Schickedanz

Peter A. Simm was sole counsel for the successful Defendant in professional discipline proceedings in Schickedanz (2011). Ultimately Simm negotiated a remarkably favourable resolution of charges, and the Ontario Racing Commission Panel ratified this. This came after serving as sole counsel for the successful Moving Party (later unsuccessful Applicant for Judicial Review) for several interlocutory stays against a decision of the ORC’s Executive Director.

One of the largest owners of thoroughbreds in North America had a famous horse which suffered a highly-publicized fatal accident during a training run at Woodbine Racetrack. Woodbine immediately barred his horses from racing there. At an ORC hearing, his (previous) counsel unsuccessfully sought to force Woodbine to allow his horses to resume racing there. Subsequently, the ORC’s Executive Director issued (on his own volition) a decision which, if implemented, would have suspended Mr. Schickedanz’s licence as an owner for six months. All racing jurisdictions in North America would have automatically honoured such a suspension.

Simm was retained as counsel shortly after  the Executive Director issued his decision. Simm obtained ORC and judicial stays, without which Mr. Schickedanz would effectively have been barred from entering his 500 horses in races at any Canadian or U.S. racetracks for six months. In the face of exceedingly unsympathetic factual findings made by a previous ORC Panel (when Simm was not counsel), the Application for Judicial Review eventually was dismissed. However, having convinced the ORC to grant further stays, Simm won a Motion to compel the ORC Administration to redraft the charges against his client and to provide better disclosure.

This led the prosecutor to accept Simm’s proposal of a mediation process in which Simm successfully negotiated an Agreed Statement of Facts and Joint Submission on Disposition. Remarkably, this contained no admission of violating any rule or other wrongdoing, and did not require his client to pay a fine nor undergo any actual period of license suspension. The ORC Panel unanimously ratified this in a formal Ruling.

Schickedanz  is cited in 2 legal textbooks. There are 6 media reports about the case in the period when Simm was counsel.

Full cites: Schickedanz v. Ontario (Racing Commission)  (granting motion for interlocutory stay), 2011 ONSC 1438, 280 O.A.C. 170, [2011] O.J. No. 1247, 2011 CarswellOnt 1866 (Ont. Div. Ct., single judge), per Lederer J. (March 3, 2011); (application for judicial review), 2011 ONSC 4271, 282 O.A.C. 362, [2011] O.J. No. 3262, 2011 CarswellOnt 6466 (Ont. Div. Ct.), per Lax J., for the Court (July 7, 2011). Re Schickedanz,  (granting motions for interlocutory stays), 2010 CanLII 99113, ORC Ruling Nos. COM TB 032(a)/2010 (Dec. 24, amended Dec. 29, 2010, granting motion for interlocutory stay); TB ADMIN 22/2011 (May 24, 2011); COM TB 034/2011 (July 13, 2011, granting motion for interlocutory stay); 2011 CanLII 98254, COM TB 011/2011 (Aug. 23, 2011);  2011 CanLII 98199, COM TB 012/2011 (Sept. 7, 2011, granting motion for particulars and better disclosure, and extending interlocutory stay). Re Schickedanz, (ORC Panel unanimously ratifying Agreed Statement of Facts and Joint Submission on Disposition), 2011 CanLII 98207, ORC Ruling No. COM TB 018/2011 (Oct. 27, 2011).