Lawyers of wrongfully convicted man blame each other in lawsuits

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This article was published 12/06/2024 (451 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two law firms accused of bungling a man’s compensation case after he was wrongly convicted of murder are pointing the finger at each other in their own court filings.

Frank Ostrowski, now in his mid-70s, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1987 after being accused of orchestrating the cocaine-trafficking-related shooting death of 22-year-old Robert Nieman. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

His conviction was stayed in the Manitoba Court of Appeal in 2018, nine years after he was released on bail pending a federal review of the case.

He filed a $16-M wrongful-conviction lawsuit against multiple defendants in 2020, but the suit was turfed in 2022 after a Court of King’s Bench judge ruled Ostrowski had taken too long to pursue legal action against nearly all of the people he sued.

In December, Ostrowski and his new lawyers, Joe Aiello and Franco Aiello, filed a lawsuit against the lawyers who represented him in the 2020 case.

They contend those lawyers breached their contracts and were negligent.

That lawsuit argues his former lawyers should have advised Ostrowski of the limitation period and failed to file suit against the province and two Crown prosecutors connected to the 1987 case.

The defendants are Winnipeg firm PKF Lawyers and lawyer Thomas G. Frohlinger, as well as Windsor, Ont. law firm Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP and two of its lawyers.

In separate statements of defence and cross claims, PKF Lawyers and Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP have denied wrongdoing and say the other is to blame. Both sides have asked for the court to dismiss Ostrowski’s lawsuit, with costs.

In April court documents, filed by Winnipeg firm Fillmore Riley LLP on behalf of Windsor firm Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP, the Windsor lawyers said the firm was first retained by Ostrowski in 2008 to consider and advise him about the possibility of pursuing a civil claim in connection with the murder trial.

At that point, the Windsor lawyers said, no courts had found whether Ostrowski’s rights had been violated or if a miscarriage of justice had occurred.

In May 2020, the Windsor lawyers allege, Ostrowski engaged the PKF Lawyers to represent him and act as co-counsel in the civil claim seeking damages.

Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP allege they relied on the Winnipeg firm to advise them about Manitoba law applicable to Ostrowski’s civil claim, including statutory provisions and limitations.

“This was the very purpose for which the PKF defendants were retained,” the Windsor defendants say in court documents.

The Windsor lawyers filed a cross claim against the PKF lawyers, seeking indemnity or contribution for any amount of money they might be found liable, as well as costs.

In court documents filed June 7 by Brandon firm Meighen Haddad LLP, PKF Lawyers said they were never retained by Ostrowski. The PKF lawyers claim they were retained by the Windsor lawyers in June 2020 as agents to review the format of Ostrowski’s lawsuit for compliance with Manitoba court rules, file it at the Winnipeg courthouse, and serve notice of the suit to the defendants, as well as provide office space.

PKF Lawyers said they were initially contacted by the Windsor lawyers to deal with Ostrowski’s bankruptcy in court in May 2020 and were never retained to provide an opinion about his lawsuit, including the limitation period.

PKF Lawyers said the Windsor lawyers held themselves out as experienced in civil litigation, including in wrongful convictions, and as knowledgeable of Manitoba law.

The Winnipeg firm said they were retained and got involved well after Nov. 7, 2019, which the King’s Bench judge ruled was the expiry date for Ostrowski to begin or continue a claim.

Those defendants also filed a cross claim against the Windsor defendants, seeking indemnity or contribution for any amount of money they might be found liable, as well as costs.

The Court of Appeal ruled in 2018 that an undisclosed prosecution deal with a police informant, among other undisclosed evidence, had resulted in a miscarriage of justice in Ostrowski’s case.

The 2020 lawsuit included the federal attorney general, a retired Manitoba judge, retired defence lawyer and former Winnipeg police chief Herb Stephen as defendants. The $16-million suit claimed they had “wilfully disregarded” Ostrowski’s constitutional right to make full answer and defence to the charges against him.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca