What an awful hearing I'm slogging through today. The attorney is the most miserable I ever have to deal with. He's in Queens, New York. I probably shouldn't say his name. I've dealt with him on many occasions, and he is essentially a terrorist when it comes to hearings. I've seen him bring hearings and judges to their knees. He's doing it again. How he thinks this serves his clients' interests is beyond me. I can imagine that a judge might be tempted to find against his client, just because they can't stand him.
He constantly interrupts those testifying, the judges, and the experts. He is rude and hostile, and he challenges everything. Everything! He accuses judges and medical experts of being biased. He even writes about this, and his flailings can be found on line. He raises his voice during hearings, talks over people, and seems devoted to derailing the hearings. It is not infrequent that judges will tell him he has to control himself, or they will suspend and have to reschedule the hearings. Hearings with him take significantly longer than with other attorneys, because he won't stay on track and/or shut up. Attorneys in New York are peculiarly uninhibited and combative, but this guy takes the cake.
Today, he stopped a hearing for a while, asserting that perhaps the recording might not be working. While this was being investigated, he took another swipe at the judge, noting that he recalled another time the recording failed "conveniently" at a time the judge "wanted the case to go away." As it turns out, the recording was working fine. It appears he invented his concern, to keep the hearing off balance. And never mind the vile accusation of the judge.
He's also an avid letter-writer to higher authorities. He has turned in judges for accusations of bias, and he once wrote to a judge to request that the judge surrender me to the Attorney General's Office for criminal investigation, based on his conclusion that I lied about something. Five of the judges in that office are being sued for bias. It appears this attorney is behind it.
This attorney is clearly a very disturbed person. He is belligerent, uncivilized, and seems to me to be almost paranoid. He is completely unmanageable in a hearing. And the funny thing is I met him once. I went to NY to do hearings, and he was one of the attorneys. He dresses well and looks normal. Apparently, he's very intelligent. He got his BS in Psychology from UVA, Magna Cum Laude, and his law degree from Penn. If he didn't open his mouth, you'd never know how grossly dysfunctional he is.
I know, this blog is supposed to be about BP, and I'm ventilating about a problem hearing in NY. What's the hearing got to do with BP? Yes, I suppose you're right. This hearing is just a real and crushing drag. I'm stuck in the middle of it, and it's on my mind.
PS: The hearing is over. Hearings take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, with the occasional hearing taking an hour and a half. This one took just under four hours. What a waste of time and life. Though I'm sure the attorney would say he was only pursuing adequate advocacy for his client. He has not the slightest sense of proportion, and not much reality-testing, either.
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