Legal Abuse Syndrome: A Psychic Injury Causing Invisible Disability

For some, the legal system can be a beacon of justice. It is effectively used by ICAN attorney Aaron Siri, Attorney Tom Rentz, CHD attorneys, Dr. Henry Ealy’s Grand Jury, and others. They are creatively and skillfully using the system as a last bastion to pursue truth and justice, denied elsewhere. It has resulted in victories that may save us from crimes against humanity perpetrated by asymmetrical powers.

For others, the omnipresent legal system colludes, entraps, exploits, outguns and sucks people into an inescapable black hole that can ruin lives. Anyone can be sued unfairly and forced to defend themselves against powers with resources in a rigged system they cannot match. I consider this one aspect of “the deep state.”

Manufactured conflicts and other problems that can be easily, creatively resolved and transformed with win-win outcomes in a few hours by restorative, reparative justice methods are diverted into needlessly hostile, adversarial, escalating conflicts that consume years and money.

My Comeback

I decided to write about Legal Abuse Syndrome today, though reluctantly, as a way of explaining my repeated absences during unwanted setbacks, as I am now gratefully in relationship with subscribers who mean a lot to me.

I ardently wish to publish more frequently. It has been excruciating to watch the world go by without being able to participate and contribute, especially recently as I wish to contribute as much as I can, shed some light on psychological dynamics and raise consciousness. Many articles are swimming in my head with drafts and notes for many months or years. Some are obsolete and might have done more good early on.

I also wish to inform the world about Legal Abuse Syndrome and accommodation which might empower and save some people from a worse fate. Some might wish to train to be advocates.

I cannot tell my story here except to say that over years my work has been severely disrupted by two correlated invisible disabilities. One is known as “sick building syndrome,” or CIRS, chronic inflammatory response syndrome from water damaged buildings, WDB. For me it is associated with toxigenic mold exposure from areas beyond my control. Symptoms include brain fog, neurological impairment of executive function, difficulty reading, writing, organizing, sleep disturbance, fatigue, joint stiffness and more. 24% of the population have a genetic marker that impairs processing of environmental toxins, which are not good for anybody.

The other is “Legal Abuse Syndrome,” a recognized form of PTSD and invisible disability for which accommodation can be required. A common symptom of LAS is going to your mailbox and having shortness of breath and racing heart rate anticipating or receiving letters from lawyers that condemn your fate beyond your control.

Ironically, my life is devoted to creative conflict transformation. After my unnecessarily adversarial divorce in 1996, I trained and practiced collaborative divorce as part of a team. I trained as a mediator and was affiliated with George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. I am the US Convener of Transcend International.  I will publish separately my “Best Case Scenario” alternative solution, a court-free system of problem-solving and conflict transformation.

Legal abuse can happen to anyone, no matter how well educated, proactive, socially skilled or highly trained in the precise techniques capable of amicably resolving the conflict, practiced by an outside neutral party, which was denied to me. As a third party, I could have easily and quickly mediated and transformed the conflict in a mutual beneficial way that I cannot as a second, less powerful party.

Legal abuse happens disproportionately to minorities, elderly, immigrants and other vulnerable populations, as well as to privileged, educated people who speak out about corruption or injustice.

What is Legal Abuse Syndrome?

I wish I had known about Legal Abuse Syndrome (LAS) long ago. It could have saved years of my life and career lost to unwanted, unwarranted, unnecessary litigation. I was calling my experience “Legal Trauma Stress Syndrome.”

During DC’s 2015 annual Whistleblowers Summit, a speaker mentioned “Legal Abuse Syndrome.” A light went on.

Thanks to the brilliance, hard work and vision of the late Karin Huffer of blessed memory, people who are outgunned and exploited by a legal deck stacked against them can bring an advocate which can make the difference between defeat and victory. She developed a training to become a certified advocate and wrote excellent books.

Legal Abuse Syndrome, LAS, coined by psychologist Dr. Karin Huffer, is a form of PTSD, described in the DSM 5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)

as an invisible disability. LAS is not a psychological disorder. It is a psychic injury caused by overwhelming abuse and injustice. The true cure is justice and vindication. 

LAS is a preventable public health issue. Federal courts are mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to make accommodations.

The legal system can and should protect people’s rights. Even in “free” societies, people are forced through an adversarial structure with rules and power dynamics that deny truth and justice. They can be dragged against their will through a costly, stressful, inescapable, endless, traumatic, adversarial process that can ruin lives, careers, health and fortunes.

Many conflicts can be resolved either directly or with a skillful third party using reparative, win-win, problem-solving mediation. Court “mediation,” embedded in the legal system is constrained by rules, structural limitations and a dualistic, adversarial mentality that trumps optimal dynamics and problem-solving approaches. It is not creative.

Diagnosing LAS arose from Dr. Huffer’s 40-year private practice as a marriage and family therapist as patients involved in litigation suffered from a traumatic stress preventing them from benefiting from therapy.

LAS is a diagnosable traumatic stress disorder resulting from the bullying, intimidation, and harassment tactics deliberately used against litigants during foreclosures, health-related bankruptcies, family court battles, probate, guardianship issues, false accusations, retaliations, and as other issues brought before a court. 

Legal Abuse Syndrome is a chronic “psycholegal” PTSD which impairs a victim’s ability to use their creative powers to defend against further assaults or to effectively fight for rights. LAS is a hidden factor exploited by unscrupulous attorneys, white-collar criminals, and abusers of authority. 

