Family Guide to Mental Illness and the Law by Linda Tashbook

Author:Linda Tashbook
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2019-03-18T16:00:00+00:00

Challenge 3: Participating in the Legal Process

The legal process is a rigid collection of rules that are manipulated by opposing parties for the dual purposes of milking every benefit for themselves and thwarting every possible move from the other side. It is incredibly slow. Everything takes a long time, even the evidence gathering. While the lawyer sends requests for documents, waits for the documents to come, and then reads through everything, the plaintiff has little to do with the case but wonder what is going on. The depositions will be scheduled far in advance, but they can still be delayed or rescheduled. The transcripts of the depositions will take a while to come; they have to be reviewed and revised before the lawyers can use them.

As each lawyer files pleadings with the court, the other lawyer will look for problems with them. The lawyers will file motions asking the court to exclude each other’s evidence. They will petition for delays. They will each argue that the other has violated rules.

All of this fussing and stalling happens around the plaintiff, not with the plaintiff. He is not a part of the action. He is in limbo, waiting for a resolution. He may be ready to turn his attention elsewhere. At some point, depending on the jurisdiction, the court may order the parties to try to resolve the matter through mediation or negotiation. This detour away from the traditional court process involves selecting a neutral negotiator or mediator, working out schedules so that the employer, the employee, their lawyers, and the employee’s supportive family member (should he want one there) can all attend as many mediation or arbitration sessions as it takes to either reach a resolution or to conclude that the case should go to trial.

If the parties reach a settlement in the alternative dispute resolution, at least the case will end, but the victimized employee will not have had his day in court. Mediation and arbitration have the benefit of being calm and peaceful ways to resolve disputes, but when all is said and done, some people are disappointed that they didn’t get to experience courtroom drama. If the case does proceed to court, members of the public can show up to watch it—friends, enemies, and strangers. And the record of the trial will be available to people who go looking for it later. The mental health records likely will not become part of the public record, but references to the employee’s mental health condition will be in other case documents since it is a central theme in the case.

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