Lang Michener: Was Lang Michener a double agent?
Cliff Sosnow
What you are going to read here is not published on the Lang Michener web site.
You can find the Lang Michener web site at http://www.langmichener.ca/
What we are going to tell you raises serious questions about the ethics and integrity of Lang Michener.
In December of 1998, Sun Belt Water Inc., its president and Canadian lawyer were preparing to travel to Ottawa to meet with officials with the Government of Canada to discuss a possible settlement of the Sun Belt claim filed under Chapter 11 of the NAFTA.
Without invitation or solicitation, Mr. Cliff Sosnow, a lawyer with the Ottawa office of the prestigious law firm of Lang Michener, contacted the president of Sun Belt Water Inc. and offered the services of Lang Michener and himself to Sun Belt Water Inc. Mr. Sosnow now works with the large law Canadian law firms known as Blakes that represents Themis Program Management and Consulting Ltd a Defendant in the Federal Court lawsuit filed by Mr./ Carten and Ms Gibbs.
Mr. Sosnow's proposal seemed straightforward. He and others at Lang Michener had experience in international trade law and, being in Ottawa, they understood how the government functioned, how decisions were made and who to go to if there was a problem.
Over the next several months, when Sun Belt Water Inc and its lawyer attended meetings with Government of Canada officials in Ottawa, they met regularly with Mr. Sosnow in the Ottawa offices of Lang Michener, provided briefings and listened to his advice.
The meetings with the government officials in Ottawa proved fruitless and Sun Belt Water Inc. filed its formal Notice of Claim and Demand For Arbitration in October, 1999, under the provisions of NAFTA, the Government of Canada fraudulently denies receiving this document which is published online at:
http://www.sunbeltwater.com/images/sun2.pdf
In early December of 1999, Sun Belt's lawyer, Mr. Carten, received advice that Prime Minister Jean Chretien had been an investor inW.C.W. Western Canada Water Enterprises Ltd., (WCW) the competitor to Sun Belt Water Inc. and the company secretly selected by the Government of British Columbia to have the effective monopoly over bulk water exports.
Because the advice was not documented, Mr. Carten contacted both the federal Department of Justice and the Prime Minister's Office to obtain a confirmation or denial of this alleged fact. Both the Department of Justice and the Prime Minister's office refused to answer Mr. Carten's question and the fact of Mr. Chretien's investment is assumed to be true based on the absence of a simple denial and the considerable circumstantial evidence.
The supposed involvement of Prime Minister Chretien, as an investor in WCW, raised serious issues concerning the bona fide nature of the offer of Mr. Sosnow and Lang Michener to become involved as advisory legal counsel for Sun Belt Water Inc.
These issues arose because, Mr. Chretien and Mr. Eddie Goldenberg, his senior policy advosor, had been partners with Lang Michener prior to Mr. Chretien and the Liberal Party of Canada taking over the government of Canada.
Was it possible that Mr. Sosnow and Lang Michener were double agents and were, in fact, working for Mr. Chretien or Mr. Goldenberg, while ostensibly working for Sun Belt Water Inc ?
Was it possible Mr Sosnow and Lang Michener were secretly working for the Government of Canada where Mr. Sosnow had been an employee?
Due to the possibility of fraud by Lang Michener, Mr. Carten wrote to the managing partner of Lang Michener and asked him to clarify the matter. As expected, Lang Michener did not respond to the direct question as to whether or not Mr. Sosnow and the law firm were double agents. Instead, the managing partner of Lang Michener responded saying he was offended at the fact that Mr. Carten would have the audacity to question the integrity of such hallowed and revered law firm as Lang Michener.
The possible complicity of Lang Michener, as a double agent, was heightened when Mr. Chretien's Minister of International Trade, Sergio Marchi, took up a position with Lang Michener in Toronto and Mr. John Reynolds, a prominent Conservative Party loyalist, left politics and joined Lang Michener. Mr. Reynolds had a close relationship with W.C.W. Western Canada Water Enterprises Ltd. when he was a cabinet minister in the government in British Columbia
Both Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Marchi were non-lawyers but joined Lang Michener in an advisory capacity.
