Tag: Lorne Silver Lawyer

Some Canadian lawyers are too big to jail

Canada Lawyer SAN

How the corrupting influence of large law firms undermines Canada’s justice system and threatens self-regulation of the legal profession (Part 1 of a series)

“I see you as an embittered, vengeful, 82 year-old liar, stupid enough to espouse the desires of a venal Canadian backer, the pawn of totally incompetent counsel and of stupid and revenge-driven children.”

“Now, what happens if you die before the matter is resolved (as, at your age, you may)…”

“BITCH.
We will kill you while you are asleep. Lock your doors and windows real good.”

From a series of anonymous threatening emails sent to an 82 year old witness by unknown personnel from Miller Thomson LLP’s Toronto law office, and by other co-conspirators.*

by Donald Best

by Donald Best

This is the first of a series of articles that will examine the corrupting influence of large law firms, and how senior lawyers from some large Canadian law firms are Too Big to Jail; even when the evidence against them is devastating, irrefutable and uncontested.

Today we present an overview of concerns with the operations of large law firms. We also look at the financial pressures and greed that some lawyers and judges believe is motivating increased unethical and even criminal behavior by large law firm lawyers.

There have always been quietly discussed concerns within the Ontario legal profession, that large ‘mega’ law firms have become so powerful and influential that they dominate and skew trial outcomes, the justice system itself and the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) that is responsible for the self-regulation of Ontario’s lawyers.

Some time ago the law society adjusted its system of electing regional ‘Benchers’ in an attempt to mitigate to some extent the dominance of the large Toronto law firms in the governance of the legal profession.

The law society changes, however, did not even begin to address concerns that the operations of mega law firms:

  • Limit access to justice for ordinary citizens and small to medium businesses,
  • Cause and conceal conflicts of interest that can harm clients,
  • Undermine national and public interests, and the political process, in the pursuit of profits above all else,
  • Compromise professional integrity in the pursuit of money and in ‘winning at any cost’ to attract and maintain large top-tier clients,
  • Receive unhealthy deference from the legal profession and the courts, and
  • Receive unhealthy deference from the Law Society of Upper Canada and other regulators in matters of misconduct and discipline.

Concerns about the impact of large law firms upon society and the legal profession are universal in North American jurisdictions. Some twenty years ago, now Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Robert A. Katzmann published:   Read more

RCMP and Crown prosecutors illegally distribute Senator Mike Duffy’s email password to the public

In the Duffy case, the RCMP and Crown prosecutor committed a criminal offence under section 402.2(2)

A cynic might say that the corruption trial of suspended Senator Mike Duffy has produced no surprises, but that does not do justice to most ordinary Canadians who, despite all the standard jokes about politicians, expect and demand that laws, rules and standards should apply equally to all; including to those in positions of power and authority such as police, lawyers and Crown prosecutors.

As Ezra Levant points out in the above video, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Crown prosecutors released to the public, an unredacted version of Senator Duffy’s personal diary; including intimate communications with his wife, personal medical details and some of Senator Duffy’s Identity Information (as defined in the Criminal Code), including his email password.

Notwithstanding how disgusting it is that Canada’s national police agency and Crown prosecutors should have engaged in an act that is so obviously designed to embarrass and punish Mr. Duffy and his close family members, the release of Mr. Duffy’s email password is a criminal act, specifically prohibited by law in Canada. The fact that the reckless distribution happened in court documents is no excuse in law. Some would say the abuse of the court process makes the act even more reprehensible.

Best v Ranking civil lawsuit alleges prosecuting lawyers recklessly distributed to the public tens of thousands of documents containing Identity Information

As terrible as the actions of the police and the Crown are in the Duffy case, the amount of Identity Information illegally distributed pales in comparison with another case currently before the Ontario Superior Court.

In the Donald Best vs Gerald Ranking civil case, the plaintiff Donald Best alleges that defendants Gerald Ranking, Paul Schabas, Lorne Silver and others deliberately released and recklessly distributed to the public tens of thousands of unredacted privileged legal documents containing vast amounts of Identity Information and other personal and confidential information for Mr. Best, his family members and dozens of other persons who had nothing to do with the case before the courts.

In his March 31, 2015 affidavit asking the court to issue an injunction against the defendants, Mr. Best alleges:

“The defendants previously placed into the public domain, and recklessly distributed, tens of thousands of documents containing Identity Information and other private, confidential information for me, my family members and my company’s witnesses; and also for dozens and dozens of persons and entities who have nothing to do with me or my case.

