Ogilvy Jumps Gun on Tomorrow’s Merger with Norton Rose, Erases Name on Law Firm’s Doors

As of tomorrow, Canada’s Ogilvy Renault will officially merge with London-based Norton Rose. But, at its Montreal headquarters, the firm jumped the gun and had a new sign installed several days ago, reports the Globe and Mail. Other offices plan a similar makeover tonight, and partners in Toronto plan to…

Jun 1, 2011 12:20 AM CDT

Legal Hiring Continues to Improve in Some Areas; One Dallas Firm Seeks Up to 30 Lawyers

Updated: Are more signs emerging of a thaw in legal hiring? Earlier this week there was news that the Securities and Exchange Commission has so many lawyer openings that it has hired a headhunter. Now the Am Law Daily reports of increased hiring in a couple legal markets, but only…

May 26, 2011 11:26 AM CDT

Reports: Fake Law Firm Site Targeting Lawyers in Real Estate Scam Uses Actual Law Firm Info, Photos

A photo of the founding partner of “Wagner Elliot” and written material about him and the attorneys in his purported Toronto law partnership appears polished and professional on the firm’s website. That’s because the fake Wagner Elliot firm—which the Law Society of British Columbia has warned lawyers to beware of—plagiarized…

May 5, 2011 5:06 PM CDT

Partner, 66, Balks at BigLaw Retirement, May Be an Employee Under Civil Rights Statute

A 66-year-old partner in one of Canada’s biggest corporate law firms is fighting a policy that ordinarily would have forced him to retire at 65. Mitch McCormick won a key preliminary victory late last year in his age-discrimination case against Fasken Martineau DuMoulin, when a British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal…

Apr 27, 2011 12:08 AM CDT

New 2nd-Career Option for at Least One Lawyer: Kate Middleton Lookalike

The impending London wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has created new career opportunities for a lucky few who happen to resemble the royal couple. For those who wish to cash in, there’s money to be made by maximizing the similarities and taking gigs as lookalikes, the Wall Street…

Apr 21, 2011 9:02 PM CDT

FLDS Lawyer Compares Polygamy to Homosexuality in Constitutional Case

A Canadian law criminalizing polygamy is not unlike the country’s stance on homosexuality, which was decriminalized in 1969, a lawyer for members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told a British Columbia court yesterday. In the case, provincial and federal governments argued that polygamy is inherently…

Apr 14, 2011 7:28 PM CDT

Paul Weiss Steals 2 Corporate Partners from Shearman to Staff Its New Toronto Office

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison raided Shearman & Sterling for manpower to staff its new Toronto office. The new partners are Christopher Cummings, a capital markets and mergers and acquisitions practitioner who served as managing partner of Shearman’s Toronto office, and Adam Givertz, according to the Am Law Daily…

Apr 14, 2011 3:59 PM CDT

Associate Claims in Suit He Was Forced Out of Canadian Firm for Complaint About Groping Partner

A former associate claims in a $1.3 million wrongful dismissal suit that he was forced out of a Canadian law firm after he alleged a drunken partner groped a law student during a late-night party at a Toronto bar. Adrian Jakibchuk alleges that partners at Mathews Dinsdale & Clark refused…

Apr 6, 2011 2:16 PM CDT

Hackers Penetrated at Least 4 Major Canadian Law Firms in Recent Months, Expert Says

Sophisticated hackers seemingly based in China have penetrated four major Canadian law firms in a little over six months, in attacks intended to destroy sensitive data or obtain information related to mergers and acquisitions, a security expert tells the Globe and Mail. While it isn’t certain the hackers’ efforts were…

Apr 5, 2011 11:40 PM CDT

Lawyer Apologizes to His Wife, a Prominent Judge, for Pressuring Ex-Client to Have Sex with Her

A Canadian lawyer says he can never apologize enough to his wife, Queen’s Bench Justice Lori Douglas, for pressuring a then-client to have sex with her eight years ago when she was still in practice. Jack King says his wife, who is being investigated by the Canadian Judicial Council over…

Mar 28, 2011 7:45 PM CDT

Live Tweets of Biker Murder Trial and Others Raise Issues of Balance and Fairness

Especially when cameras aren’t allowed in the courtroom, live tweets are the next best thing to being at a trial for those with an interest in the case. But the stream-of-consciousness reportage of the ongoing courtroom drama can raise issues of exploitation and fairness, as was demonstrated on a daily…

Mar 22, 2011 8:04 PM CDT

Judge Order May Remove Acclaimed Film on Mexico’s Flawed Justice System from Mexican Theaters

A critically lauded documentary on Mexico’s corrupt justice system may be pulled from theaters after a federal judge received a complaint from a disgruntled witness who appears in the film. Presumed Guilty, which tells the story of an innocent man who is found guilty of murder twice, is facing legal…

Mar 8, 2011 7:21 PM CST

DLA Piper Readies for ‘Musical Chairs,’ Talks to Potential Canadian Merger Partners

DLA Piper hasn’t given up on finding a law firm merger partner in Canada. The law firm talked to Canadian firm Fasken Martineau in 2008, but nothing came of the discussions. Now DLA Piper co-chairman Frank Burch tells the Lawyer that his firm is once again considering a Canadian tie-up.…

Mar 8, 2011 1:13 PM CST

Thomson Reuters Rolls Out ‘Mexican Legal Dictionary’ App

Mar 1, 2011 10:40 AM CST

Judge’s Comments About Rape Victim and Lack of Jail Time for Offender Spark Courthouse Protest

Despite the cold weather, dozens of picketers have been protesting outside the law courts in Manitoba, Canada, over a judge’s decision not to sentence a convicted rapist to jail and the judge’s comments about the conduct of the victim prior to the crime. After Queen’s Bench Justice Robert Dewar called…

Feb 25, 2011 9:24 PM CST