AIDSbeat spins record $300,000

Jim Middlemiss, Financial Post • Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010

Af ter much guitar gnashing, bass strumming, and drum thumping, the battle of the law firm bands ended with a Hung Jury.

Yes, the Paliare Roland band won a squeaker of a contest, edging out The Insecurities, a Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg construct, and the dark horse, Collateral Attack, a mishmash of players from law firms and Bay Street institutions.

The judging panel, comprising music magnate, Jake Gold, award-winning musician Ray Coburn, CBC journalist AmandaLang and yours truly, however, were unanimous in awarding Hung Jury the coveted Lexpert Cup. In true mod fashion -- the theme of the night -- Hung Jury was simply the Dog's Bollocks, which is British for really good.

However, the decision had detractors, as this judge found when a carload of what appeared to be 40-something blondes politely told him he was out to lunch as he waited for a cab. His law school buddy, a labour lawyer who shall remain nameless, left him a voice mail expressing a similar sentiment, though in much more explicit terms that we cant repeat in a family paper.

Ah, controversy, what would AIDSbeat be without a little competition among the bands, and there was plenty of that.

The show opened with last year's winner, Jake and the High Court of Soul, a mixture of Cassels, Brock & Blackwell lawyers and clients along with a rogue Fasken Martineau lawyer taking to the stage for their 30-minute set. Jake Bullen ( Cassels), Heela Donsky (Faskens), Jay Klein, Jeff Buller, Mark Masur and John McGowan got the crowd going with a medley of songs that ranged from Brick House to Tears of a Clown and Mirror in the Bathroom.

They were followed by The Gavelheads, the punk-haired wonders largely from Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt. The band, comprising David Morritt, Stephen Lamont, Don Hanna and David Stamp, played a range of music from The Who's I Can't Explain to the Clash's Brand New Cadillac.

DisORdely Conduct, considered an Ogilvy Renault band made up of Nicole Sigouin, Nicole Dinaut, Ruth Wahl, Barry Segal, Pete Morra, Richard Scarsbrook and Jeet Das, had the audience on their feet early with a rousing rendition of David Bowie's Let's Dance and Billy Idol's White Wedding.

The competition toughened when The Insecurities front man Conrad Druzeta hit the stage and opened with the Bowie classic Suffregette City and ended with Cheap Trick's Surrender. He was joined by bandmates: Bill Gula, Gerold Goldlist, AlexMoore, Robert Druzeta and Maureen Armstrong. The Insecurities won fan favourite, based on charitable donations to the band.

Next up was the Hung Jury, featuring Gord Capern, with Craig Allardyce sitting in on drums for Peter Wilcox, James Buchan, Chris Trussel and John Sorensen. Bandmate Graham Walsh, was serving in Afghanistan and couldn't participate. The band opened with the Killers' When You Were Young and never looked back, closing with a medley of tunes featuring The Kinks.

However, Collateral Attack gave them a run for their money. The band, a first-time participant, but with some past-time winners, featured Chris Robertson (Willson Lewis), EricGresham( Magna International) Kevan Cowan (TSX) Shawn Cowan (Great West Life) and Richard Raymer (Hodgson Russ), started slowly with Come Together by the Beatles and brought the house down with The Who's, Won't Get Fooled Again. However it wasn't enough to persuade the judges and Hung Jury was given the nod. Organizer Patricia Olasker of Davies said this year's event raised a record $300,000, thanks in part to Sue-Anne Fox of Torys, who flogged a record number of sponsorships.

FASKENS NAMES NEW ONTARIO LEADER

After marshaling his firm's move into spiffy, new digs at the Bay-Adelaide Centre, Wally Palmer is stepping down as Ontario regional managing partner of Fasken Martineau, effective February 2011. Mr. Palmer will now return to the drudgery of practice, as opposed to the herding of cats.

That task will fall to labour lawyer Martin Denyes, who was elected to replace Mr. Palmer. Mr. Denyes, a Queen's University grad who has worked at Faskens since he left law school, focuses on helping employers manage their crises.

Interestingly, Faskens top job is also held by a labour lawyer, David Corbett, who Mr. Denyes no doubt toiled under at some point in his career. Hmm, is he being groomed to one day replace his labour colleague?

Mr. Corbett said "Martin is a terrific choice to now take on this leadership role, having already distinguished himself in our labour and employment practice and as a member of our finance committee and U.S. business development initiative."

Mr. Denyes said "Wally has done an outstanding job over the past five years and I look forward to working with him during the transition period. Our firm is enjoying tremendous growth in Ontario and internationally, and I am excited about our future."