Tag: Maanit Zemel Lawyer

Big Law firms’ anonymous internet postings about clients, cases and legal opposition. Part 1 in a new series.

Miller Thomson Computer Crime SAN

“Let’s start with Miller Thomson LLP’s anonymous Internet postings about the National Hockey League Players Association and work up from there.”

Is it ethical for lawyers to anonymously post on the Internet about their cases, clients and legal opponents?

by Donald Best

by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Detective, Toronto Police

Since at least 2004, personnel from Miller Thomson LLP’s Toronto law office made dozens of anonymous Internet postings on Wikipedia.org and other websites; about clients, opponents and others involved in ongoing legal matters. I’ve also discovered that some other Big Law firms similarly made anonymous postings over the years.

But before the public calls upon the Law Society of Upper Canada to investigate, we had better ask “Who will watch the watchmen?”

As an example, my investigations show that in 2009 personnel from the law society themselves posted anonymously on Wikipedia.org about then Osgoode law student Wendy Babcock, a former Toronto sex-worker and political organizer. Babcock later committed suicide in 2011.

This extraordinary information is easily confirmed online by anyone with Internet access.

You’ll be able to confirm everything for yourself after reading this and other articles in the series. (So will investigators from the Law Society of Upper Canada; not that LSUC takes any action against BIG LAW firms like Miller Thomson LLP, but that is a separate issue.)

National Hockey League Players Association

Personnel from Miller Thomson’s Toronto law office anonymously posted on the Internet about the National Hockey League Players Association, former NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow and then NHLPA associate counsel Ian Pulver.

These anonymous Internet postings appear to have been made at a time when Miller Thomson LLP either represented some of the subjects of the articles, or represented other clients in existing and/or potential legal proceedings or negotiations involving the subjects.

Over the years, Miller Thomson law office personnel also made many other anonymous Internet postings about persons and entities involved in legal actions, negotiations and labour disputes. Although their motives are not always apparent, one thing that is clear is that Miller Thomson personnel chose to make these Internet postings anonymously instead of using their real names or attributing the postings to Miller Thomson.

Are MIller Thomson’s actions ethical? Do their actions contravene any rules of the Law Society of Upper Canada?

Lawyers and other law firm personnel deal with privileged, confidential and intimately private information daily. That these same lawyers and staff would anonymously post information online about their clients, cases and legal opponents should be of grave concern to the legal profession and governing bodies because it tends to undermine public confidence in lawyers and thus in the justice system itself.

Forensic investigations revealed the truth about this little-known activity by law firm personnel. Other Big Law firms have been up to the same thing: a coming article in the series will consider anonymous Internet postings by Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP and some other BIG LAW firms.

Are lawyers and law office personnel allowed to make anonymous Internet postings about their legal cases, clients and opponents?

To the ordinary Canadian, the Rules of Professional Conduct as posted on the website of the Law Society of Upper Canada appear to be so general and vague as to be almost useless as a guide in some of the incidents documented in this series. Other incidents I present in this new series are, however, obviously in violation of the LSUC Rules and of various Federal and Provincial laws as well.

Perhaps some lawyers out there might be able to comment after reading this article and others in the series.

I have identified a number of different types of anonymous internet activities that Miller Thomson and some other Canadian lawyers, law firms and legal personnel appear to be engaged in. In order of increasingly serious conduct:

  1. Anonymously changing the online public record about clients, cases and legal opponents.
  2. Anonymously spreading online rumours, misinformation & discord.
  3. Serious misconduct, including anonymous online threats against opposing witnesses, harassment, posting of confidential information including Identity Information as defined in the Criminal Code.

Once again, all of these activities happen in situations where the subjects of the anonymous conduct are either legal clients or opposing entities. And, in at least three examples I’ve found, personnel from law firms made anonymous internet postings about competing law firms and lawyers.

NHLPA Logo-private

Example #1: Miller Thomson personnel anonymously changed the public internet record about Robert W. “Bob” Goodenow, Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players Association       Read more

Law Society of Upper Canada unlikely to win the Allard Prize for International Integrity

Allard Prize Integrity

by Donald Best

by Donald Best

Lawyers have significant influence in the shaping, drafting and enforcement of policies and legislation that protect critical checks and balances necessary for a healthy society.

But who regulates and oversees the lawyers? And what happens to a society if lawyers abandon ethics and societal accountability in the pursuit of money? What happens if greed, not justice and truth, becomes the primary motivation of lawyers?

