Canadian Lawyer

REGIONAL WRAP-UP timmiNS lawyer Jailed over Kiddie porN poSSeSSioN the computer according to the same practices used by the Ontario Provincial Police in similar matters. Hennessy also appointed Joseph Di Luca, a criminal lawyer from Toronto, to act as an independent referee to assist the examiner in deciding what materials were privileged. Although police were allowed to monitor the imaging and transfer of the computers, Hennessy banned them from viewing the contents and ordered them to be stored with Deloitte while the search occurred. Despite the low risk of an acci- dental breach, Hennessy said the consequences of one were huge, especially while they remained with the police, whose interests are adverse to many of Sloan's clients. "Any number of ongo- ing prosecutions would be at risk if there was any finding whatsoever of the slightest breach of the solicitor-client privilege no matter how inadvertent. We are in a preventative situation now. Fortunately, we are not dealing reactively to an allegation of an inadvertent breach." According to the Daily Press, Sloan's law- yer told the court his client had undergone counselling and was taking medication to combat his "very secret addiction." Sloan also addressed the court, apologizing to his wife, his colleagues in the legal profession, his clients, as well as his two sons. "I am sorry to have set such a poor example. They deserved a better role model," Sloan said. — MICHAEL MCKIERNAN michael.mckiernan@thomsonreuters.com WEST Small claimS duty couNSel proJect GrowiNG biGGer iN alberta but important, matters to provincial court. It's called the Small Claims Duty Counsel Project, though Judge Don Higa, who handles many of the claims, insists, "there is no such thing as small claims court in Alberta. We're the Provincial Court (civil division) and we operate as a regular court." But the public and the profession know it as small claims court and it does handle only small claims, nothing over $25,000. But don't get Higa wrong. While he might quibble over Pro Bono Law Alberta's Gillian Marriott is the driving force behind the small-claims project. ciates and law students. They are handing out free legal advice to unrepresented citizens who have taken their small, O n the 15th floor of the downtown Calgary Courts Centre, partners in some of the city's biggest law firms can be found working side-by-side with asso- the name, he is a big supporter of the program, which is modelled on similar efforts in Ontario and British Columbia. Higa points out that for the individuals who come before him, the issues "are pretty important" and he is relieved when he is able to say to an unrepresented, confused, or sometimes just scared litigant, "why don't you go outside, talk to a law- yer, and then come back." One of the lawyers regularly working as small claims duty counsel in a small hallway interview room is Doug Yoshida, a partner with the Calgary office of McCarthy Tétrault LLP. As a senior corporate lawyer, he normally handles com- mercial matters, often involving oil and gas interests and regularly deals in the millions of dollars. In small claims, he is FEEDS LEGAL LegalFeeds_CL_Feb_12.indd 1 A daily blog of Canadian Legal News Powered by & www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com FEBRUA R Y 2012 11 12-01-19 2:40 PM C ontinued fr om pa g e 9 C ontinued on pa g e 13 canadianlaw Canadian Law yermag.com/legalfeeds yer Law Times Geoff ellwaNd

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