Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C a n a D I a n L a w y e r m a g . c o m J a n u a r y 2 0 1 5 9 \ at L a n t I C \ C E n t r a L \ w E s t rEgIonaL wrap-up China experiences frequent riots trig- gered by injustices suffered by people at the bottom of the ladder such as dispos- sessed farmers or unpaid workers. The reform would give them a fair day in court. Though it might seem nearly impos- sible to reconcile Canadian and Chinese definitions of the rule of law, hope emerges when one witnesses the enthu- siasm of such avid listeners. "They are the best and the brightest," says Judy Hou, a Chinese-born lawyer practis- ing at Davis LLP's Montreal office and a guest at the closing ceremony for the visiting judges. To send such a delega- tion is showing that China is open to changes and improvement of its legal system, she says. China is very much open to busi- ness too and Hou agrees that UdeM's China-Canada agreement, under which two more cohorts of about 20 judges will be trained in Montreal, sets up the Montreal university as a pivotal element in the development of Sino-Canadian business relations. In addition to the training program, the partnership included, over the years, summer school sessions in which more than 1,000 Canadian and Chinese stu- dents have participated, in Beijing and Montreal. It also conducts continuing education activities in business law held in China and has created a Sino- Canadian research centre in China. UdeM has also set up the Business Law in a Global Context program, created in 2006, by Guy Lefebvre, then-Faculty of Law vice dean, which is the first LLM program in Canada designed exclusively for foreign gradu- ate students. Its current director, Marie- Claude Rigaud, says this LLM program, as well as the other student-exchange programs, have a great potential for opening paths to career opportuni- ties in both countries for Chinese and Canadian students. "The students are all selected from the top level," she says. Hou, a McGill University law gradu- ate who has developed a broad network of contacts in both countries, says there are discussions with UdeM about setting up future internships in Montreal's law firms for students in the LLM program. In November, two Chinese busi- nessmen donated $1 million to the faculty. The money will mainly finance grants for students who wish to study in China. One of the donors is a friend of the father of a former UdeM law student, who told him about his son's Canadian experience. According to Guy Lefebvre, now UdeM's vice rector for international relations and the Francophonie, this donation happened thanks to the 15-year long collaboration between UdeM and Chinese universities. The first links were established in 1998 when Jean Chrétien's govern- ment asked the Canadian International Development Agency to organize a contest to determine which Canadian university would set up a training program in Canadian law for Chinese judges. Université de Montréal won the competition and has since seen friend- ships developing between Canadian and Chinese academics. "This donation underlines the Université de Montréal's contribution to improving governance in China," Lefebvre says on the university's web site. "Our contribution is to say: 'This is how we operate in such areas. You choose to integrate or not, this knowl- edge, and these ways of doing things.'" — pascal elie pascalelie636@gmail.com a December Ontario Court of Appeal decision strikes at the heart of client concerns over the abuse of billable hours, and pro- vides a legal framework by which clients might be able to reject law firm fees considered excessive or unreasonable. Bank of Nova Scotia v. Diemer, pitted an Ontario dairy farmer against a big bank and its expensive legal counsel. Daniel Diemer, who could not meet the financial obligations of his farm, decided to sell it under receivership. Scotiabank hired PricewaterhouseCoopers as receiver, which in turn hired Borden Ladner Gervais LLP as legal counsel. Diemer was shocked when he saw the final bill for receivership services — $328,000, including $255,955 for legal services. The sale of the dairy farm was by all accounts a straightforward receivership that took about two months to complete. BLG charged rates ranging from $195 per hour for a student to $950 per hour for a senior lawyer. Diemer balked at the bill and filed suit. At the Ontario Superior Court, Justice Andrew Goodman sided with Diemer, saying the legal fees "greatly exceed what I view as fair and reasonable." The court ordered the fees reduced to $157,500. The appeal court decision, upheld the lower-court ruling, but went some way to deal with the touchy subject at the heart of the dispute: the billable hour. The decision states: ". . . there is something inherently troubling about a bill- ing system that pits a lawyer's financial interest against that of its client and that has built in incentives for inefficiency. . . . In my view, it is not for the court to tell lawyers and law firms how to bill. That said, in proceedings supervised by the court and particularly where the court is asked to give its imprimatur to the legal fees requested for counsel by its court officer, the court must ensure that the compensa- tion sought is indeed fair and reasonable. . . ." The appeal judgment made it clear perceptions around value must take priority over calculations around billable hours. ". . . value provided should pre-dominate over the mathematical calculation reflected in the hours times hourly rate equation. Ideally, the two should be synonymous, but that should not be the starting assumption. . . ." — david dias david.dias@thomsonreuters.com ruling sTrikes aT hearT of BillaBle hour

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