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REGIONAL WRAP-UP GOTTLIEB REBRANDS ichard S. Gottlieb's Montreal boutique firm specializing in Canadian customs and interna- tional trade law is rebranding. Gottlieb, a pioneer in the Canadian trade law field who has practised in this specialized area for more than 30 years, reincorporated his office Sept. 1 under the name Gottlieb & Associ- ates. "The change was due to two To- ronto partners deciding to join a large firm," 71-year-old Gottlieb told Cana- dian Lawyer. Darrel H. Pearson, who made up the other half of Gottlieb & Pearson for about 27 years and ran the Toronto office, leſt in May to join Bennett Jones LLP in the Queen City. Accompanying Pearson in the move was fellow cus- toms specialist Jesse Goldman. Now responsible for the Toronto office is Shane Brown while Gott- lieb's two other associates — Vincent Routhier and Laurier Beauchamp — are with him in Montreal. "There is so much experience among the four of us that we can do a lot of work with very few people," Gottlieb said. "We don't have to learn at the cus- tomer's expense." Gottlieb and his team are well known on both sides of the border — "a number of U.S. law firms hire us" — and also in Europe, where he spends "a lot of time giving seminars to the World Customs Organization" as an International Chamber of Commerce delegate for the Brussels-based inter- governmental group. He has seen several boutiques that restrict their practice to customs law be absorbed by large law firms over the years and believes Gottlieb & Associates is the last one left na- tionwide. A member of several bar and trade associations, he has seen a trend the past two decades of big firms taking on specialists like him or hiring them because it can take 15 to 20 years to develop an experi- enced and credible customs depart- ment. Brown and Beauchamp have been with Gottlieb for nearly 20 years and although Routhier became an associ- ate only in 2007, he also has in excess of 20 years experience in customs law. — MK ment of Justice has expanded night court services in the city, effectively doubling capacity to deal with cases. Until the recent expansion, night court L services in Halifax were available four nights a week for approximately three hours a night. There were usually 12 cases on the docket, says David Aikens, director of court services with the Justice Department. Unfortunately, the backlog was — and still is — significant. Appearances be- fore the court, which handles summary offence ticket trials, bylaw complaints, and offences under the provincial Li- quor Control Act, were taking up to 16 months. In that time, of course, police officers, witnesses, and defendants oſten forgot information or moved. "It was way too far in the future," says Aikens, adding, "We just had to do a bet- ter job." With such a time lag, he notes, there was also the possibility of Charter awyers in the Halifax Regional Mu- nicipality may be burning the late- night oil more oſten. The Depart- That may be better than hoped for. Judges in Halifax had set 24 to 28 weeks as an appropriate time span for cases to be heard. But, says Aikens, "I think we can do better." Faster processing in night court may arguments over timely trials. That possibility is rapidly fading. The department has increased its capacity by opening a second courtroom in both the Halifax and Dartmouth locations to ensure justice is served in a timely manner. Night court services are now available seven nights a week, and the number of cases on the docket has risen to 14. "We have doubled the number of mat- ters that could be dealt with," says Aik- ens. "We are already setting matters for one to three months in the future." www. also reduce the number of not guilty pleas. Given that wait times have been so long — oſten exceeding a year — there was a sense that some defendants plead not guilty because it gave them at least 12 months without losing points on their driver's licence or affecting their insurance premiums. "This is anecdotal . . . but we expect there will be fewer of- fences to which people plead not guilty," says Aikens. There are three night courts in Nova Scotia: in Halifax, Dartmouth, and Sydney. The latter court was created in 2001 to hear summary offence cases in the Cape Breton Regional Municipal- ity. — DONALEE MOULTON donalee@quantumcommunications.ca mag.com NO VEMBER / DECEMBER 2008 13