions to promote and assist in the
delivery of their programs.”
In its report to the law society’s
May Convocation, the LSUC com-
mittee said the proposals for loans
and counselling will not be dealt
with until a priority planning ses-
sion next fall and the other two
recommendations did not require
Convocation’s approval because
they didn’t involve policy changes
or more resources.

The committee also released a 2010 Change of Status Research report from the office of The Strategic Counsel which showed that in both 2009 and 2010 more than 5,000 lawyers—about 12. 5 per cent of LSUC members— submitted notification of changes in their status and 60 per cent of the respondents were women, currently just 39 per cent of the lawyer members.

The report also found evidence of a movement away from private practice. In both years, 45 per cent of respondents had previously been in private practice, whereas just 38 per cent had continued in

Fraudulent agreement
‘voidable,’ not void: SCC
Provide women lawyers loans and
counselling: LSUC working group

TICK TOCK

See Women Page 27 See i Trade Page 2

ROY GROGAN FOR THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

Windsor, Ont. criminal lawyer and MP Joe Comartin represents the NDP on the “Supreme Court Selection Panel” and was reappointed his party’s justice critic May 26. See story on page 3

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6, 2002
VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6, 2002
What to do if the star of
your firm goes AWOL

PAGE 21

Manage your time better

PAGE 25

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