Tuesday, December 30, 2008

$1,077.75 - Yikes! You jest of course?

Murray Norman Trachtenberg
Tansi/Good Day Readers:
Was surfing the internet recently looking for "postables" we could scavenge and found this on one of our favourite sites, Truth To Power (http://www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com) operated anonymously by a Canadian lawyer. It's an article about old friend MMF lawyer Murray Norman Trachtenberg.
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
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You be the judge Canadian taxpayers - good use of your hard earned dollars?
by Clare L. Pieuk
As originally posted on: CyberSmokeBlog.blogspot.com
August 29, 2007
Tansi/Good Day Folks:
Mr. Murray Norman ($Happy$) Trachtenberg invoices the MMF at the rate of at least $250/hour. How much do you figure this letter cost to produce? From where in the Federation's budget are the funds being taken? Which of YOUR programs, Manitoba Metis, are suffering as a result?
Fellow Blogger Derryl Sanderson (http://www.derrylsanderson.blogspot.com/) recently asked the Manitoba Metis Federation for $330 to help cover the cost of his young son's upcoming football season. Well, guess what? Surprise he was turned down - wonder why?
Maybe the MMF has run out of taxpayer dollars for those activities which really matter.
To date how much of your hard earned taxpayer dollars has the MMF been billed on this file?
An educated guess - over $100,000! For what?
So what say you Readers should this Blog pay Murray Norman (Billable) Trachtenberg at least $1,077.25 to get copies of all those documents so they can be posted on the internet for the world to see?
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
Distribution List:
abatra@shawbiz.ca (Canadian Taxpayers Federation)
Allan Fineblit, B.A., LL.B., Q.C.
Chief Executive Officer
Law Society of Manitoba
219 Kennedy Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C1S8
Telephone: (204) 942-5571
Facsimile: (204) 956-0624
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POSNER & TRACHTENBERG
Barristers, Solicitors & Notaries Public
710-491 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E4
Gerald S. Posner Manitoba & Ontario Bars
Murray N. Trachtenberg B.A., LL.B.
Direct Line: (204) 940-9602
_____________________________________________
August 28, 2007
Mr. Clare L. Pieuk
2 - 371 Des Meurons Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba R2H 2N6
Dear Mr. Pieuk:
I acknowledge receipt of your email dated August 26, 2007 requesting that I provide you with copies of all documents referred to in Schedule A of my client's affidavit of documents being 1-118 inclusive.
Before embarking on any photocopying in accordance with your request, satisfactory arrangements will have to be made to secure the photocopying costs to which my client is entitled to be paid by you. As you are well aware, the amount of photocopying you have requested is very substantial and the cost for same will also be substantial.
Copies of the documents you have requested will be provided at the rate of $.25 per page. This rate is the same as that charged by other legal firms in the city for photocopying.
With respect to your request, I respond in detail as follows:
1. The majority of documents listed in Schedule A indicate how many pages each document is. The total of those so indicated is 498 x $.25 = $124.50 plus tax.
2. Documents no. 115 is the pleadings. I expect that you are already in possession of most if not all of these as you and/or your former counsel Mr. Niederhoffer were served with all affidavits, motion briefs and other documents filed on behalf of the plaintiffs. I enclose a Manitoba Courts "File Details" listing dated August 27, 2007 itemizing the 105 entries to date. If there is something on this list that you do not have, you may obtain same from the Court of Queen's Bench. Alternatively, once you identify the specific item/items that you are requesting, I will be in a position to advise you as to the estimated cost of complying with your request.
3. Document no. 116 is "routine correspondence with defendants." I have sent to you and all responses you have sent to me. I will not photocopy these documents unless you advise me of a specific item you are looking for that you do not have.
4. Document no. 117 is "routine correspondence between counsel." All correspondence I had with your pervious counsel Mr. Niederhoffer will be in the file he maintained on your behalf while he represented you. You should make arrangements with him. If you have not already done so, to obtain that file.
5. Document no 118 is a "box of documents containing bundles of documents produced by Mr. Pieuk in May, 2006." These are the documents you provided to me following the issuance of the order of Justice McCawley. According to your website posting of May 13, 2006, three deliveries of documents to this office was described as "To date, that makes 1,545 pages carefully indexed and catelogued for future reference." Assuming your count is accurate, the cost of photocopying production no. 118 would be $386.25 plus tax.
6. Document no. 114 is a letter from Mr. Hannon dated June 21, 2007 and enclosures. Mr. Hannon retunned to me the documents that you had provided to Manitoba Aboriginal and Northern Affairs. Production no 114 consists of 424 pages and the cost of photocopying same would be $106.00 plus tax.
7. Document no. 110 is a letter from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada and enclosures. There are doucments that you provided to the Office of the Auditor Genreal of Manitoba and which were then provided to the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. At present. we have not determeined the exact number of pages for document on. 110. It would appear that document no. 110 has at least as many pages as does document no. 118 or perhaps more. For ther purpose of this letter, I will set the estimated cost of photocopying at $400.00 plus tax.
Please provide me with either a band draft, money order or certified cheque in the amount of $1,077.75 to be applied towards the cost of photocopying the documents you have requested.
Please understand that this is an estimate only. It does not include copying any part of document no. 115. I expect that the acutual page count, once the task has been completed, will result in an additional charge being submitted to you for payment.
I look forward to receipt of payment and your response with regard to Document no. 115.
Yours truly,
MURRAY N. TRACTENBERG
MNT/lecEnc.
Editorial Comment: Sure Murray Trachtenberg, how would you like it in $10 and $20's?

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