Lisa Coulter was the court-appointed settlement judge for my case. I had experienced emotional and psychological damages from my experiences with the plaintiff, and he sued me after I attempted to expose the corruption in his business. Lisa convinced us to settle, but drafted an unenforceable settlement agreement, allowing us to work out the terms ourselves. I think that she assumed that the plaintiff was telling the truth, but in reality this gave him more opportunity to use the lawsuit to hurt me, both emotionally and financially. They sent us terms that no one in their right mind would agree to, such as a clause stating that I would acknowledge everything I said about him was a lie. The plaintiff’s attorney also did such highly ethical things such as filing motions with the court without notifying me, and repeatedly ignoring any attempts made to communicate with him.
She had added a clause to the settlement agreement stating that we would return to Coulter if we couldn’t work out the terms, but during a time when I represented myself, her secretary told me that she wouldn’t work with me unless I had a lawyer, which was not in the settlement agreement.
Almost a year later, I attempted to move forward with the lawsuit with the hopes of defending myself, recouping my attorneys fees, and perhaps exposing the plaintiff’s corruption in the process. We were sent back to Coulter for another settlement conference, and she stated that she would advise the judge not to award me attorney’s fees after I refused to settle. I had accumulated almost $12,000 in attorneys fees almost a YEAR after my initial settlement conference with Lisa.
Integrity comes in many forms, and I believe willfully refusing to look at evidence contradicting what you WANT to believe shows a lack of integrity.
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