Canadian Lawyer

REGIONAL WRAP-UP Lady bug lawyer tackles legal creepy crawler issues I t's not an area of law practice for the squeamish. Or anyone with ento- mophobia. But for Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP associate Lisa N. Mackie, it was a practice area she saw explode last fall in Vancouver as bed bugs crawled out of the woodwork. "Bed bugs really became an issue last fall," she said, noting the increase in residential tenancy and landlord dis- putes that involved the blood-sucking insects. Last year, she estimates, about 60 per cent of her cases involved bed bugs. Bed bugs are now a common complaint in many Canadian and U.S. cities with web sites showing infestations in New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and Vancouver. In the U.S., larger dollar claims for damages — often against hotels — have been launched. An eye-catching headline in 2006 saw a Chicago woman, Leslie Fox, launch a suit against a New York hotel for $20 million after allegedly receiving 500 bed bug bites while in a room. In B.C., it's not yet reached that level, says Mackie, who sees most of her clients as either renters or landlords. The cases have gone before dispute hearings at the B.C. Residential Tenancy Branch, which is empowered to deal with claims ranging in value up to $25,000. "The majority are tenant driven," she says. Tenants want to receive a rent reduction for the inconve- nience encountered as pest control special- ists enter their apartment or receive finan- cial compensation for infested furniture or items that were discarded. "On the flipside," she says, "I represent the landlords [wanting to bring in control specialists], who have residents that are unco-operative." She says in B.C. such ten- ants have often found their losses slashed in half by residential tenancy hearings that look at compensation cases. Mackie says in the past year, the topic of bed bugs has also come up more frequently at meetings of building owners and man- agers. This year, she has been a featured speaker on bed bug legal issues at Buil- dex, a Vancouver conference that draws in builders, architects, building manag- ers, and real estate developers and agents. Mackie says she often gives "educational" talks as building owners are confronted See , a web site that provides pest control infor- mation for the various provinces. LAW SOcIETIES AND fIRmS cAN ELImINATE 'ghOST' cONSuLTANTS for emigrants wanting to come to Canada to work. Kurland, of Kurland Tobe in Vancouver, describes "ghost" I consultants as third parties in foreign countries that for a fee create documents needed to help applicants enter Canada under a work visa category. These consultants are beyond the grasp of the Canadian government and may alter existing 12 M A RCH 2012 www. CANADIAN Lawyermag.com mmigration lawyer Richard Kurland says there is a greater role for law firms and law societies to play in eliminating "ghost" consultants who often create fictitious credentials with the cost and legal challenges of eradi- cating a stubborn pest. "There's the impression that this only impacts the lower-income building, or older building or some specific neighbour- hood which is rundown. But, it is some- thing that affects all income levels and types of buildings," she says. "Once they get in — it's hard to get rid of them. And, when you have a tenancy where people are not co-operating with the treatment, that is where you run into a lot of difficulties." The bugs are notorious hitchhikers and can also spread via a guest's cloth- ing. "They don't care whether it's Prada or Payless. People don't talk about it and that is also a big problem," says Mackie as tenants, homeowners, or landlords may attempt to hide the issue. But, she is talk- ing about the legal issues such as negli- gence on the part of landlords or tenants in dealing with an infestation, what are the obligations of the landlord to disclose infestations, and what is the obligation of tenants to prevent further infestations. Mackie is virtually a lone voice in the process of getting the legal information out there. And,, also at residential tl ten- ancy board hearings. "I have not run into another lawyer," Mackie says of her battles with the bug. t t a — JEAN SORENSEN jean_sorensen@telus.net documents or create new fictitious ones. Kurland says the Harper government has now invested in more sophisticated computer programs that can track emigrant problems. "What is different is the Canadian government has [been] allocating resources to running internal reports and doing the analysis and coming up with strategies that combat it." Kurland has been getting the reports through the Access to Informa- Richard Kurland tion Act, which shows many individuals coming to Canada had falsified job credentials. The Canadian government's anti-fraud unit in Beijing found that between 2009 and 2010 more than one in five applicants misrepresented their employment records. The greatest abusers were in the financial pest c ontr olc anada.c om

• Cover