Finally, one of the leading proponents of the Free Trade Agreement, Donald MacDonald, formerly a cabinet minister of Prime Minister Pierre Turdeau is not a partner at Lang Michener. Co-incidentally, Mr. MacDonald was Canadain high commissioner in London when certain London based investment houses obtained the benefit of hte secret and liiegal agreement between the Government of British Columbia and W.C.W. Western Canada Water Enterprises Ltd.
The web of circunstantial and other evidence supporting the notion that Lang Michener was a double agent is compelling and if the Federal Court permits our lawsuit to proceed the issue will probably be resolved very quickly through discovery procedures.
Jean Chretien Eddie Goldenberg Sergio Marchi John Reynolds Donald MacDonald
You can find the Lang Michener web site at http://www.langmichener.ca/
What we are going to tell you raises serious questions about the ethics and integrity of Lang Michener.
In December of 1998, Sun Belt Water Inc., its president and Canadian lawyer were preparing to travel to Ottawa to meet with officials with the Government of Canada to discuss a possible settlement of the Sun Belt claim filed under Chapter 11 of the NAFTA.
Without invitation or solicitation, Mr. Cliff Sosnow, a lawyer with the Ottawa office of the prestigious law firm of Lang Michener, contacted the president of Sun Belt Water Inc. and offered the services of Lang Michener and himself to Sun Belt Water Inc. Mr. Sosnow now works with the large law Canadian law firms known as Blakes that represents Themis Program Management and Consulting Ltd a Defendant in the Federal Court lawsuit filed by Mr./ Carten and Ms Gibbs.
Mr. Sosnow's proposal seemed straightforward. He and others at Lang Michener had experience in international trade law and, being in Ottawa, they understood how the government functioned, how decisions were made and who to go to if there was a problem.
Over the next several months, when Sun Belt Water Inc and its lawyer attended meetings with Government of Canada officials in Ottawa, they met regularly with Mr. Sosnow in the Ottawa offices of Lang Michener, provided briefings and listened to his advice.
The meetings with the government officials in Ottawa proved fruitless and Sun Belt Water Inc. filed its formal Notice of Claim and Demand For Arbitration in October, 1999, under the provisions of NAFTA, the Government of Canada fraudulently denies receiving this document which is published online at:
http://www.sunbeltwater.com/images/sun2.pdf
In early December of 1999, Sun Belt's lawyer, Mr. Carten, received advice that Prime Minister Jean Chretien had been an investor inW.C.W. Western Canada Water Enterprises Ltd., (WCW) the competitor to Sun Belt Water Inc. and the company secretly selected by the Government of British Columbia to have the effective monopoly over bulk water exports.
Because the advice was not documented, Mr. Carten contacted both the federal Department of Justice and the Prime Minister's Office to obtain a confirmation or denial of this alleged fact. Both the Department of Justice and the Prime Minister's office refused to answer Mr. Carten's question and the fact of Mr. Chretien's investment is assumed to be true based on the absence of a simple denial and the considerable circumstantial evidence.
The supposed involvement of Prime Minister Chretien, as an investor in WCW, raised serious issues concerning the bona fide nature of the offer of Mr. Sosnow and Lang Michener to become involved as advisory legal counsel for Sun Belt Water Inc.
These issues arose because, Mr. Chretien and Mr. Eddie Goldenberg, his senior policy advosor, had been partners with Lang Michener prior to Mr. Chretien and the Liberal Party of Canada taking over the government of Canada.
Was it possible that Mr. Sosnow and Lang Michener were double agents and were, in fact, working for Mr. Chretien or Mr. Goldenberg, while ostensibly working for Sun Belt Water Inc ?
Was it possible Mr Sosnow and Lang Michener were secretly working for the Government of Canada where Mr. Sosnow had been an employee?
Due to the possibility of fraud by Lang Michener, Mr. Carten wrote to the managing partner of Lang Michener and asked him to clarify the matter. As expected, Lang Michener did not respond to the direct question as to whether or not Mr. Sosnow and the law firm were double agents. Instead, the managing partner of Lang Michener responded saying he was offended at the fact that Mr. Carten would have the audacity to question the integrity of such hallowed and revered law firm as Lang Michener.
The possible complicity of Lang Michener, as a double agent, was heightened when Mr. Chretien's Minister of International Trade, Sergio Marchi, took up a position with Lang Michener in Toronto and Mr. John Reynolds, a prominent Conservative Party loyalist, left politics and joined Lang Michener. Mr. Reynolds had a close relationship with W.C.W. Western Canada Water Enterprises Ltd. when he was a cabinet minister in the government in British Columbia
Both Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Marchi were non-lawyers but joined Lang Michener in an advisory capacity.
