i think at some point you have to decide to either fight or quit. child abuse or not..really it has nothing to do with it.

an opposing lawyer will try to word things to trick you..it's their job...they don't really care the background of the person..they care about winn9ing their case..that is what pays their bills. so really if someone gets their feelings hurt..well that is bad but honestly, it's better it is you than their client.

your lawyer is being negligent...either due to his age, health or just laziness.

your options are:

do thing & continue as you are.
file a complaint against him & get a new lawyer.
drop the complaint.

etc...these have all been mentioned before.

honestly you could win this case & relations with your neighbor will probably still suck...at some point tho YOU HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO & DO IT. you can post here a million times & talk all you want & people will listen BUT you have to do something.

i have been thru bad abuse as a child & been thru some nasty legal situations as well...there is a time tio wallow & then a time to fight as well as a time to know when the battle is useless. doesn't mean you are a bad person but it means there might just be no sense in time or money being wasted on a situation that won't improve with winning the case.

maybe mediation is the way for this case...i don't know...butfor your health it seems like it is time to get off the fence post & make a decision....& then stick with it...you can't fix what has been done to your animals etc...but you can make a decision to move on either by keeping the case open & forcing a change with a new lawyer etc, or dropping it..whatever...but what i think will work is to make a decsion. YOU..not us..but YOU. what will realistically make it work for you.