Legal Abuse Syndrome is a normal reaction to protracted litigation. Extreme stress is caused by feeling jeopardized and helpless at the same time. It is an invisible psychic injury except for the loss of functionality. The litigant knows something is wrong, but they do not put together the scenario that keeps perpetuating symptoms without the usual catastrophic events that cause PTSD.

“Warning: Protracted Litigation Can be Hazardous to Your Health” Excerpts

According to Huffer, you may be suffering from Legal Abuse Syndrome:

1) if you feel deeply disillusioned and oppressed as a result of your experience with the legal system;

2) if you have been frustrated in your effort to obtain justice;

3) if you feel your dreams and plans for your life were torn from you by a system that supposedly was there to protect your rights and property;

4) if you fear that the system will defeat you at every turn and there is nothing you can do about it; and

5) if you feel you have been victimized several times over by the perpetrators, by lawyers, judges, bailiffs and other court personnel.

As a consequence, you may suffer from tension and anxiety and have recurring nightmares, and you may also feel emotionally and physically exhausted, numb, disconnected and vulnerable.

Excerpts From the book Legal Abuse Syndrome by Karin Huffer

“A central point of Ms. Huffer’s book is that the victims in America are not only assaulted by crime, but also by the abuses of power and authority administered by tax dollars intended to provide due process of law for the protection of civil rights. Ms. Huffer observes that not only does the justice system move slowly, but delays are used as strategy by attorneys to weaken their opposition economically and emotionally and to provide hefty fees for attorneys. Ms. Huffer notes that when courts fail as a consequence of officially sanctioned wrongdoing it leaves victims and vigilantes in its trail. The rage of these victims accumulates when they are not provided a satisfying place to turn to. She concludes that the enormous betrayals and inefficiencies that make up bureaucratic post-crime experiences are literally attacking the emotional health of the nation. She recommends that the community of American citizens adopt the following:

1.  Oppression and abuse of power are injurious to the health of the victims. Domination by abusers of bureaucratic power threatens the very functionality of the public and private sections in our country.

2. Victims are not self-interested, narcissistic folks who sit around and wallow in their losses. They are courageous individuals who face their pain and care to right the wrongs. They participate in the collision of evil and good as it is classically intended in order to achieve balance. Denial is popular, but far less responsible.

3.  Trust is a social staple that must be protected just as earth and water must be protected to provide for survival. When trust is damaged the community suffers and society as a whole will eventually falter and collapse (Bok). Veterans of crime must exude zero tolerance for lying in courtrooms, lying in political campaigns, lying to cover-up, and deceptions through omission and nonperformance by public officials and public servants.”

From, Unlocking Justice

Litigants report that they were not prepared for a full-frontal attack when litigation put them under the toxic formulas used by the attorneys: 

Defy - Truth and procedure were defied 

Deny - Facts and law were ignored 

Delay - Time exceeded reason 

Deplete - Expense exceeded reason 

Destroy - Distortions replaced truth 

Devastate - Money/beliefs/hope gone 

Decay - System no longer useful to people 

It Doesn’t Matter

It doesn’t matter that I’m a taxpayer.

It doesn’t matter that I’m an American citizen.

It doesn’t matter that I’m a law-abiding person.

It doesn’t matter that I was ripped-off, violated, and betrayed.

It doesn’t matter that I was right.

It doesn’t matter that I don’t hurt other people.

It doesn’t matter that I have the evidence.

It doesn’t matter that the other person broke the law.

It doesn’t matter that he or she is clearly guilty.

It doesn’t matter that he or she is clearly wrong by all moral standards.

It doesn’t matter that a Constitution exists.

It doesn’t matter that I’m living like a fugitive in my own country.

It doesn’t matter that I’m a loyal employee.

It doesn’t matter that I’m a veteran who offered his life for his country.

It doesn’t matter that I paid more in attorney and legal fees than I earned this year.

It doesn’t matter that I told the truth.

Dr. Huffer’s Eight-Step Protocol

1. Reframing – repairs and relieves emotional trauma.

2. Debriefing – graphs your data creating two distinctly dissimilar courses – emotional issues versus legal issues.

3. Grieving – addresses the natural reaction to loss. Extreme grief is a new research topic that relates closely to losses forced by unbearable court orders and denial of equal access to justice.

4. De-shaming – discuses motivation toward either conscience or power. Abuse of power is self-serving. The majority of the population is motivated by their conscience and uses power to benefit society.

5. Obsessive-Compulsive Hypervigilance – Regaining Creative Control – Looks like obsessive-compulsive disorder and paranoia but is a normal reaction to the loss of control of one’s life.

6. Blaming – uses imagination and brings an inevitable and necessary sense of affordable justice.

7. Empowerment – teaches techniques to be used during stresses of litigation, self-protects, and confronts ethical challenges.

8. Recovery – orchestrates the healing protocols into a rhythm of self-assertion and skilled management of trauma in the face of abuse, injustice, anywhere at any time.

Copyright © 2018 Equal Access Advocates

“Black Becomes White, Up Becomes Down, Wrong Becomes Right And No One Cares”

Conclusion

Forced litigation is a shock and ruins lives. Many people naively get sucked into the inescapable black hole of the legal system.

Karin Huffer’s diagnosis of LAS, writing and developing training for advocates is an immeasurable gift. If more people know about it, and educate judges and lawyers, perhaps we can save a few lives and turn the tide.

Legal reform is needed, but better yet, an offramp from the legal system to court-free problem-solving and conflict transformation. See my next article, Best Case Scenario.Solutions.