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Kingston’s Haunted Fortress

Kingston's Haunted Fortress By Michael Rappaport By day, Fort Henry, a 19th century fortress built on a hilltop overlooking Lake Ontario, is Kingston's most popular museum, where Canada's colonial military past is brought dramatically to life. The world famous Fort Henry Guard, comprised of about 100 university and college students, recreates the music, drills and artillery practices of the 1860s British garrison. By night, after the contingent of costumed interpreters have departed, the ghosts of

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LeBreton Flats: Ottawa’s Field of Dreams

LeBreton Flats: Ottawa's Field of Dreams Of all the monuments, museums, sculptures and edifices in Ottawa, perhaps no landmark better epitomizes the nation's capital than an empty field: LeBreton Flats. Until the early 1960's, LeBreton Flats was a thriving working-class neighbourhood just a few blocks from Parliament Hill. But city planners deemed it an eyesore – a blot on the capital's grand vision of itself.So the government expropriated the land and bulldozed the properties. And

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The Islanders: P.E.I. is the place to be

The Islanders: P.E.I. is the place to be By Michael Rappaport "You'll never be an Islander," joshed Erskine Smith, a native Prince Edward Islander, during an evening of storytelling and music at the Victoria Playhouse, located in a small bayside artist colony. To illustrate his point he recounted this tale: A tourist once asked an Islander about the huge boulders that are scattered across farmers' fields along the north shore of PEI; boulders, that were

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Tug of War: A judge testifies on family law

Tug of War: A judge testifies on family law By Michael Rappaport A comedian once joked that half of all marriages end in divorce, which isn't so terrible when you consider that the other half end in death. Going through a divorce can be as emotionally wrenching as grieving the death of a loved one, particularly when young children are trapped in the conflict zone between battling parents. Justice Harvey Brownstone's book, Tug of War: A

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Passing it on to pets: Fat Cats and Lucky Dogs

Passing it on to pets: Fat Cats and Lucky Dogs By Michael Rappaport When Leona Helmsley, the billionaire hotel heiress nicknamed "the Queen of Mean" by the media, died at age 87 in August 2007, she left behind a heap of trouble when she left "Trouble" a $12-million trust fund, and nothing for two of her grandchildren. Trouble was Helmsley's little Maltese dog and her most loyal companion, as she was estranged from her grandchildren

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The plight of the Stoney Nation

The plight of the Stoney Nation Memoirs of a maverick First Nations community judge By Michael Rappaport "Don't judge a man till you have walked two moons in his moccasins" - goes an old aboriginal saying. At the beginning of his career, retired Justice John Reilly presided over a jurisdiction that included a First Nations community west of Calgary that was plagued with addiction, crime, suicide, violence and corruption; the freshman judge confides he knew

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How to get more: negotiation strategies for the real world

How to get more: negotiation strategies for the real world By Michael Rappaport Negotiation skills are crucial for lawyers when representing clients in many situations, such as making business deals or working out settlements. Regrettably, the strategies taught in law schools?-?such as the BATNA (the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) methodology popularized in the book Getting to Yes?-?tend to work better in theory than practice. All too often the proponents of principled negotiation operate

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Read the Fine Print

Read the Fine Print Can legal insurance make access to justice more affordable for low and middle-income Canadians? By Michael Rappaport, National Magazine Insurance buys peace of mind. It provides compensation for a wide range of accidents, from car crashes to burning homes. It can also protect us from another one of life’s mishaps: legal action. Legal insurance is widespread in Europe, where it originated. La Défense Automobile et Sportive, or DAS, founded in Le Mans,

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Courting technology

Courting technology In the future, observers agree, virtual court appearances will be standard, all documents will be digitized and the majority of disputes will be resolved online. But why does the future remain so far away? By Michael Rappaport,National Magazine Appearing in the judge’s chambers via closed-circuit TV, a bearded man in a blue suit pleads guilty to cocaine possession. Earlier, the defendant navigated an automated telephone message system to schedule and invite parties to

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Alumni programs mix networking with nostalgia

Alumni programs mix networking with nostalgia Yesterday’s esteemed colleagues may be tomorrow’s top clients for law firms that know how to tap into their alumni network… By Michael Rappaport, LEXPERT Bay Street legal behemoths spend millions on advertising and marketing their services each year; nevertheless, a significant chunk of their work is still based on personal referrals. Perhaps the best source of referrals comes from past associates and partners, who left private practice for in-house

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