purple, I am working with a new attorney who is trying to fix my case against my neighbor. She doesn't do malpractice suits and while she was really upset at how badly my case was mishandled, I get the feeling that all she wants to do is "fix" and doesn't want to get involved with taking action on another attorney. Attorney's do not like to do that, they have this kind of "legal relationship network" that they establish with each other during their practices because they often "do" interact and negotiate with each other so much.

The attorney that I had that handled my case "badly" used to be a very well known successful and respected attorney. He should have stopped practicing years ago but was stubborn and trying to hang on in spite of how the dementia was getting worse and compromising his memory and ability to actually "do tasks". When people develop dementia they try to deny it and they can dress and act as though they are smart and capable, however, upon closer inspection the reality is they can't remember and struggle to do tasks more and more, they can also have a short temper, which I experienced with him. He would make appointments and forget, also forget what he wanted to talk about, he would forget depositions, even when I begged him to remember. My now ex-attorney used to be part of a firm who dismantled and I knew that was to distance from him to avoid liability, but feeling sorry for him as he insisted on continuing to practice.

To give you an example of how bad it was I only got to get part of the opposing side deposing me in. That deposition ended with me going into flashbacks because the opposing attorney asked me which horse/pony got injured the worst. I had not even considered that kind of question, while one was very valuable dollar wise, to me they were all valuable, I loved them all and had spent so many years training and working with them that can't really be given a dollar value either. I actually could not answer and as I mentioned looking down at a diagram I had drawn trying to answer that question just threw me right into a flashback. People don't get what that means, it is embarrassing and not something I can "just" stop either.

I wanted to complete the deposition, get it over with, and my ex attorney failed to remember and inform me of the scheduled depositions the opposing side set with him to get that completed. Even when I literally "begged him to please remember and let me know" he still forgot and there is a failure to appear in my court files. He even filed the complaint wrong, thankfully he did mention that in the deposition I did have, however the opposing side with my new attorney tried to fight the correction. It has been almost 4 years and I still haven't completed being deposed. When I say "it is bad" believe me, it's bad.

I don't know if I can do a malpractice and at the same time keep my case going. I tried to ask about that and got the impression that was not something my new attorney wants to do/consider/take action on even though she was livid to see how badly my case was behind and mishandled and she knows my ex-attorney is losing it mentally.

Again, I would like to find an attorney that could advise me so I know what to do, without my new attorney knowing and who may get upset that I might upset the applecart somehow. The entire scenario has been and continues to be very triggering and at times outright crippling as far as how it really aggravates the PTSD.

My therapist has told me that in his years of experience with patients and attorneys, attorneys are very black and white and don't understand how crippling PTSD can be. I pray every day that the research being done on the brain and PTSD will be able to finally really show how keeping a person tied up in a lawsuit for "years" is very hard on the brain and out right "cruel" and "inhumane".

My neighbor is being protected by his insurance company, so it isn't costing him or really affecting their lives or financial status. Insurance companies have these attorney's on their payroll and the entire goal is to "avoid paying out on claims and to tie up the process and draw it out as long as possible so the person suing gets very warn down to a point where they will just want it over and be willing to settle for a fraction of the suit. I have read a lot about it and I can't believe how this "intentional prolonging" can be allowed to take place. Also it is common for "low ball settlements" to be offered right near Christmas with the idea that the plaintiff will be thinking about money for the holiday, and may give in.

A lawyer is only part of the game really, and develops a thick skin mindset and thinks mostly about "their own piece of the pie". They typically look at a case for overall dollar value and get a good idea how much they will be able to negotiate with the opposing attorney. Over the years they get to know the other players and they basically wheel and deal with each other with professional understandings that the average person doesn't really see or know about. That is why a malpractice attorney is not something many attorney's want to be a part of. That is why all my efforts to try to reach out for help with my other attorney was not anything other attorneys wanted to get involved with, he was well known and no one wants to touch that, even if he was "losing it".

It has been so hard to first have to deal with so much loss from a neighbor who is intrusive, disrespectful and out right negligent, and then see how "he" has more protection then "I" have. Even the police have been covering up because they did not come out when I called. They didn't realize that because they refused to come out, that because my livestock was my livelihood and not just pets, I could actually have sued them.

Honestly, I could go on and on about how bad it has really been. We think we have protection, but if anything done or isn't done is "wrong" somehow, it becomes every man for himself and the victim gets victimized over and over. And none of these people even know what PTSD means and all I can say is "thank god at least my T gets it".

I am so sorry for anyone who struggles, I truly know first hand how crippling it can be, and lonely, very lonely too. But I am thankful that at least PTSD is known about, and, that people are trying very hard every day to study it and find ways to help those who suffer from it. Someday, our technology will show how what I have endured is " like waterboarding and torturing and extremely cruel".

OE