TTSOML #73: PLF Retracts Offer

When I went to the Oregon State Bar, about my lawyer's sudden withdrawal after stringing things out too long, they referred me to the Professional Liability Fund, which I had already made a complaint about to the FBI, to no one's knowledge except, I suppose a couple at the Porltand field office.

I went to their offices and they said they'd set me up with one of their lawyers to draft my claims, so I didn't lose out on statutes. They knew it would be impossible for me to find a lawyer who was able to do this in just 2 weeks, without researching my claim, and I really didn't have the money, because my lawyer had taken the case on a contingency basis. I was a poor college student at the time, enrolled FT in classes.

So they said they'd do this, and they obtained my file for me and a copy of the retainer. I had told my friend Christa, when she asked, that I had a copy but I was going to request another copy from the PLF to see if my lawyer refused to give it to them, or tried to lie about having one. So, I told her, I wanted him to think I didn't have a copy at all, and actually, I didn't have a copy of my own that I could find (at my house) but I told her I'd made more than one and that I could use this. So all of a sudden, after he refuses to give me a copy, the Bar finally obtained it. That was how I got my copy.

But then, things changed. After the PLF person in charge took my case and said he was giving me a lawyer, telling me he couldn't guarantee quality but only that something would be filed so I didn't miss out on the claim, he contacted Dick Whittemore. Who, of course, was the lead attorney for Mt. Angel Abbey. After speaking with Whittemore, I guess, he decided not to give me a lawyer and told me I could find my own lawyer. I think it was that he said their lawyers would help draft ONE of my claims but not both. There was one against the Abbey and one for defamation by The Willamette Week. At any rate, he tells me, out of the blue, with about ONE WEEK to spare, that the PLF will not give me a lawyer. I think he was also mad because I'd disagreed with one of their lawyers about how to write the claim...

So, the PLF guy, who was the supervisor for the entire department, and whom, I found out, was also Catholic and friends with Whittemore, retracted the offer. I was wondering about him because first I got someone from the PLF who seemed to be reasonable, and then it was transfered to this other guy.

So this other guy, I think to make a "show" of good faith, told me the PLF would give me $1,000 to pay for a lawyer of my own to draft the complaints.

I thought it was interesting I had received another "$1,000" offer. He didn't tell me how he'd come to this amount, and it didn't make sense. Every lawyer I spoke with snorted at the idea, saying that wouldn't even pay for the time for a lawyer to talk to me more than one day. They all said it would take time to prepare and fill themselves in on the fact, and that no lawyer would jeopardize their own reputation by putting something together without preparation.

All of the lawyers I talked to felt the PLF wasn't being fair at all, and had rather tried to insult me. They said it wasn't enough money to pay a lawyer,number one, and so they would know probably no one would take it. They also said, EVEN IF they took it, no lawyer in their right mind had the time to draft a complaint, brought to them out of the blue, within a week.

I knew I had to make an effort, or I wouldn't be able to sue the PLF, of all things, if I missed out on my complaint entirely. So I kept a record and sent them emails about how many lawyers I'd contacted and how all of them were saying they didn't have enough time. So I kept asking the PLF to please help me draft the complaint because no one else, found on my own, would do it.

The PLF wouldn't do anything. The $1,000 wasn't enough to even pay someone, and then there were filing fees and service fees besides. There were costs. I would have to serve all these parties to get it going and make it effective.

Finally, one lawyer said to me, "You're best bet is to draft it yourself. Just put something in writing." I was told to find a sample of the format of a complaint at a courthouse. They recommended I look at a sample by one of the lawyers who was taking cases against the church for sexual abuse of children. They recommended Greg Smith/Dan Gatti or David Slader.

I was going to have to draft my own legal complaints. In ONE week.

I was so pissed off about it, I was even more determined to get it done. I suppose that was the turning point for me, and I ended up surprising myself and, I think, everyone else.