As just one egregious example of thousands, defendants unlawfully took from the Orillia, Ontario law office of my company’s lawyers, the medical file of my lawyer’s dying mother, including end-of-life ‘do not resuscitate’ instructions to medical staff. The defendants and their ‘John Doe’ co-conspirators recklessly distributed this to members of the public, published it on the internet, and then filed it as ‘evidence’ with the court without notifying the judge. The defendants and their co-conspirators are still recklessly distributing this medical file in 2015. The defendants refuse to stop.”

Further, Mr. Best states:  Read more

Paul Schabas seeking re-election as Bencher, Law Society of Upper Canada

Law Society Upper Canada

Toronto lawyer Paul B. Schabas, a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, is seeking a third term as a Bencher in the upcoming April 30, 2015 Law Society of Upper Canada election. Mr. Schabas is also a defendant in the Donald Best v. Gerald Ranking et al civil lawsuit.

According to his biography, Mr. Schabas is one of Canada’s leading media lawyers:

“As one of Canada’s leading media lawyers, Paul has appeared on many recent cases in the Supreme Court of Canada, including Grant v. Torstar, which established a new public interest defence to libel.”

No doubt Mr. Schabas is the ‘go to guy’ for many major news media outlets for libel defence, or for legal advice about whether or not to cover contentious or potentially explosive news stories.

Apparently Mr. Schabas was a bencher when Donald Best sent letters to him and other lawyers on December 1, 2009, alleging that lawyers Gerald Ranking, Lorne Silver and Sebastien Kwidzinski lied to the court in a written ‘Statement for the Record’ they filed as evidence. Mr. Best’s letter can be found here. A summary of the incident is here: Donald Best secretly (and legally) recorded call with lawyers Gerald Ranking, Lorne Silver

Mr. Best also wrote to the Executive of the Law Society of Upper Canada on November 28, 2012, alleging amongst other wrongdoing by lawyers, that:

“There is also strong forensic evidence that a series of threatening and harassing anonymous emails to my witnesses originated from the computer systems of one of the involved large Toronto law firms (Miller Thomson), starting in at least 2004 and carrying on for many years. There is strong documentary evidence that the Miller Thomson law firm was provided with this evidence in writing in 2009 and 2010, yet the firm’s lawyer, Mr. Andrew Roman, withheld the evidence from the judge during my case: all the while arguing that his client and firm were not involved.”

Best’s November 28, 2012 letter can be found here. A summary of the incident can be read here: Court evidence: Anonymous online threats against 82 year old widow originated from Miller Thomson Law Office

Mr. Schabas is the current Chair of the Proceedings Authorization Committee which decides which cases against lawyers should go to a Discipline Hearing. The following excerpts are from his campaign website PaulSchabas.ca:   Read more

Lawsuits allege police and attorneys jointly fabricated evidence, lied to court

Two unrelated lawsuits in the United States and Canada allege that groups of police and lawyers worked together as they fabricated evidence and lied to the courts to jail a person they knew was innocent.

Although the circumstances and people involved in the two lawsuits are entirely unrelated, both plaintiffs’ allegations share similar characteristics: a group of police and lawyers fabricated false evidence, but they didn’t know about secretly-made recordings that documented the truth.

“If there is one thing that can be gleaned from the Douglas Dendinger and Donald Best civil lawsuits, it is that police officers have no monopoly over lawyers when it comes to lying to the courts.”

United States: Douglas Dendinger

Louisiana plaintiff Douglas Dendinger was arrested and charged with battery, obstruction of justice and intimidating a witness after five police officers and two prosecuting attorneys jointly provided false evidence that they saw Dendinger physically assault and intimidate a police officer as he served the officer with legal documents.

Each of the police officers and lawyers fabricated a false story, providing statements or sworn depositions that Dendinger slapped or punched officer Chad Cassard in the chest with “violence, force”, and that Cassard “flew back several feet”.

These police officers and attorneys didn’t know that Dendinger’s relatives made two hidden videos during the service of the legal documents. Those videos conclusively prove that Dendinger calmly handed the legal papers to officer Cassard, who smoothly held out his hand and accepted service in a normal manner.

The group of seven police officers and attorneys jointly lied and provided a false narrative to support charges that could have put Dendinger away for the rest of his life. Dendinger, who spent one night in jail, filed a civil lawsuit against the police and attorneys. The Washington Post reports But for the video…  WLTV reports Charges crumble after cell phone video uncovered

Canada: Donald Best

In the Best v Ranking lawsuit filed in Barrie, Ontario Canada, plaintiff Donald Best alleges that attorneys and police committed various wrongdoing, including fabricating false and deceptive evidence, lying to the court, committing a fraud upon the court by representing a phoney non-existent business entity, illegally hiring a corrupt Ontario Provincial Police officer ‘on the side’ to perform illegal acts and other misconduct.

