Coming to terms with
copyright on the Internet
PAGE 9

CONSTRUCTION

CRISTIN SCHMITZ OTTAWA

Senior Ontario judges are warning of the dangers of partisan politics creeping into the revolutionary new public questioning of nominees for the Supreme Court of Canada.

Justice Michael Moldaver was
publicly lambasted for his inability
to speak French by NDP MPs dur-
ing a historic televised grilling last
month of Supreme Court nom-
inees on Parliament Hill.
Afterward, some of Justice
Moldaver’s ex-Ontario Court of
Appeal colleagues expressed con-
cern that U.S.-style partisanship is
infecting the more visible Supreme
Court appointment process pion-
eered by the Conservative govern-
ment in 2006.
“I’m skeptical about the process
because I’m afraid that it’s going to
get very partisan over the years,”
former Ontario chief justice Roy
McMurtry said of the October 19
public vetting of two Supreme
Court nominees. However, he
called the hearing—only the
second in the court’s 136-year his-
tory— “so far, not bad.”
But he added that some of the
questions put to Justice Moldaver
were “a little unfair.”
“I think [the Opposition
NDP] went after him—[MP]
Joe Comartin [did]—in a way
that worried me” and that over
time “it could get pretty nasty if
the opposition wants to embar-
rass the government.”
McMurtry joined other Can-
adian legal luminaries, including
more than a dozen current and
retired Ontario Court of Appeal
See Defend Page 27

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

Charged
Vol. 22, No. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION
No shelter in bankruptcy
for dishonest contractors
December 6, 2002
PAGE 16
prosecutor
COMING SOON
faces probe
THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

JEREMY HAINSWORTH

A British Columbia Crown prosecutor charged in an August assault is now the subject of an investigation by the Law Society of B.C.

Hedley Christopher Johns is
to appear in North Vancouver
Provincial Court on January 4.
UNHEALTHY HABIT

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

Lakehead University’s new law school will serve the area’s Aboriginal community

The assault charge against him was laid on November 8 after a review by special prosecutor Kris Pechet, who was appointed by Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten, the acting assistant deputy attorney general. The Criminal Justice Branch had received a report from the North Vancouver RCMP in connection with an alleged August 23 incident in North Vancouver.

Lawyers at Winnipeg’s Pitblado market their personalities, says managing partner Bruce King, above at his office.
RUTH BONNEVILLE FOR THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
Selling sizzle on the steak
Their profiles posted on the
firm’s website are still being
tweaked but one thing is clear—
broadcasting the year you got
called to the Bar or where you
articled is out and boxing away
your stresses, coaching your kid’s
hockey team and cooking for
your 11-month old are in. Essen-
tially, the firm wants its lawyers
to sound less like, well, lawyers.

GEOFF KIRBYSON WINNIPEG

The charge arises from an incident in which police were called to an altercation at a North Vancouver restaurant, RCMP Corporal Richard de Jong said in a news release.”There is no relation between the accused and the victim,” de Jong said. The Vancouver Sun reported the man was 88.

Some lawyers — not many — have personalities etched deep into the public consciousness. But few law firms project any such image. Pitblado LLP would like to change that. Thanks to a recent overhaul of the Winnipeg-based firm’s brand and website, the varied personalities of its lawyers are starting to come through.

Pechet, a New Westminster,
B.C. lawyer, will conduct the
prosecution and any subsequent
See Probe Page 2
Thus far, the response to the
new lawyer profiles has been posi-
tive. Greasley says he wants firm
lawyers to focus on one or more
things that they are passionate
about in their profiles and ideally
relate details about themselves
that their clients wouldn’t know.

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

The more they can pique their
clients’ interests, the better.
“We decided we should reflect
our people,” says Ron Greasley,
Pitblado’s director of marketing.
“We have some lawyers with really
cool backgrounds and interests.
They were passionate about
things beyond being a lawyer.”
“They’re getting calls from cur-
rent clients saying: ‘I didn’t know
you did that,’ ” he says. “It has gen-
erated conversations that are com-
pletely unrelated to the law. That’s
important to us.” Greasley says
people used to grab the yellow
pages or consult with their neigh-
bours when looking for informa-

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

See Personality Page 27

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