Stanton Joins Goldblatt Vancouver Firm Launches In Toronto Advocates’ Society Award Law Times Poll
Kim Stanton, former legal director for Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, has joined Goldblatt Partners LLP in Toronto.
During her five years at LEAF, Stanton’s work included fighting for abortion rights, intervening in court cases involving violence against indigenous women and other issues concerning women’s equality in Canada.
“It was an incredibly rewarding and challenging time and I just thought that it was probably time for me to be doing something a little different,” Stanton says. “I think it’s healthy for people in those roles to make way for other people to take them on and new energy to come into an organization.”
Stanton says that an opportunity arose at Goldblatt to “really focus on indigenous rights work.” At Goldblatt, she has begun work on an aboriginal title case involving the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee. In 2016, the James Bay Cree Nation commenced a lawsuit against the governments of Ontario and Canada to have aboriginal title over Eeyou Istchee, seeking damages of $495 million.
“It’s going to be a pretty interesting and engaging and long-standing piece of litigation.
“So, it’s something quite involved that I can really dig into,” Stanton says.
A Vancouver law firm specializing in construction, real estate and infrastructure law is expanding its operations to Toronto and changing its name to reflect the addition of two high-profile names in construction law.
The firm announced the launch of Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP with the arrival of Bruce Reynolds, Sharon Vogel, Peter Wardle and James Littleto the team. Reynolds and Vogel were previously at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. The Toronto office will be located in the Sun Life Plaza at 150 King Street West. The firm will operate as Singleton Reynolds.
The Advocates’ Society has released a nomination call for its Award of Justice. The award’s intent is to recognize an advocate who represents citizens or a cause that may be seen as fringe or unpopular and who champions the goal of social justice by ensuring that the law protects them just as it would someone in the mainstream. While membership in The Advocates’ Society is not required, the recipient must be a lawyer in good standing of a law society in a province or territory of Canada. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 28 and nominators are asked to forward the candidate’s C.V., a brief outline of relevant activities and any letters of support to Rachel Stewart at [email protected].
In this week’s poll, Law Times reported that an Ontario lawyer says that solicitor-client privilege may be threatened by a master’s decision that barred him from representing his own firm in a dispute over a wrongful dismissal claim.
We asked readers if they agreed with the lawyer’s assessment. Eighty-four per cent said no, the court has appropriately assessed the role of lawyers as impartial advocates. Sixteen per cent said yes, the ruling renders solicitor-client privilege meaningless.