One of Mr. Best’s allegations is that during a telephone conversation with lawyers on November 17, 2009, Best informed the lawyers multiple times that he had not received a certain court order. The lawyers even cross-examined Best about this very issue.

When the lawyers ended the telephone call with Best, they created as evidence an official ‘Statement for the Record’; falsely reporting to the judge that during the telephone call Best had told the lawyers that he had received and did possess the court order in question.   Read more

Toronto ex-cop Donald Best served entire prison sentence in “brutal” solitary confinement

Solitary Confinement prison cell

Solitary Confinement prison cell: What you see is larger, but very similar to the spartan reality of Donald Best’s cell.

A new editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal declaring solitary confinement as “cruel and unusual punishment” is no surprise to former Toronto Police Sergeant (and former prisoner) Donald Best, who describes his time in solitary confinement as “brutal”.

The Canadian Medical Association editorial says:

“Is this acceptable practice or is this torture?

Solitary confinement, defined as physical isolation for 22 to 24 hours per day and termed “administrative segregation” in federal prisons, has substantial health effects. These effects may develop within a few days and increase the longer segregation lasts.

Anxiety, depression and anger commonly occur. Isolated prisoners have difficulty separating reality from their own thoughts, which may lead to confused thought processes, perceptual distortions, paranoia and psychosis.

In addition to the worsening of pre-existing medical conditions, offenders may experience physical effects, such as lethargy, insomnia, palpitations and anorexia.”

From the Canadian Medical Association Journal editorial, November 17, 2014: Cruel and usual punishment: solitary confinement in Canadian prisons  (website article)

Alternative: Download the CMAJ editorial as a PDF 74kb

National Post: Solitary confinement is ‘cruel and usual punishment’

Herald: Prison suicide report blasts Corrections Canada

Mr. Best does not easily speak of his time in ‘the hole’. He says that he witnessed terrible events in the ‘Administrative Segregation Unit’ as solitary is euphemistically named by prison authorities. Best saw things he had never before seen or even imagined; despite his 35+ years in public and private law enforcement and as a deep-cover investigator against organized crime. He saw prisoners eating their own faeces and worse.

The Canadian Medical Association editorial says that solitary confinement “has substantial health effects” and worsens pre-existing medical conditions. Best knows this to be true from firsthand experience.    Read more

Affidavit of Donald Best, sworn December 10, 2012, added to DonaldBest.CA

20121210 Affidavit Excerpt SAN

DonaldBest.CA has just added the full December 10, 2012 affidavit of Donald Best to the collection of redacted court documents posted online. Previously, only excerpts of this affidavit were available in the website archives.

At 224 pages including exhibits, the affidavit is a resource for those seeking to understand what happened during the Nelson Barbados Group Ltd v Cox civil case before the Ontario Superior Court.

On July 18, 2014, Donald Best, a former Toronto police officer and undercover investigator, filed a civil lawsuit in Barrie, Ontario, Canada alleging wrongdoing by various defendants; including some of Canada’s largest and most prestigious law firms.

None of the allegations has yet been proven in a court of law, and to our knowledge none of the defendants has filed a Statement of Defence. Visitors to this website are encouraged to examine the legal documents and other evidence posted here and to make up their own minds about the civil lawsuit known as ‘Donald Best v. Gerald Ranking et al’. (Superior Court of Justice, Central East Region: Barrie, Court File No. 14-0815)

Download: Donald Best Dec 10, 2012 affidavit with exhibits (PDF 15.8mb)

All available downloads appear on the DonaldBest.CA Court Evidence page

Court evidence: Anonymous online threats against 82 year old widow originated from Miller Thomson Law Office

Miller Thomson Lawyers SAN

Allegations & evidence against Miller Thomson LLP and lawyers Andrew Roman, Maanit Zemel*

#1 in the Miller Thomson LLP series.

Evidence filed in Ontario Superior Court shows that beginning in at least 2004 and continuing for many years, personnel from the Toronto law office of Miller Thomson LLP used the Internet to anonymously threaten, intimidate and harass witnesses who opposed Miller Thomson clients in lawsuits.

