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Reported CasesAreas of Law considered in this case: - Employment/Labour arbitration - Judicial Review - Administrative Law - Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act - Judicial Review Procedure Act Nel-Gor Castle Rest Home v. London and District Service Workers' Union, Local 220, [1985] O.J. No. 830 This case involved a determination as to whether a judicial review, under s. 4 of the Judicial Review Procedure Act should proceed forward and conclude whether the facility in question, the Nel-Gor Castle Rest Home, was or was not a hospital under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act, before an arbitration, [or decision of rights between union and management] could deal with a specific application that had been filed before the board of arbitration. It was a preliminary point, and a procedural one, that was being argued. It was also an argument that the Crown wanted to participate in [as often the Crown did not participate if there was no public interest]. The order of what issue was determined first would have great tactical advantage and importance in how the matter might ultimately resolve in the public interest. As Crown Counsel, I attended the Divisional Court on this day with the Senior Counsel of the Labour and Employment Relations Group from the Crown Law-Civil Office. We represented the government's interest as the regulatory authority, in this otherwise private dispute between the union and the owners of the rest home. I was new to the office, and had done the research on, and drafting of the argument. Senior Counsel told me to gown, and asked me if I was ready to argue our position, should the need arise. Of course I said yes. When asked by the Registrar, and then by the President [the Senior Justice] of the panel which of us would argue the case, Senior Counsel advised that I would probably be arguing for the Crown, and that he was there only to assist. {I had signed in as counsel, as instructed by my Senior. But Senior Counsel was present. The custom is that usually if Senior Counsel is present they argue.} Senior Counsel was a Queen's Counsel, and was sitting in the front part of the courtroom, in front of the bar, which is where Queen's Counsel customarily sit. As barrister, I was sitting behind the bar, and close enough to Senior Counsel to pass and receive notes and confer verbally if the need arose. Counsel for the applicant home commenced his argument. He set out the facts that supported our public interest argument. It was now the perfect time to make the strategic jurisdictional argument that I had worked on, provided the Court would recognize, and hear Crown counsel. I sat looking at the distinguished gray hair on the back of my Senior's head. He was not moving at all. He should have been getting to his feet so the Court would notice him and ask him why he was standing. There was no time to pass him a note. He was sitting too far forward for me to speak to him without being discourteous and interrupting applicant's counsel. I rose to my feet and waited. The President of the panel acknowledged me standing and inquired why I had risen to my feet. With the appropriate curial deference, and the standard comment about not wishing to interrupt the flow of counsel's argument [which you do whenever you stand up when it is not your turn to speak, so there is always a tactical risk associated with standing in this fashion] I succinctly summarized the key to our argument in one sentence, suggesting that a decision on our argument might determine the entire matter, and shorten the time that would be needed to resolve this case. Senior Counsel sat in front of me absolutely motionless, and speechless. The President said that he wished to confer with the other two judges on the panel as to their opinion. He did. They all thought that the Crown's argument should proceed first. {Usually the Crown's argument on public interest issues proceeds last} The President then asked Senior Counsel who would be presenting the Crown's argument. Senior Counsel said that he thought that I should, subject to the wishes of the Court, as he thought that I was doing a remarkable job so far. The President agreed and I presented the Crown's argument. The panel agreed with the Crown's argument and the matter proceeded as we had hoped that it would. This case proved to be a benchmark in my development as a litigator with Crown Law Office-Civil, although I did not realize it at the time. Senior Counsel was allowing me to develop my own judgment as to how to argue and when to intervene. He was also testing my courage as a litigator. He could not have put me in a more difficult situation. From that point forward, with only two exceptions, I was allowed to work on my cases independent of any supervision. I had " won" my place as one of her Majesty's Crown counsel. Advocacy is as much about knowing when to say what you need to say, as it is about having the right things to say on behalf of your client.
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OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Linda Kolyn, LL.B. 
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