Such has been our confidence in the legal profession that, to this time, Canadians have allowed lawyers to regulate and discipline themselves without independent civilian oversight, public accountability or any real transparency. That willingness of Canadians to allow lawyers to self-regulate is changing with revelation after revelation of serious wrongdoing by lawyers and coverups by governing legal bodies.

In Ontario, the Law Society of Upper Canada has time and time again covered up or ignored criminal activities by lawyers; especially if the lawyers are associated with any of Canada’s largest law firms. The recent ‘Broken Trust‘ series of articles in the Toronto Star looks into why over 80% of Ontario lawyers who commit serious criminal offences in relation to their law practice never face criminal sanctions.

My own case (‘Donald Best v. Gerald Ranking et al’. Superior Court of Justice, Central East Region: Barrie, Court File No. 14-0815) is just one of many where Law Society of Upper Canada ignored and covered up solid evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Ontario lawyers and protected members of ‘the club’.

Evidence filed in Best vs Ranking shows that members of the large law firm club receive unhealthy deference from the Law Society of Upper Canada and other regulators in matters of misconduct and discipline.

In my case, the Law Society of Upper Canada ignored and covered up evidence of serious criminal offences by lawyers from large law firms. The law society also refused to assist me, an unrepresented litigant, to find legal counsel in a special situation where the vast majority of lawyers were too intimidated and frightened to represent me before the courts.   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

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

Miller Thomson LLP client claims lawyer Andrew Roman suggested publication of privileged documents on anonymous website

Andrew Roman Iain Deane SAN

Andrew Roman (left) and Iain Deane*

#2 in the Miller Thomson LLP series.

(Coming in #3: How Miller Thomson LLP personnel anonymously posted information on the Internet about the National Hockey League Players’ Association, NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow, NHLPA associate counsel Ian Pulver and other National Hockey League personalities)

Evidence filed in Ontario Superior Court alleges that Miller Thomson LLP lawyer Andrew Roman** delivered legally privileged documents to his client, Iain Deane, and suggested that Deane should publish the documents on an anonymous website known for threats and harassment against court witnesses.

At the time, lawyer Andrew Roman represented defendant Deane in the ‘Nelson Barbados Group Ltd vs Cox’ civil lawsuit. These allegations have not yet been decided by the Ontario courts.

Iain Deane, writing under his own name on January 29, 2009 on the anonymously published Barbados Underground website, stated:

Iain Deane | January 29, 2009 at 8:01 AM |

Dear Barbados Underground,

I received last night a courtesy copy of a letter from senior litigation counsel at Miller Thomson LLP, Mr. Andrew J. Roman. Mr. Roman is the head of the department that that excellent (and very beautiful) and truthful lawyer, Miss Maanit Zemel works for.

Along with it was a personal note that seems to me to suggest that he would not be averse to me forwarding his letter on to Barbados Underground and I have written to him for confirmation of this. If he gives permission, I shall send a copy to Barbados Underground immediately. This letter sets out unequivocally the falsehoods (proven) in the scandals emanating directly from the offices of one K. William McKenzie (whom I met briefly, along with my cousin John Knox, in Toronto on November 3rd last year at my cross-examination). Mr Roman’s letter suggests the remedies that may now be sought.

Iain Deane’s January 28, 2009 Barbados Underground post and comments (PDF 126kb)

According to sworn evidence, the Ontario lawsuit ‘Nelson Barbados Group Ltd. vs Cox’ in which Iain Deane was a defendant against Nelson Barbados, was characterized by an ongoing long term campaign of criminal offenses, violence, intimidation and harassment against persons on the side of the Nelson Barbados Group Ltd litigation, and their families, with the intent of deterring… persons from seeking justice before any court.

Part of that ongoing campaign against witnesses and their family members involved the illegal and reckless distribution to the public of tens of thousands of confidential and privileged legal documents. As well, the campaign included anonymous threats and harassment via the Internet, including horrific threats to rape and murder family members of witnesses who testified on behalf of Nelson Barbados.

Our first post in this Miller Thomson LLP series details how forensic evidence 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 Nelson Barbados witnesses who opposed Miller Thomson clients.

Iain Deane’s January 29, 2009 public statement that he had to seek permission of his lawyer Andrew Roman to post privileged documents on the Internet was not the first indication that the malicious publication of privileged documents was planned, coordinated and controlled as part of a campaign of harassment, threats, violence and other criminal acts against witnesses in the Nelson Barbados litigation. This is according to evidence filed in Ontario courts.

Read more

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