The Lawyers Weekly - February 24, 2012

n;Raphael Roditi has joined the commercial real estate team at

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) in Montreal as an associate after almost seven years with Lapointe Rosenstein LLP and Lapointe Rosenstein Marchand Melançon LLP. Roditi’s practice focuses on real estate, including acquisitions, financing and commercial leasing.

In Ottawa, Jill Alexander has joined BLG’s insurance and tort liability group, and routinely deals with personal injury, general liability and professional negligence claims. She was previously with

Cavanagh Williams Conway Baxter LLP. Darren Lund has joined BLG’s Toronto office as an associate and will be practicing tax law. Lund was previously with

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. n;Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

continues to expand with the addition of 13 partners. Hélène Deschamps Marquis has joined the firm’s Montreal office as a member of the business and information technology groups. The six new partners in Toronto include:

Tim Adison, Andrew Pollock,

Cynthia Sargeant, Kurt Sarno, Antonio Turco, and Laura Weinrib. In Calgary, Carrie Aiken, Jeff Bakker, Melanie Gaston and

William Van Horne have joined the firm’s partnership. Eleni Kas-saris and Susan Tomaine are the two new partners practicing out of the firm’s Vancouver office. n;Ali Naushahi has returned to

Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (FMC)

as a partner in the firm’s Toronto office. Naushahi is an experienced securities lawyer with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and mining, and will be practicing in FMC’s securities and corporate finance group. He originally articled at FMC and worked in the firm as an associate from 2004 to 2007. n;James D. Kondopulos has acquired a partnership interest at the Vancouver-based employment and labour law boutique of Roper Greyell LLP. He specializes in employment, labour and workplace human rights law, and investigates and reports on allegations of workplace harassment, bullying and code of conduct violations.

JEREMY HAINSWORTH

British Columbia lawyers are panning Premier Christy Clark’s proposals for reviewing the province’s justice system announced Feb. 8, saying court delays, backlogs and inefficiencies can be fixed by adequately funding Legal Aid.

Clark announced a sweeping review of the system with a view to finding efficiencies in the areas of Legal Aid, charge approvals, the culture of the system and case management. She said the goal is to reform the system while respecting judicial independence.

Clark said the reform initiative will identify actions that government, the judiciary, the legal profession, police and others can take to create a timely and effective justice system.

“The crime rate is dropping
but we’re still seeing increases in
the number of cases delayed and
stayed. This tells us systemic
changes are needed,” Clark said.
“Our reform initiative will iden-
tify long-term, fiscally respon-
sible solutions that improve out-
comes and accountability for the
significant investments we’re
already making.”
A green paper, “Modernizing
British Columbia’s Justice Sys-
tem,” says that, while the crime
rate and the numbers of new cases
are down, the amount of time
people spend on remand or bail is
increasing, as is the number of
people being managed by the cor-
rections system.

However, Marc Kazimirski and Richard Fowler of the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C. say the reason for that is simple: Too many unrepresented people are appearing in court because they are not eligible for Legal Aid.

“We have individuals who could be sorted out in two hours with access to a lawyer,” Kazimirski said. “They end up taking a disproportionate amount of court time.”

Canadian Bar Association B.C. Branch president Sharon Matthews agrees. She said the

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

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

JEREMY HAINSWORTH FOR THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

From right, Geoffrey Cowper has been picked by B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Attorney General Shirley Bond to lead a review of the justice system.

green paper contains effective suggestions for long- and medium-term solutions.

“Immediate funding is needed to clear the court backlogs, which have been created by past under-funding,” she said. “The best reforms in the world, implemented months from now, cannot fix today’s legal crisis and will not be effective until the backlogs are cleared.

“Improved Legal Aid coverage
will have an immediate positive
effect on delays, especially coupled
with the recent appointment of
provincial court judges. Restored
crown counsel funding and court
staffing levels are also critical.”
Matthews said the review
would have a clearer picture of
problems in the system if back-
logs were cleared.

She said that could be accomplished by putting $18-million into Legal Aid. Such a funding injection would bring British Columbia on par with per capita Legal Aid spending across Canada, she said.

B.C. Legal Aid funding this year is $68.6-million. In 1992, it was $92.7-million.

“Our reform initiative will identify long-term, fiscally responsible solutions that improve outcomes and accountability for the significant investments we’re already making.”

“

Christy Clark, B.C. Premier

Matthews said no funding and a wait of up to a year before reforms occur will exacerbate existing problems.

Kazimirski and Fowler say work on the Legal Aid front has already been done, pointing to veteran B.C. lawyer Len Doust’s 2011 report, Making the Case for Legal Aid as an Essential Public Service.

Doust’s investigation found the
system is failing to meet the
human, economic and social
needs of British Columbians. “In a
just society, it is a public service
that is as essential as education,
health care, and social assistance.”
Doust made nine recommenda-
tions, including recognizing Legal
Aid as an essential public service;
developing a new approach to
define core services and priorities;
modernizing and expanding eligi-
bility; establishing regional Legal
Aid centres and innovative service
delivery; increasing long-term,
stable funding; and increasing col-
laboration between public and pri-
vate Legal Aid service providers.

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

Publisher

Julie Murtha

Editor In Chief

Rob Kelly

Focus Editor

Matthew Grace, LL.B.

Ottawa Bureau Chief

Cristin Schmitz

Art Director

Tammy Leung

Production Coordinator

Pauline Braithwaite

Interns

Karen Alexiou & 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 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

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