North America

Canadian Judge Strikes Down Ban on ‘Bawdy Houses’

A Canadian court has struck down a law that bans “bawdy houses,” saying it endangers prostitutes by forcing them to work on the streets. A Toronto judge ruled in a constitutional challenge by two prostitutes and a dominatrix who ran a “Bondage Bungalow,” the New York Times reports. Prostitution is…

Sep 29, 2010 4:22 PM CDT

Lawyer Sues ‘Sex Object’ Ex-Client, Wins Ruling Requiring Him to Return Nude Photos of Judge

Accused of harassment by a former client in a civil suit, a Canadian lawyer has now fired back, contending that Alex Chapman breached the terms of a $25,000 settlement agreement in 2003 and has violated his privacy. Additionally, attorney Jack King also won a ruling yesterday from a Manitoba Court…

Sep 3, 2010 5:53 PM CDT

‘Sex Object’ Ex-Client Sues His Ex-Lawyer, a Judge & Their Ex-Firm, as Jurist Steps Aside, for Now

Updated: After reporting yesterday the jaw-dropping details of an ex-client’s legal ethics complaint against his former divorce attorney and the lawyer’s wife, who is now a family court judge in Canada, CBC News reports that the man filed suit today against the lawyer, the judge and their former Winnipeg law…

Sep 1, 2010 11:12 PM CDT

‘Sex Object’ Client Complains: My Lawyer Showed Me Nude Photos of His Wife, Now a Judge

Corrected: When Alexander Chapman retained a family lawyer in 2002, he was seeking a divorce. But he got a lot more than he bargained for from his then-counsel at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman in Winnipeg, Canada, the computer specialist contends in ethics complaints against husband-and-wife attorneys Jack King and Lori Douglas,…

Sep 1, 2010 12:37 AM CDT

Canadian Lawyer Told to Hand Over Computer Used to Create False Online Personas

A crusading Canadian human rightslawyer has been ordered to turn over a laptop computer he used to create false personas on far-right websites to search for evidence that he may have secretly authored a racist comment against a black Canadian senator from Toronto. The ruling came in a libel suit…

Aug 20, 2010 6:09 PM CDT

Accused of Partying Too Hearty at Law Firm Event, Partner Sues 2 Associates Who Complained for $2.3M

Accused of inappropriate conduct at an alcohol-fueled law firm event at a Toronto nightclub, a partner at a well-known labor and employment boutique has sued the two associates who complained internally at Mathews Dinsdale & Clarke but not the Canadian law firm itself. By filing suit for defamation and intentional…

Jul 15, 2010 5:07 PM CDT

Facebook Faces Litigation from Canada, Germany Over Privacy Issues

Remember those photos you posted on Facebook years ago? They may have been private then, but they could be public now, according to a pending lawsuit against the super-popular social networking site. In the wake of worldwide concern over Google’s admitted interception of personal data from unsecured Wi-Fi portals in…

Jul 8, 2010 5:57 PM CDT

Attorney Incivility Report Bemoans Tardiness, Eye-Rolling & ‘Dismissive Body Language’

American lawyers don’t seem to worry too much about the finer points of civility, and they have the right idea, says the author of the book Lawyers Gone Bad. With all the serious issues that court systems now face, an incivility crackdown on lawyers in Canada distracts from other more…

Jun 25, 2010 10:47 PM CDT

Retired Appellate Judge, 75, Charged with Murdering His Wife

A retired appellate judge has been charged with murdering his wife, in the first such case ever brought against a judge in Canada. Jacques Delisle, 75, faces charges of first-degree murder charge and illegal possession of a weapon, in a case that will be handled with exceptional legal procedures, reports…

Jun 16, 2010 7:34 PM CDT

Bullfighter Bolts From Ring, Is Arrested in Apparent Breach-of-Contract Case

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more. Gored by a bull in a previous match several months ago, Mexican bullfighter Christian Hernandez lost his nerve and bolted from the ring ahead of a charging bull on Sunday, dropping his cape along the way. The crowd hooted…

Jun 15, 2010 8:32 PM CDT

Canadian Lawyer Files Suit Claiming Westlaw Has ‘Purloined’ Lawyer Documents

A Toronto lawyer who represents a Canadian engineer alleging he was wrongly accused of terrorism and sent to Syria for torture is pursuing a separate but related suit that claims Thomson Reuters Corp. is improperly asserting a copyright in lawyers’ documents. Lawyer Lorne Waldman claims Thomson Reuters posted a document…

Jun 15, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Law Firm Destroyed by Fire Has Hard Drive, Will Practice in Unknown New Location

Where Roebothan McKay Marshall stood on Friday is now a pile of rubble with a lovely view of the waterfront. But the destruction of its offices in St. John’s, Newfoundland, over the weekend is an inconvenience rather than a tragedy, partner Steve Marshall tells the St. John’s Telegram in a…

Jun 14, 2010 8:26 PM CDT

Ex-Ontario AG Is Cleared in Fatal Accident

A criminal case was dropped today against a former Ontario attorney general who was initially charged with criminal negligence after a violent traffic confrontation ended in the death of a bicyclist last year. A special prosecutor brought from outside the Canadian province said in court today that the bicyclist, Darcy…

May 25, 2010 10:20 PM CDT

Canadian Law Prof Blasts Schools as ‘Feminist Seminaries and Psychotic Kindergartens’

A retired Canadian law professor is blasting law schools for pursuing a social justice agenda, deriding law students as illiterate and taking aim at high tuition fees. Robert Martin, a law professor emeritus at the University of Western Ontario, holds forth on his views in an October 2009 article (PDF)…

May 18, 2010 2:19 PM CDT

‘Massive Foul-Up’ Delays Ethics Hearing for Lawyers Caught in Conrad Black Maelstrom

An attorney for the Torys law firm calls it an “inadvertent omission.” Counsel for a lawyer disciplinary authority calls it “a massive foul-up,” reports the Toronto Star. But regardless of how the situation is described, the well-known Toronto firm’s failure to timely produce 168 boxes of documents and 11 discs…

Apr 27, 2010 5:53 PM CDT