Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50893
INCLOSING Our roundup of interesting trends and what's going on in legal departments SEEN&HEARD Scotiabank hit with unpaid overtime lawsuit First it was CIBC last year, and now Scotia is the second bank to be hit with a class-action suit that alleges current and former bank employees are forced to work unpaid overtime. The suit, launched in mid-December, covers thousands of customer service workers, including personal bankers, com- mercial bankers, and account executives, at Scotiabank branch offices across the country. "The average overtime I have been required to work ranges from 10 to 15 hours a week, and often worse during RRSP sea- son," Cindy Fulawka, a personal banking representative at Sco- tiabank, said in a news release. "We are expected to be available 24/7 during this time, mak- ing calls on the weekend and in the evenings, without overtime payments," said Fulawka, who is the representative in the law- suit. The law firms who represent the CIBC employees are also in- volved in this new suit — namely, Roy Elliott Kim O'Connor (REKO) LLP and Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP. Law firms' billing rates continue to rise According to a survey conducted by The National Law Journal, the average U.S. firm-wide billing rates, which includes both partner and associate rates, rose 7.7 per cent. More the 75 per cent of firms said they charged more in 2007 than in 2006, despite clients bemoaning ever-climbing rates. "There's always been frustration. Now there's anger," said Susan Hackett, general counsel of the Association of Corporate Counsel. More than 90 per cent of the 109 firms that responded in both 2006 and 2007 raised their high partner rates. The law firm with the highest associate rate was New York and Washington-based McKee Nelson, which reported a rate on the high end of $595. Partner William Nelson told The National Law Journal that rates aren't an issue for them and that clients wouldn't hire them if they didn't think the rates were fair. Hackett responded by saying, "The problem isn't the $1,000-an-hour law- yer who's worth it. It's the $450-per-hour associates who aren't." 46 FEBRU AR Y 2008 C ANADIAN Lawyer INHOUSE Feds crack down on unsafe products In light of the rash of recalls last year (see page 7), the federal government announced it will get tougher on market- ers of unsafe toys, drugs, and other consumer prod- ucts by introducing legis- lation this year that would give the feds more power to recall dangerous goods and to impose stiffer fines on manufacturers. Prime Minister Stephen Harper told a news conference in December 2007 that Canada lags behind some of its major trad- ing partners in cracking down on these dangerous products. "The truth is the product safety regulation in this country is not as rigorous as it should be," Harper said. "As more and more products from all over the world find their way onto Canadian store shelves, we need to set and enforce state-of-the-art safety standards for domestic and imported goods." CanWest News Service reports that the proposed legislation would, for the first time, empower the federal government to order mandatory product recall when companies fail to act on legitimate safety concerns; force importers to take responsibil- ity for the safety of goods they bring into Canada; and lead to increased inspections of imported goods and stricter product licensing when problems arise. Health Minister Tony Clement, also at the news conference, said the measures also could raise the current maximum fine for health product violations to as much as $1 million from the current $5,000. At the time, Clement said the legislation is in draft stage and is open to suggestions from producers, consumers, and opposi- tion MPs on how it can be improved. Guest on the move Martin Guest is leaving his post as senior vice president and corporate counsel at Fidelity Investments Canada to become a partner at Torys LPP, The Globe and Mail reports. Guest will be working with Marlene Davidge to expand the firm's managed assets practice.IH