Editor’s Comment:
Dr. Karin Huffer writes in the Preface to her book, Overcoming the Devastation of Legal Abuse Syndrome:
*If you are deeply disillusioned and feeling oppressed as an American citizen, resulting from experience with our justice system you may be suffering from Legal Abuse Syndrome.
*If you’ve been a litigant in court and justice was not to be obtained at any price, you may be suffering from Legal Abuse Syndrome
*If you fantasize about an act of vigilante vengeance because it seems like the only resource, you may be suffering from Legal Abuse Syndrome
*If you’ve reported a crime and found that you were punished instead of the criminal, you may be suffering from Legal Abuse Syndrome
*If creativity and dreams have been left in the past because their development was ripped from you and torn to shreds by your protective systems, you may be suffering from Legal Abuse Syndrome
*If you feel numb, disconnected, and vulnerable, you may be suffering from Legal Abuse Syndrome
*If you feel that the “system” will defeat you at every turn and there is nothing you can do about it, you may be suffering from Legal Abuse Syndrome
*If you feel that you have been victimized twice, once by a perpetrator and then by your protective system, you may be suffering from Legal Abuse Syndrome
*If you feel that you are a decent and honorable taxpayer who’s been subjected to “cruel and unusual punishment” by lawyers, judges, and officers of the court, you may be suffering from Legal Abuse Syndrome
Anthony G Sousa, Esq. former United States Trustee for Region 17 covering bankruptcy administration for the Northern and Eastern districts of California and the district of Nevada who writes the Foreward to Huffer’s book, states, ”Competent, confident, outgoing entrepreneurs are reduced to “shell-shocked” paranoia, unable to make the most basic decisions. Polite, law-abiding individuals are transformed into raging extremists, after being lulled unsuspectingly in many cases into believing that they will emerge from bankruptcy able to pick up the pieces with a fresh start. Karin Huffer’s book, in my opinion, is a most timely and worthy effort to explain the trauma and pain suffered by those who have been victimized by legal abuse.”
While this book covers a wide spectrum of legal abuses, every homeowner enmeshed in this legal quagmire, in this maze of foreclosure issues, would benefit from reading this book. It is a testimony to our struggle. Huffer understands and describes what we live on a daily basis. The roller coaster feelings of devastation, isolation, confusion, betrayal, shame, anger, terror, overwhelm, grief, pain, fatigue and much more has finally been heard, analyzed, validated and given a name, Legal Abuse Syndrome (LAS), a subcategory of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which falls in statutes under the Americans with Disabilities Act. While writing in detail of the eight steps to recovery, Huffer’s book gives empowerment to our efforts. She holds back no punches to the lawyers and legal systems who betrayed us at every turn. She includes an extensive bibliography, a comprehensive listing of Resources for the Empowerment of the Ordinary Person, questionnaires and worksheets for those who have been victimized, a news release from Congress in reference to the corruption in the federal bankruptcy system, sample letters to be used, and definitions. Huffer’s work is a tremendous resource and a beam of light. Further information can be found on her website: www.equalaccessadvocates.com. To purchase her book go to: www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Devastation-Legal-Abuse-Syndrome/dp/0964178605
Dr. Huffer conducts “Beyond Rage” seminars and also serves as an expert witness. To request specifics you can write to her at: legalabuse@gmail.com and khuffer@lvaallc.com As stated in the Reader Summary of Diogenes the magazine, Fall edition, 2005, “Courts are accepting diagnoses of psychiatric injury as a subcategory of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and respecting psychological treatment provided by distance services allowing for more accurate diagnoses and needs to be communicated to the court. Both Daubert and Frye standards have been met by focusing on access to the court using creative means to accommodate PTSD sufferers. Medicare, Medicaid and most insurance companies recognize and approve distance therapy by qualified professionals as compensable.” It is encouraging to know that the American Disabilities Act includes the category of PTSD with LAS as a subcategory.
There are millions of us who have been ripped to shreds, lost everything we held dear, had the paths of our lives immeasurably changed by a system that was supposed to protect us. What this means to us as members of this society, and where this will end up, I’m not sure. But I am sure without a doubt that slowly, there is recognition of what we are living.
Dr. Huffer includes a firm warning to those who would use the information in her book to damage or discredit any citizen in any manner:
“Legal Abuse Syndrome is a natural and normal response to an abnormal, unnatural, cumulative trauma, as with all post traumatic stress disorders. Any attempt by any person to discredit an individual’s testimony, character, or actions due to their suffering from LAS is to clearly demonstrate the aberrant nature of our system of problem-solving. Any ally of civilization must clearly identify such behavior as abusive, put a halt to destructive actions, and devote their energies to restoration of victims of the “system”.
Social Security Disability damages are awarded by the Social Security Administration. If there is a dispute, then there is a hearing. While you can also take the information about the emotional and psychological damage that’s been done to you into court, if you begin with this, it will not help your case. Dr. Huffer’s research will never prove wrongful foreclosure. The wording of the new diagnosis might permit the award of social security disability benefits without any proof of a wrongful foreclosure, but it’s important to know that she only provides information on the personal toll the legal fight has taken on your life. This is a very important distinction to make.
This is not a magic bullet. If you want social security disability benefits you can’t simply say you have been injured. You have to have been injured as of the time to the point of filing for the benefits and as of the time of the review or the decision that you are unable to work. And the claim is not that your work is not as good as it was, but must be that you are unable to work. So for example, if you’re a lineman for the electrical company and your job is to climb a ladder and you lost your leg, there’s a good chance you’ll get disability. That’s why you need a good and experienced attorney for these disability claims as well.
There are other facets to consider in how these disability claims may affect your court case. For example, if someone is being medicated can they testify? It puts them in a catch-22. On the other side of it, there’s the, “we’ve got to take a break” strategy due to the stress and the lawyer and client talk during the break.
In closing we recommend you buy and read this book. Is it required reading for all the classifications of people? It depends on the context. In the sense that everyone should read the book to understand the impact on society of this crisis, is one thing, but if the implication is that this information might change the results of foreclosure hearings, it won’t.
Here are some other reviews of Dr. Huffer’s work:
“As a trial attorney for over 20 years (principally plaintiff cases involving legal malpractice), i can unequivocally state that this book is mandatory reading for everyone coming into contact with the legal system” Philip A Putnam Esq
“The intangible health problems associated with the legal system in America have created a social malady. Physicians must respond now to this legal cancer which has driven this nation into economic and moral bankruptcy.” Cary Savitch, MD, FACP Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine UCLA
“Huffer describes how many victims of white-collar crime, court abuse and bureaucratic bungling have come to suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of having brushed up against various phases of our legal system.” - Alan M. Dershowitz, Professor, Harvard Law School
“A must-read self-preservation guide for anyone who is caught up in civil litigation.” Ken Johnson, Victim/Litigant
“All courthouse personnel and public interest lawyers who wish to see citizen litigants given the proper opportunities for their day in court will find some background material and answers to help in solving this growing problem through the device of Karin Huffer’s treatise, Overcoming the Devastation of Legal Abuse Syndrome.” - Frank Alan Herch, Esq., Director Clark County Law Library
“Should be required reading for all attorneys, judges and jurors, bureaucrats, regulators–all those who work for the legally instituted protective systems.” Lorne Quigley, Veteran of Viet Nam War