Finally, one of the leading proponents of the Free Trade Agreement, Donald MacDonald, formerly a cabinet minister of Prime Minister Pierre Turdeau is not a partner at Lang Michener. Co-incidentally, Mr. MacDonald was Canadain high commissioner in London when certain London based investment houses obtained the benefit of hte secret and liiegal agreement between the Government of British Columbia and W.C.W. Western Canada Water Enterprises Ltd.
The web of circunstantial and other evidence supporting the notion that Lang Michener was a double agent is compelling and if the Federal Court permits our lawsuit to proceed the issue will probably be resolved very quickly through discovery procedures.
Jean Chretien Eddie Goldenberg Sergio Marchi John Reynolds Donald MacDonald
Lang Michener Refuses to Deny Allegation Under Oath
Eric Williams
However, our suspicions have been confirmed by the conduct of Lang Michener after we served them with our Statement of Claim in Federal Court Action T-95-08 alleging that Lang Michener had breached its fiduciary duty and contractual duties to Sun Belt Water Inc. because, while it pretended to be acting solely for Sun Belt Water Inc., it was secretly acting as an agent a third party.
Lang Michener hired the Ottawa law firm of Williams McEnery to defend its interests in the Federal Court lawsuit and, in our opinion, the conduct of Mr. Williams in the litigation suggest our suspicion that Lang Michener acted as a double agent are correct.
Firstly, Mr. Williams has never filed a Statement of Defense on behalf of Lang Michener denying any of the allegations against his client. When we were first contacted by Mr. Williams he asked we not take any steps against his client so he could get full instructions and file a Statement of Defense. We think this was a ruse because on April 3, 2008, Mr. Williams issued A Motion to Dismiss our lawsuit after deceiving us about his intentions. A Statement of Defense has never been filed.
Secondly, upon receiving the Lang Michener Motion to Dismiss, we immediately wrote to Mr. Williams and generously offered to withdraw our claim against Lang Michener if Lang Michener would provide us with an affidavit or statutory declaration from Mr. Sosnow denying, under Oath, the allegations made against him and, Mr. Williams, instead of accepting our generous and reasonable offer to settle, has refused to respond in anyway to the offer.
Thirdly, a few days after we posted this page about Lang Michener online, we sent an e-mail Mr. Williams requesting he review our posting and advise of any inaccuracies and, finally, we have received a response from Mr. Williams objecting to any reference to Lang Michener on this web site.
The letter from Mr. Williams makes assumptions of fact and allegations that are totally incorrect. Firstly, Ms. Gibbs is not and has never been the wife of Mr. Carten as asserted by Mr. Williams. Secondly, Mr. Williams, falsely asserts that this web site has alleged that "Lang Michener is said to be a “double agent” somehow involved in a conspiracy with a competitor to your firm Sunbelt in the business you wished to operate".
The reader can search this website high and low and there is no statement where Mr. Carten pretends that Sun Belt was his firm or that Mr. Carten intended to operate the business of Sun Belt. Mr. Williams is either mistaken or attempting to infer an improper motive on Mr. Carten's part. Further, we have not alleged, on this web site, that Lang Michener was in fact "a double agent". That is an allegation that we made in the Statement of Claim which will be proved or disproved in the lawsuit.
You, the reader, should draw your own conclusions.
We have alleged that, in our opinion, Lang Michener and Mr. Sosnow acted corruptly, deceitfully, and unethically. This is an opinion that is based on a series of extraordinary co-incidences involving Lang Michener.
Lang Michener, 20 months after the lawsuit was commenced, finally denied our allegations in a lawyer's letter that was filled with inaccuracies and mistakes.
Notwithstanding, Mr. Williams' response, we have not received an answer to our request for a denial, under Oath, by Lang Michener that will rebut the allegation in our Statement of Claim that Lang Michener was a double agent for an, as yet, unidentified party.
