It’s our favorite time of year here at Law Times - when we zero in on all of the biggest stories of the past 12 months in a special supplement to the paper. Your news elves have scoured the archives to select the three newsmakers and the five news stories we think are the best of 2008. Plus, there’s a neat twist: we’re adding the popular top cases feature into the mix.
Our trio of newsmakers are: business law guru Purdy Crawford, who found himself in the midst of some of the largest financial stories of the year; Ontario Ombudsman André Marin who tackled both the province’s legal aid system and the Special Investigations Unit; and Court of Appeal Justice Stephen Goudge who wrote a searing indictment of our pediatric forensic pathology system.
The top news stories include the resignation of Justice Harry LaForme from his post as chairman of the Indian
Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The ongoing troubles of Justices Ted Matlow and Paul Cosgrove have filled many a news page this year, including as late as last week when Matlow learned he can stay on the bench. The next day, an inquiry committee issued a majority finding that there are grounds for Cosgrove’s removal from judicial office. He can issue a written response within 30 days.
Of course, a large portion of 2008 focused on the worldwide economic slump and what it means to the legal community.
The acquittal of Robert Baltovich, who in 1992 was convicted of murdering his girlfriend Elizabeth Bain, had readers’ eyes glued to our pages mid-year.
Discussions about how to keep women in the legal profession kept us busy, especially when the Law Society of Upper Canada decided to support nine recommendations from the retention of women in private practice working group report.
Meanwhile, the lineup of top five cases our panel of judges has chosen are:
R. v. Hislop: A Superior Court judge ruled a retainer agreement in the class action lawsuit that allowed same-sex couples to collect Canada Pension Plan survivor fees doesn’t comply with CPP regulations and blocked counsel from collecting an estimated $15 million in fees.
BCE: The Supreme Court of Canada expedited the appeal for the largest corporate transaction in Canadian history - the $52-billion sale of Bell Canada parent BCE Inc. But last week, after BCE could not meet solvency requirements, the deal was officially terminated.
ABCP: After the SCC denied a challenge to a proposed restructuring of $32 billion of frozen asset backed
commercial paper, retail holders breathed a sigh of relief. The deal had not been finalized as of press time last week.
R. v. AM and
R. v. Kang-Brown: The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that police cannot use random dog searches to find drugs at schools or in public places, with the exception of airports. The court found random searches were a violation of s. 8 of the Charter.
Honda Canada Inc. v. Keays: The Supreme Court of Canada in Honda Canada Inc. v. Keays, erased a $100,000 punitive damages award and nine-month reasonable notice extension for bad faith that Honda Canada employee Kevin Keays received after being fired in the midst of battling chronic fatigue syndrome.
And so, with that we leave you with just one question - what will happen next year?
- Gretchen Drummie
