The danger of literal
insurance interpretation

LEGAL AID

Proposal to improve
access to justice
SPORTS
Ins and outs of handling
deals for sports teams
HALLOWEEN

CRISTIN SCHMITZ OTTAWA

Counsel appearing before the Supreme Court of Canada’s two new judges can expect a “hot” Bench who will probe them for weaknesses on both sides of the appeal, say lawyers who have argued in front of ex-Ontario Court of Appeal Justices Michael Moldaver and Andromache Karakatsanis.

“Justice Moldaver is very knowledgeable in criminal law, and has a no-nonsense, get-to-the-point approach,” said criminal law appellate counsel Andras Schreck of Toronto’s Schreck Presser. “During oral argument he usually engages counsel with questions, and makes it plain what troubles him and what he would like counsel to focus on,” Schreck told The Lawyers Weekly.

“Be direct, be candid, and where you have a weak point, don’t try to put a fastball by him or a curve ball by him because he will knock it out of the park,” advised civil litigator Brian Bellmore of Toronto’s Bellmore & Moore.

Bellmore, who appeared rec-
ently before Justice Karakatsanis in
an administrative law appeal
involving arcane accounting rules,
told The Lawyers Weekly it was
apparent from the judge’s ques-
tioning that she had spent substan-
tial time to thoroughly come to
grips with the complex case.
“She is very courteous in a
quiet…manner,” observed Bell-
more. “Her questions are pointed,
but in a gentle manner, and she
will ask follow-up questions to
make sure she has grasped the
point. She will come back at it
until…she is comfortable.”
A University of Toronto law
gold medalist, Justice Moldaver,
63, is a criminal law expert, hav-
ing spent 17 years as a Toronto
defence counsel, practising solo,
with Greenspan, Gold, Moldaver
and with Goodman & Goodman
Widespread consensus:
both nominees are
‘no-nonsense’ jurists
Supreme Court of Canada nominees Andromache Karakatsanis and Michael Moldaver answered some tough questions
when they appeared before a parliamentary committee on Oct. 19 in Ottawa.
BRIGITTE BOUVIER FOR THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
See SCC Page 27
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
PAGE 13
PAGE 21
Non-lawyers to sit on BC discipline panels

Halloween
do’s and
don’ts at
the office
PAGE 22

JEREMY HAINSWORTH VANCOUVER

A university professor, a retired social worker, a former forester, a First Nations chief, retired police officers and an architect are among

20 members of the public chosen
to sit on Law Society of B.C. hear-
ing panels that discipline lawyers.

They will also sit on panels that examine the fitness and character of people applying to be lawyers.

The society received more than 600 applications in response to advertisements for the positions this spring. It’s the first time people who are neither lawyers nor benchers will sit on the panels.

The three-year terms are
renewable once. Each panel will
now have a Bencher, a member
of public and a lawyer who is not
a Bencher.

Law society president Gavin Hume said it is not enough for the regulating body to say “trust us” to the public. The change is a way of demonstrating the society’s commitment to transparency to the public, he said.

“It demonstrates we are here to make decisions in the public interest,” he said.

The society developed criteria
for what it wanted the appointees
to bring to the task, Hume noted.

“We wanted diversity,” Hume said. “We wanted people with a lot of life experience. We looked for people who had been active in other tribunals.”

Hume explained the applications were given to a search firm who applied the criteria to create a short list. The society then interviewed those on that list and checked their references.

David Chiang, one of the suc-
See Laypersons Page 5
BC law society receives
over 600 applications
for the 20 positions THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6, 2002
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