In 2004 Mrs. Marjorie Knox, an elderly widow, lived in Barbados. She and her adult children were witnesses in a lawsuit against Kingsland Estates Limited. (Kingsland Estates Limited is now a defendant in the Donald Best v. Gerald Ranking civil case in Ontario Superior Court)

What began with Miller Thomson LLP’s anonymous Internet harassment of Mrs. Knox and her family, soon expanded into a large, coordinated online campaign where Kingsland supporters made vile anonymous threats; including to burn witnesses’ homes, to rape and murder Mrs. Knox and to sneak into the family home at night and slit her daughter’s throat while she slept.

The initial Miller Thomson LLP anonymous internet campaign against Mrs. Knox, her family and associated witnesses escalated from online threats to actual physical crimes in Barbados, Canada and other countries. These acts included mail theft, sabotage / vandalism of vehicles, home break-ins, assault, arson, and the 2012 gunpoint kidnapping and beating of John Knox at the family home by persons having a connection with Kingsland Estates Limited.

Faced with this campaign of threats and violence, Mrs. Knox was forced at age 86 to leave her homeland of Barbados. She presently lives somewhere in the United States and is fearful of returning to Barbados.

All this is according to sworn evidence filed in the Ontario courts. Our readers can review much of the evidence here at DonaldBest.CA and make up their own minds about the civil lawsuit known as ‘Donald Best v. Gerald Ranking et al’. (Superior Court of Justice, Central East Region: Barrie, Court File No. 14-0815)

How Miller Thomson LLP was caught making anonymous online threats against court witnesses

Today many people are aware that their Internet activities can reveal their true identity, location and other information. Despite this growing awareness, in the last few years the news has been full of cases where persons who thought themselves to be anonymous on the Internet were identified and sometimes arrested, sued or fired for their criminal online activities.

Ten years ago though, most people didn’t realize that sending an email, surfing the web or posting an anonymous comment on a website leaves electronic tell-tales that can lead right back to the source.

In 2004, the Miller Thomson law office personnel making the Internet threats were obviously unaware that they left a record of their ‘IP’ (Internet Protocol) number when they ‘anonymously’ sent emails and posted comments on the Knox family website, then called ‘Keltruth.com’. The law office personnel were also unaware that unlike most home internet set-ups where IP numbers frequently change, Miller Thomson LLP’s internet service is assigned fixed IP numbers that openly identify the law office and its address of 40 King Street West, Toronto.   Read more

Lawsuit claim: Faskens lawyer Gerald Ranking knowingly represented a phoney business entity, lied to the Supreme Court of Canada

lying lawyers Canada Barbados 5-SAN

Why would a lawyer name a non-existent business entity as his client in official court documents?

According to a recently filed lawsuit there are reasons why persons might use a phony business name in court; and strong evidence showing that this happened in the Nelson Barbados and Donald Best court cases.

A lawsuit and evidence filed in Ontario courts says that senior lawyers and their major Canadian law office fraudulently claimed to represent a fictional non-existent business entity they said was ‘PricewaterhouseCoopers East Caribbean Firm’ (PWCECF). None of the allegations has yet been proven in a court of law.

According to the Statement of Claim in the Donald Best v Gerald Ranking lawsuit, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP lawyers Gerald Ranking and Sebastien Kwidzinski “fraudulently claimed to represent this non-entity and in the face of accusations to that effect, refused to provide proof to contradict clear evidence that (PricewaterhouseCoopers East Caribbean Firm) did not and does not exist. Instead, they repeatedly bluffed, misled and lied to the Superior Court, the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada, insisting that (PricewaterhouseCoopers East Caribbean Firm) did and does exist.” 

(See page 11, line 7 of the Best v Ranking Statement of Claim PDF 1.3mb)

Lawyer Gerald Ranking, Faskens law office and accountant Marcus Hatch have never been able to provide the official registration documents for ‘PricewaterhouseCoopers East Caribbean Firm’, despite seven years of requests, demands and accusations made on the court record by plaintiffs and their lawyers in various legal actions from 2007 to 2014.

Barbados lawyer Alair Shepherd Q.C. confirms Ranking’s purported client doesn’t exist, never has.

“Neither I, nor my staff, nor staff of the Barbados Government found any Government or other records indicating that ‘PricewaterhouseCoopers East Caribbean Firm’ exists, or has ever existed, as a legally registered entity in Barbados.”

(January 4, 2013 Affidavit of lawyer Alair P. Shepherd Q.C. PDF 794kb)

Where did the million dollars go?

