Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Always
With The Questions":
The Aird & Berlis lawyer who has discussed
the Mayor Ford case at least a couple of times on CBC radio (the same person who
I think at one time may have helped Morris in her private town funded defamation
lawsuit, but I could be wrong) seems to think there isn’t a strong chance that
Mayor Ford will win his appeal. They are apparently using the same arguments in
the appeal that they used the first time around when they lost. I have to wonder
what the Aird & Berlis lawyer thinks about the Morris Conflict of Interest
case.
I’m betting that the case against Morris is far more compelling in
a number of different ways, including the financial implications of the amount
of public money used as well as what it was used for and the nature of the
potential personal gain. If Morris did in fact participate in a closed meeting
where the access to public funds for purpose of launching a potential lawsuit in
her name or others, was discussed then that can't help her case, but then again
Councillors Ballard, Gallo seem to be confident that Morris will be vindicated
in all of this.
We will have to leave it to the courts to figure these
court cases out as well as the other legal battles left over from the previous
Aurora council term. I don’t pretend to know how any of these legal battles will
turn out given that when you mix lawyers and politicians you never know what
might happen, but I do have my hunches and my hopes.
The Globe has a story entitled "Odds long Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will win appeal, legal experts say".
ReplyDeleteHere is just one comment made in the news story: "John Mascarin, who also works in municipal law at Aird and Berlis, said he believes Justice Hackland’s decision was correct in law and Mr. Ford has a “very slim chance of success” on appeal."
If you are talking about John Mascarin, wasn't he the only person who actually wrote an article in support of Morris' case? You would think he might have learned a bit more caution after that loser.
ReplyDelete10:55... of course a lawyer is judged by 1 case in your opinion?
ReplyDeleteI am not 10:55 AM but respond to 11:43 AM:
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, an individual can be judged over time by speech & actions. Aurora was given a bird's-eye view of Mr Mascarin. To suggest he exercise more care with his written articles published under the firm name seems only prudent. The courts proved his thesis was incorrect regarding the defamation case.
Christopher is in rare form.
ReplyDeleteThe carrier of the royal hand-bag had already made 2 errors in his predictions to the Star.
ReplyDeleteCouncillors Gaertner and Gallo may not be up with their paper work. Rumours at Tim's that Morris and co. have taken another hit on the pocket-book.
ReplyDeleteThe Morris non-defamation is always going to be an Aird-Berlis speed-bump. It is going to be in all the text books although they probably will not have the quote from one judge who said...." This is a really ugly case." Students are going to through all the factums & wonder how these high-priced guys let themselves dig deeper and deeper into the proverbial.
ReplyDeleteThe Auroran has a story posted on their website that says that Master Hawkins ruled that Morris needs to pay $8,000 more to the successful defendants. From what I know, the defence cost a lot more cash than has been recovered despite winning two precedent setting rulings including Morris being apparently the first politician in Canada to be tagged with commencing a strategic lawsuit intended to silence her political critics.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile a man by the name of Alex Vander Veen has written yet another letter to the Auroran newspaper suggesting that Morris and the previous council did nothing wrong and the defendants were to blame for the case launched by Morris. He seems to overlook that one judge stated that no case of defamation was proven at first blush, the named defendants were never accused of defamation in the first place and they have been found guilty of absolutely nothing.
ReplyDeleteCouncillor Ballard recently stated on camera at a council meeting that one judge stated that “this was absolutely not a SLAPP” which is completely false based on the decisions that I’ve read concerning this case. Councillor Ballard should be required to back up his public statement.
ReplyDeleteCouncillor Ballard also made a vague statement that cast some kind of ambiguous negative inference on Master Hawkins. Again, Councillor Ballard should feel free to back up this claim about “what some people are writing about Master Hawkins”.
" Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteChristopher is in rare form.
8 January, 2013 12:33 PM"
You're right... TEST
TEST
TEST
stellar!
11:17 AM
ReplyDeleteAt least Christopher has a popular Blog. You ? Naw.
Councillor Ballard is always waving the threat of legal action at other individuals including his fellow councillors. To date, this has all been simply hot air. But I think he went over the edge implying that the Town of Aurora might be in danger of being sued by Morris for her legal costs. He has to put up or shut himself up & the solicitor should tell him so.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous 9 January, 2013 2:01 PM
ReplyDelete"I think he went over the edge implying that the Town of Aurora might be in danger of being sued by Morris for her legal costs"
Are you serious ? I wonder how he thinks that Morris would have the right to sue for her private legal fees ? It would be great if he would finish his thoughts and not make unsubstantiated vague inferences like that, if in fact that is what he meant.
Would Phyllis really start another legal battle given what she has put herself and the town through ? That is hard to fathom.
I hope that everyone on council makes an effort to speak clearly in 2013 and to move past the political attacks we have become accustomed to from some quarters.
It’s time to make amends, accept responsibility for past mistakes and move on.