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regional wrap-up SCATHING RULING SCUTTLES LITIGATION BOUTIQUE PARTNERSHIP O n the heels of a scathing court ruling, Toronto litigation bou- tique Polten & Hodder split up at the end of November. J. Gardner Hodder says the Ontario Superior Court decision in Miksche Estate v. Miksche, which harshly criticized his former partner, prompted him to permanently end his association with Eric Polten and terminate Polten & Hodder. "There is some obvious personal pain in having my name attached to a judgment like that," says Hodder. As of Nov. 25, the firm's web site had been taken down and was replaced with a stark message: "Eric P. Polten will continue his Toronto civil litigation practice as Polten & Associates" and "J. Gardner Hodder will continue his Toronto business litigation practice as Hodder Barristers." It went on to point visitors to the web sites of the new firms. In Miksche, Polten and the now- defunct firm were condemned in strong words by Justice David Brown, who said the firm ran up "scandalous" legal costs and "attempted to perpetrate a naked cash grab" on two elderly clients. Polten, whose experience includes domestic and international family and estate law matters, also misrepresented himself to the court and breached his professional duties as an officer of the court, ruled Brown. In representing Johanna Miksche, a Toronto woman who died two years ago, and her sister Ursula Lill, Polten racked up more than $1 million in legal fees that he first tried to recover from the Miksche estate and then from the older sister, who was the primary beneficiary, said the ruling. "Having been rebuffed in his effort to have the assets of one vulnerable person satisfy the scandalous costs he ran up, Mr. Polten came before me on this application attempting to poach upon the assets of another vulnerable person," wrote Brown. "From such conduct, I conclude that Mr. Read the Miksche Estate v. Miksche decision at canlii.org/ en/on/onsc/doc/2009/2009canlii60 409/2009canlii60409.html Polten was prepared to use any means to place his financial interests in this pro- ceeding ahead of those of his former cli- ents. Such conduct merits the strongest condemnation by this court." Polten says he will appeal the decision. — TIM SHUFELT tshufelt@clbmedia.ca Business disputes mediated by an experienced CA Helping you get better results for your clients Firm suing Quebecor over ads Inc. subsidiary that offers printed and online directories. The $70,100 suit launched against Quebecor MediaPages B As a chartered accountant with more than three decades of experience consulting on complex business matters, Joel Cohen can help mediate fair and effective resolutions to numerous complex business disputes. t: 416.932.6216 | e: jcohen@rsmrichter.com www.rsmrichter.com Toronto | Montreal | Calgary RSM Richter is an independent member rm of RSM International, an afliation of independent accounting and consulting rms. 8 J A NU A R Y 2010 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com ntitled-1 1 5/22/09 11:40:22 AM in November claims the company didn't deliver on a guar- anteed "boom" in business. It states the firm was promised clients would be recommended to its team and the new adver- tisements would appear in various media owned by Quebecor — neither of which occurred, according to the suit. Told several other law firms had got on board, the plaintiffs chose a full-page ad, a corporate video, and a web page for $45,100 in 2008-09. But the firm said it later discovered its office was the only one to take out a full-page ad. Despite the contract with Quebecor, the lawyers kept a list- ing in the Yellow Pages, but reduced it to a quarter of a page rather than a whole page as before. Instead of an increase in business, the firm alleges there was a drop because of the inef- fective new advertising. None of the allegations have been proven in court. — MK ertrand Bertrand Blouin, the Quebec City firm led by flamboyant separatist-turned-federalist-turned-nation- alist lawyer Guy Bertrand, is suing a Quebecor Media