Further, in 2010 almost a million dollars in court-ordered costs was paid to this purported business entity ‘in trust’ through lawyer Gerald Ranking and Faskens law office. If the business entity was and is phony as the plaintiff says, that money must have gone elsewhere. Would that be money-laundering by Ranking and Faskens law office? If the costs order was obtained by fraud upon the courts using a phony company, does that mean that the million dollars is ‘proceeds of crime’ as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada?   Read more

Lawyers Lorne Silver & Jessica Zagar gave directly opposing evidence to the court that sent Donald Best to jail. Whose version was true?

“Lawyer Jessica Zagar, as an Officer of the Court, swore that Lorne Silver personally attended at two law firms and selected the documents. Silver, as an Officer of the Court, formally stated on the record that he did not attend at the law firms or select the documents.”

Cassels Brock & Blackwell lawyer Jessica Zagar swears that her fellow senior lawyer Lorne Silver attended at two law offices on two separate dates and selected certain documents to be used as evidence before the Ontario Superior Court. Mr. Silver denies doing so, and he officially denied it on the record during Contempt of Court hearings against plaintiff Donald Best.

What is the truth? Did lawyer Lorne Silver attend the law offices and select the documents or not?

Why might Mr. Silver falsely deny attending the law offices and selecting the documents?

Former Toronto Police Sergeant Donald Best in his Statement of Claim (1.3mb PDF) filed in Barrie, Ontario Canada, alleges that on January 15, 2010, he was convicted of ‘Civil contempt of Court’ in absentia (in his absence) and sentenced to prison on the basis of false evidence presented to the Court by lawyers, including defendants Gerald Ranking and Lorne Silver. The Statement of Claim also alleges that after his conviction, the defendants continued placing false and misleading evidence and information before the courts, and continued with other misconduct and crimes against the Plaintiff.

This article examines only one of the many alleged wrongdoings.

This specific alleged wrongdoing involves two different versions of evidence placed before the court concerning how certain privileged documents were selected as evidence from the files of Orillia law firm Crawford, McLean, Anderson, Duncan LLP.

None of the allegations has yet been proven in a court of law, and to our knowledge none of the defendants has filed a Statement of Defence. Visitors to this website are encouraged to examine the legal documents and other evidence posted here, to do independent research and to make up their own minds about the civil lawsuit known as ‘Donald Best v. Gerald Ranking et al’. (Superior Court of Justice, Central East Region: Barrie, Court File No. 14-0815)

According to legal documents filed in Ontario court (available for download at SolidCase.CA), Cassels Brock & Blackwell lawyer Jessica Zagar swore an affidavit on June 7, 2010 stating that Cassels senior lawyer Lorne S. Silver attended at two law offices in May 2010 and selected documents from the files of law firm Crawford, McLean, Anderson, Duncan LLP (CMAD). that were subsequently placed as evidence before Ontario Superior Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy.

However, during a January 11, 2013 cross-examination of Donald Best, Mr. Silver denied attending at the law offices and selecting the documents in question.

What is the truth? Judge for yourself.

The sworn affidavit of Jessica Zagar states in part:    Read more

Crown Attorney’s concern: Public needlessly at risk from Ontario lawyers’ criminal conduct

Brampton crown attorney Steve Sherriff says that the Law Society of Upper Canada’s policy of not reporting crimes by lawyers to the police is “wrong”. Mr. Sherriff is also concerned that “the public is needlessly at risk” from lawyers’ criminal conduct because of this ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ LSUC policy.

The recent ‘Broken Trust‘ series of articles in the Toronto Star quotes Mr. Sherriff and victims of crimes by lawyers, and looks into why over 80% of Ontario lawyers who commit serious criminal offences in relation to their law practice never face criminal sanctions.

In the Toronto Star series, Thomas Conway, former Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC), the organization responsible for regulating and disciplining Ontario lawyers, seems to disagree with Mr. Sherriff. The LSUC treasurer says that the organization is prevented from reporting lawyers who commit crimes to the police even though regulating bodies in some other provinces do make reports to their local police.

But what if LSUC itself became internally aware of allegations that a lawyer had committed crimes? What would happen then? Would the Law Society of Upper Canada itself step in and conduct an investigation, seize evidence, examine the court files and interview witnesses?

According to documents filed in Ontario courts, in November of 2012 former Toronto police officer and undercover investigator Donald Best wrote detailed letters to both the CEO and Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada, Robert G.W. Lapper Q.C. and Thomas G. Conway, asking for assistance in retaining a lawyer. The letters also contained allegations of criminal and other offences by Ontario lawyers.

Mr. Best explained his predicament to Mr. Lapper and Mr. Conway thus:   Read more

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