High-profile lawyer gets 1-month suspension for professional misconduct

Christian Michaud, a high-profile Moncton-area lawyer, and former president of the Law Society of New Brunswick, has received a one-month suspension from a disciplinary panel after he was found to have breached confidentiality and other rules of professional conduct.

Michaud was the subject of a complaint filed to the law society on Feb. 4, 2021, by his estranged wife, referred to only by her initials in documents.

She accused Michaud of sending her emails that included confidential information about his clients and his former firm, of making threats such as to wage “legal war,” and of repeatedly failing to follow proper legal channels during the process of his divorce.

The complainant notified the society she wished to withdraw the complaint a couple of months later, but the registrar of complaints decided to continue the investigation.

“We still had questions that we needed answered,” said Joleen Dable, registrar and deputy executive director of the law society.

Joleen Dable is registrar of complaints with the Law Society of New Brunswick.

Michaud has had a high profile in New Brunswick — he co-represented former Campbellton doctor Jean-Robert Ngola, who was accused in 2020 of breaking COVID-19 rules by failing to isolate and of being the source of a deadly outbreak. Michaud was also accused of public nudity in 2020 after consuming what he said were “the wrong kind of mushrooms.”

‘Terrible mistakes,’ says Michaud

In his response to the complaint posted on the law society website, Michaud acknowledged having sent emails that contained confidential information and called them “terrible mistakes,” made in haste.

In one email, intended to let his then-wife know they could leave on vacation without worry, he forwarded details of a client’s out-of-court settlement.

In a couple of others, intended to seek personal advice, he talked about a possible conflict of interest on the part of another lawyer and a proposed new business relationship with the firm he used to work for.

“I was dealing with my duty to perform as a partner of that firm and my obligations to please my spouse.”

Michaud’s response indicates he left that firm and set up his own, Libersolus, in early 2020.

He contracted her to provide administrative support and office management in March 2020, and a couple of weeks later they separated.

At first, they used a mediation process during which Michaud represented himself.

Michaud said he thought they’d reached an agreement, but his wife ended up not signing it and hiring a different lawyer.

That’s when some of the other aspects of the complaint originated:

That Michaud sent an email to his estranged wife’s lawyer saying “We are going to make war.”

That he contacted her lawyer directly and repeatedly “in a threatening tone and with a threatening content.”

That he threatened to launch a new legal action against her and file a code of conduct complaint about her lawyer.

Any suspension represents a significant reprimand, says Norm Bosse, senior in-house counsel for discipline with the Law Society of New Brunswick.

The code of conduct for lawyers says they’re not allowed to make that kind of threat. They’re also supposed to refrain from communicating with another lawyer without consent or in abusive, offensive or unprofessional ways, be courteous and civil, and discharge their duties with integrity.

“I acknowledge that the tone of my emails showed some frustration with the situation,” wrote Michaud.

He said his reference to “going to war” meant he knew that without an agreement, they’d end up in litigation.

He said he was representing himself on certain “simple and trivial” aspects of the divorce to save money. And that his lawyer was unable to represent him “because of the pandemic and the fact that she had a young baby at home, which limited her ability to travel to the judicial district.”

Michaud eventually retained a new lawyer and the divorce was settled.

Suspensions ‘a big deal,’ says society

He and his lawyer at the disciplinary hearing, Sacha Morisset, filed a joint submission with Norm Bossé, senior in-house counsel for discipline with the law society, recommending a one-month suspension be taken by Sept 1.

The panel requested a fixed date, after which Michaud’s lawyer proposed April 1-30, in order to minimize the impacts on others and allow him to meet his commitments with clients.

Michaud was also ordered to pay $5,000 in legal costs to the society.

Any suspension represents a significant reprimand, said Bossé.

“It’s a big deal because suspensions, the notice of suspension is given to first of all the public via the website, there’s an announcement in the papers, it goes to all the judiciary, it goes to the entire body of lawyers — the law society.

“And … your clients when they see that kind of wonder, ‘What’s going on here?’ So to me, any suspension, whether it’s a month or two weeks, it’s a big deal.”