COURT GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO WINDSOR FIRMThe Superior Court has ruled a Windsor, Ont., law firm may represent the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against an Ontario construction materials company despite its main litigator having suffered a debilitating stroke last year.
According to the Windsor Star, Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas ruled Sutts Strosberg LLP will lead the lawsuit against Armtec Infrastructure Inc. last week after both the Windsor firm and Siskinds LLP of London, Ont., initiated proceedings against the company.
An issue in the case was whether or not the Windsor firm could handle the lawsuit without Harvey Strosberg leading the way. Strosberg suffered a stroke last year that left him unable to speak for a time. He has since made a steady recovery, although he isn’t handling the same caseload as he previously was.
Strosberg proposed that his son, Jay Strosberg, be lead counsel on the lawsuit. He has been a lawyer for nine years with a significant focus on securities class actions.
Siskinds questioned the proposal, but Thomas ultimately ruled the younger Strosberg had a “talented and supportive litigation team” that would help him along the way, according to the Star.
For more, see
"Strosberg recovers after stroke left him 'powerless.'"
LAWYER RAPPED FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENTAn Ontario lawyer accused of sexually harassing a prospective client in 2007 must attend a sensitivity and awareness course as well as counselling, a Law Society of Upper Canada hearing panel has determined.
Following a joint submission proposing that Steven Sinukoff engaged in conduct unbecoming a licensee as alleged, the panel accepted the recommendation that he attend the course and participate in counselling.
According to the agreed statement of facts, Sinukoff invited the prospective client to lunch in November 2007 after a paralegal introduced them. He then asked her back to his office to fax some documents to a colleague he thought might be able to handle her case.
“Mr. Sinukoff invited the complainant into his board room,” the panel decision earlier this month noted. “He closed the door.
He then told the complainant that if she performed ‘favours’ for him, he would discount her account by $1,000 and that she could start by showing him her breasts.” After further advances, the woman eventually left.
Sinukoff, according to the ruling, didn’t respond to a request to admit the facts. The hearing panel therefore deemed him to have admitted them. Besides attending the course and counselling, Sinukoff must also pay $1,000 in costs.
“Each element of Mr. Sinukoff’s conduct tends to bring discredit upon the legal profession,” the panel concluded.
“Women must be entitled to deal with lawyers, whether as clients or as prospective clients, without having to worry whether they will be sexually harassed. Legal services are not to be bartered for sexual favours.”
RETIREMENT EVENT FOR MALCOLM HEINSA celebration next month will honour Malcom Heins as he retires as chief executive officer of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Heins joined the law society as CEO in 2001 and previously served as CEO of LawPRO.
A retirement dinner in his honour will take place on Feb. 22 at the Toronto Hilton at 145 Richmond St. W.
For ticket information, visit the law society web site at lsuc.on.ca.
LAWYERS, JUDGE NAMED TO ORDER OF ONTARIOSeveral lawyers and a judge were among the appointees to the Order of Ontario this month.
The appointees include Nathalie Des Rosiers, general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association; constitutional, labour, and administrative lawyer Paul Cavalluzzo; Toronto lawyer Noella Milne; former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory; and Ray Stortini, a former Superior Court judge.
The order honours people for for their contributions to the arts, law, science, medicine, history, politics, philanthropy, and the environment.
