Canadian Lawyer

REGIONAL WRAP-UP ATLANTIC 'Comfort letter' Creates legal disComfort for atlantiC firm A legal limelight. Earlier this year a motion for certi- n Ontario class action law- suit has propelled an Atlantic Canada law firm into the fication of a class action representing almost 10,000 Canadian taxpayers was brought before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Michael Cannon had contributed to the Donations for Canada Gift Program, which promised a $10,000 charitable tax credit in return for a $2,500 donation. What it ultimately delivered was a tax bill from the Canada Revenue Agency. One of Cannon v. Funds for Canada Foundation is Edwin Harris, counsel with McInnes Cooper in Halifax. Cannon claims both lawyer and law firm were negligent because Harris endorsed the charity gift program. A motion from the firm for summary judgment was dismissed by the court and the class action has now been certified. The court found that for the program to work, it required six essential ingredi- ents. McInnes Cooper' provided one of those, Justice George s senior tax lawyer letters to the editor FIXED TERMS FOR JUDGES TOP 10 QUEBEC FIRMS B.C. JUSTICE SHOWDOWN May 20 2 y 20121 $7.00 $7.00 Re: "Legal lag in medical advances" May 2012 That was really terrific, thanks so much for that piece. The implications of the genetics are so complicated—for good and for bad. The cardiac example was really so effective to illustrate it. LEGAL LAG New genetic discoveries have allowed doctors to tell who is and is not at risk, and prescribe treatments. With this redefi nition has come a whole raft of unresolved legal questions. CL_May_12.indd 1 going to look like if people haven't had their kids analyzed for everything. But now I see some of them will have pressure to not test. It's got me thinking. Well done. I've been thinking about what the "mommy boards" are — online comment from MARY IN MEDICAL ADVANCES 12-04-20 9:58 AM www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com JUNE 2012 7 Canadian Lawyer welcomes letters to the editor but reserves the right to edit for space, taste, and libel considerations. Please include your full contact information in all correspondence. Send your letters to: gail.cohen@thomsonreuters.com Re: "The catch-22 of group home bylaws" May 2012 Canada is decades behind the U.S. and U.K. in terms of caring for the disabled and civil rights. Very archaic attitudes exist. - online comment from ANONYMOUS the named defendants in Strathy concluded in his 123-page deci- sion. "[T]here had to be a legal opinion, attesting to the fact that the Gift Program could likely sustain a challenge by C.R.A. Otherwise, no sensible donor would con- tribute to the program. Harris provided this opinion." In 2005, 2006, and 2007, Harris issued an opinion letter to ParkLane Financial Group Ltd., which ran the donations pro- gram, as well as a "comfort letter. name, photograph, and biography were included in the marketing materials as well as the comfort letter. The fact he had given ParkLane a tax opinion was also highlighted several times along with an invitation to donors to have their profes- sional advisers review his opinion. McInnes Cooper argued that Cannon " Harris' credit for the full amount of the dona- tion," wrote Strathy. "This conclusion could only have been reinforced by Harris' comfort letters, which, together with the other statements in the brochure, were man- ifestly intended to give the donor reas- surance, could not establish that he was in a suf- ficiently close relationship with Harris and the firm to give rise to the existence of a duty of care. It was an argument the court did not buy. "The language of the brochure can be interpreted as leading a reasonable reader to conclude that Harris had given opinions that the Gift Program complied with the Income Tax Act and that a donor would receive a valid tax other material, Harris allowed his name and reputation to be put on the line and in so doing became an integral part of the sales pitch, the court found. "He knew, or ought to have known, that his favourable opinion concerning the Gift Program was being used to sell the Gift Program to donors. He could reasonably foresee that the donors would suffer a loss if he was negligent in the preparation of his opinion," said Strathy. "In my view, the evidence in this case raises a genuine issue, requiring a trial, concerning the existence of a duty of care owed by the lawyers to Cannon. That evidence takes this case well beyond the disappointed beneficiaries cases and the disgruntled investors cases." By providing the comfort letters and " he added. donalee@quantumcommunications.ca — DONALEE MOULTON Comments from canadianlawyermag.com PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT # 40766500

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