Monday, May 30, 2016

LAWPRO PRESIDENT HONOURED WITH REAL ESTATE AWARD
Kathleen Waters is the recipient of the Ontario Bar Association’s 2016 Award of Excellence in Real Estate, and will receive the award June 22 at the Albany Club of Toronto.

“Kathie has been a relentless and passionate volunteer for decades. She has served on the OBA Real Property Section and various committees for many years and has spoken at far too many professional development programs to mention. Every lawyer practising real estate today is in her debt,” says Timothy Kennedy, the OBA’s Real Property Section Chair, in an OBA announcement.

“She has worked to promote the value lawyers provide to the public and improve the knowledge of what it is that we do. We as professionals are fortunate to have a colleague of the [calibre] of Kathie Waters.”
Waters, a former partner with Torkin Manes Cohen & Arbus LLP, has been at LawPRO since 2008, when she was appointed to the role of president and CEO.

ALLIANCE ANNOUNCED
Heuristica Discovery Counsel and KPMG have announced they will work together on e-discovery services.
“The Heuristica-KPMG integrated model is designed to deliver efficient and cost effective solutions to law firms and their clients, corporations and public bodies for managing discovery and investigations requirements,” said a news release on the Heuristica web site. More information is available.

JUSTICE ROSALIE ABELLA HONOURED
Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella of the Supreme Court of Canada has received the distinction of an honorary Doctor of Laws from Yale University.

Abella’s experience includes her role as the commissioner of the Royal Commission on Equality in Employment, and with the Ontario Family Court and the Court of Appeal for Ontario, before she was appointed to the Supreme Court.

“Justice Abella is dedicated to the education of young lawyers and jurists and the advancement of diversity in the legal profession. She has served as a visiting professor at McGill University and was responsible for organizing the first judicial seminar in which all levels of the judiciary participated, the first national education program for administrative tribunals, and the first national conference for Canada’s female judges. She has written more than 80 articles and written or co-edited four books,” according to a biography on Yale’s web site. Abella was one of nine people recognized with honorary degrees at Yale’s commencement.

LAW TIMES POLL
Law Times reported recently that there are currently nine judicial vacancies slowing down Ontario’s courts — seven in the Superior Court, one in the Court of Appeal, and one in Family Court.

Readers were asked if this was personally affecting their practice.

About 50 per cent of respondents indicated yes, the vacancies affected their practice, and it was a source of frustration due to long wait times.

Another 50 per cent indicated the vacancies were not affecting their practice, and that while they commiserated with their colleagues, it had no effect on them.