In our opinion, the 17 month silence of Lang Michener on this issue and their failure to act certainly looks suspicious. An alternative possibility is that Mr. Williams has been running up his legal bill to enrich himself by failing to advise his client, Lang Michener, of our generous offer to settle the claim made shortly after he (Williams) was retained to act for Lang Michener. Lawyers have been known to cheat their clients in this way in the past and we simply cannot understand why Mr. Williams and his client did not respond to our offer unless Lang Michener was guilty. The reader should understand that if Lang Michener had responded to our offer to settle and had provided the requested denial, under Oath, the case would have been dropped but Mr. Williams would no longer be able to bill his client. Why would Mr. Williams and Lang Michener continue in a lawsuit when they had the opportunity to settle so easily? Could it be that Lang Michener cannot provide the denial under Oath because that would be tantamount to perjury? Could it be that Mr. Williams is cheating his client?
Lang Michener hired the Ottawa law firm of Williams McEnery to defend its interests in the Federal Court lawsuit and, in our opinion, the conduct of Mr. Williams in the litigation suggest our suspicion that Lang Michener acted as a double agent are correct.
Firstly, Mr. Williams has never filed a Statement of Defense on behalf of Lang Michener denying any of the allegations against his client. When we were first contacted by Mr. Williams he asked we not take any steps against his client so he could get full instructions and file a Statement of Defense. We think this was a ruse because on April 3, 2008, Mr. Williams issued A Motion to Dismiss our lawsuit after deceiving us about his intentions. A Statement of Defense has never been filed.
Secondly, upon receiving the Lang Michener Motion to Dismiss, we immediately wrote to Mr. Williams and generously offered to withdraw our claim against Lang Michener if Lang Michener would provide us with an affidavit or statutory declaration from Mr. Sosnow denying, under Oath, the allegations made against him and, Mr. Williams, instead of accepting our generous and reasonable offer to settle, has refused to respond in anyway to the offer.
Thirdly, a few days after we posted this page about Lang Michener online, we sent an e-mail Mr. Williams requesting he review our posting and advise of any inaccuracies and, finally, we have received a response from Mr. Williams objecting to any reference to Lang Michener on this web site.
The letter from Mr. Williams makes assumptions of fact and allegations that are totally incorrect. Firstly, Ms. Gibbs is not and has never been the wife of Mr. Carten as asserted by Mr. Williams. Secondly, Mr. Williams, falsely asserts that this web site has alleged that "Lang Michener is said to be a “double agent” somehow involved in a conspiracy with a competitor to your firm Sunbelt in the business you wished to operate".
The reader can search this website high and low and there is no statement where Mr. Carten pretends that Sun Belt was his firm or that Mr. Carten intended to operate the business of Sun Belt. Mr. Williams is either mistaken or attempting to infer an improper motive on Mr. Carten's part. Further, we have not alleged, on this web site, that Lang Michener was in fact "a double agent". That is an allegation that we made in the Statement of Claim which will be proved or disproved in the lawsuit.
You, the reader, should draw your own conclusions.
We have alleged that, in our opinion, Lang Michener and Mr. Sosnow acted corruptly, deceitfully, and unethically. This is an opinion that is based on a series of extraordinary co-incidences involving Lang Michener.
Lang Michener, 20 months after the lawsuit was commenced, finally denied our allegations in a lawyer's letter that was filled with inaccuracies and mistakes.
Notwithstanding, Mr. Williams' response, we have not received an answer to our request for a denial, under Oath, by Lang Michener that will rebut the allegation in our Statement of Claim that Lang Michener was a double agent for an, as yet, unidentified party.
In our opinion, the 17 month silence of Lang Michener on this issue and their failure to act certainly looks suspicious. An alternative possibility is that Mr. Williams has been running up his legal bill to enrich himself by failing to advise his client, Lang Michener, of our generous offer to settle the claim made shortly after he (Williams) was retained to act for Lang Michener. Lawyers have been known to cheat their clients in this way in the past and we simply cannot understand why Mr. Williams and his client did not respond to our offer unless Lang Michener was guilty. The reader should understand that if Lang Michener had responded to our offer to settle and had provided the requested denial, under Oath, the case would have been dropped but Mr. Williams would no longer be able to bill his client. Why would Mr. Williams and Lang Michener continue in a lawsuit when they had the opportunity to settle so easily? Could it be that Lang Michener cannot provide the denial under Oath because that would be tantamount to perjury? Could it be that Mr. Williams is cheating his client?