Canadian Lawyer

Regional wrap-up Getting back in the saddle Continued from page 8 point as the interim in-house counsel at one of the firm's public company clients. But it remains that the prime years of his career, which he could have spent honing his practice skills, are "gone forever," as his lawyer put it. "There is no doubt that my career path was impacted and that it will take considerable dedication and hard work to resume the type of cuttingedge corporate practice that I had and which my peers still have," says Sukonick. However, the emotional toll of the allegations was even tougher than the wasted years, he adds. According to a May report from the LSUC, most cases are completed within 10 months, although fraud and mortgage matters often take longer. For Sukonick's counsel Ian Smith, the length of time it took to render this decision "defies the notion of justice." For Toronto lawyer Marcy Segal, who News Feed Family Law Practice Launched in Toronto We are pleased to welcome family law lawyers Joanne H. Stewart, Bryan R.G. Smith, Sarah Conlin, Upasana Sharma and Lindsey Love-Forester who have joined Jennifer Howard in the family law group in our Toronto ofce. has defended lawyers as duty counsel at the law society, it appears from the ruling the regulator's case "didn't have a leg" and it should have withdrawn its allegations. "It sounds like because of what happened with Hollinger and [Conrad] Black, the investigators wanted to cast a larger net around the various participants and in doing so almost ruined these two lawyers' reputations and exemplary careers," she says. "It also sounds like the law society was relentless and was not prepared or did not have their eyes open to sense that this hearing was not going to be successful." The law society could have done many things differently to make the process less drawn out and wasteful, says Smith, and articulating the alleged wrongdoings would have been a good place to start. His clients provided the law society with access to all documents and answers to "hundreds of specific questions," he says. "Once the investigation was complete, however, the law society did not articulate to our clients what they were alleged to have done wrong and did not give them an opportunity to respond to specific allegations (either factually or legally) before it sought approval from the law society's proceedings authorization committee to commence proceedings." The committee appears to have granted approval, Smith adds, after it heard about information gathered from the only witness the law society called at the hearing, corporate governance and fraud expert Hans Marschdorf. But in its ruling, the hearing panel discredited some of the evidence he gave. "Dr. Marschdorf's task was difficult as he was asked to suggest conclusions when not all of the facts were known by him. After his testimony, further evidence showed that many of his suggestions could not be supported," wrote Simpson. The law society investigator also suggested retaining an expert in corporate law Smith notes, "but for reasons unknown to us, this did not happen until months after the hearing started, and the person retained was withdrawn because, ironically, he himself was in a conflict of interest." There were other gaps, according to Smith. "No one who was involved in the case was called as witness by the law society," he says. "To us, this shows serious flaws in the way this matter was investigated and prosecuted." At the time of the decision, the law society expressed disappointment. Lisa Hall, a spokeswoman for LSUC, said the regulator agreed the case was "protracted" but noted it "carefully considers all of the information resulting from the investigation and whether a prosecution is in the public interest." — Yamri Taddese yamri.taddese@thomsonreuters.com lernersfamilylaw.ca/news/334/ West Canada's CFO of the Year 2014 Lerners is a proud sponsor of Canada's CFO of the Year 2014 which honours the men and women who are Canada's leaders who have inuenced business by contributing to quality, insight and direction. The nomination period is open to any one until December 20, 2013. For more information, visit: lerners.ca/community-matters/131/ Best Lawyers in Canada Twenty Lerners Lawyers have been recognized by their peers for inclusion in the 2014 edition of Best Lawyers in Canada. See them here: lerners.ca/news/326/ www.lerners.ca 10 November/December erners_CL_Nov_13.indd 1 2013 Testing times: Lawyers watch oilsands drug, alcohol screening battle T he RCMP, city officials, and the oil industry agree there is a major problem with drugs in Fort McMurray, Alta., the operational centre of Canada's oilsands. Tim Mitchell, a specialist in employment law and a Calgary-based partner with Norton Rose Fulbright Canada, calls the cocaine problem in the oilsands www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m 13-10-24 2:52 PM "massive." "There's lots of money," he says, "and lots of young people." The prevalence of drugs is one reason why last year Suncor Energy Inc., which employs more than 3,000 workers in the oilsands, announced it intended to institute random drug and alcohol testing of its employees working in "safety-sensitive" areas. The company

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