>Nice, eh? Even nicer: They can keep doing it and doing it and doing
>it. Anyone can file a complaint pro se or hire an attorney, pay the
>filing fee, and force you to hire an attorney to file another motion
>to get it nullified.
Why do you have to hire a lawyer? Obviously this would put you in a lose-lose situation.
Maybe this is a male thing but faced with that sort of situation I would (and have) adopted quite a different strategy. Accept that you are in a lose-lose situation, but see to it that the other fellow in is in the same boat.
This would give you the advantage, because the other guy apparently has much more to lose. So if you both lose, he loses much more than you. Once he realises his position, he'll run a mile. (Personally, I would then pursue the bastard like a berserker hound, but I'm a bit mad.)
"How do I do that?" I hear you ask. Well you've done the wrong thing. You have to sack the lawyer and do it all yourself. File your own documents, research the law obsessively, appear in court personally, the lot. (You'll almost certainly do a better job anyhow, though it would be a bit tedious.)
This will cost you nothing except time. Which being unemployed you can easily convince the other fellow you have an unlimited amount of. Further striking fear into his heart. When in court, act as though you are enjoying yourself immensely and look as though you hope it will never end. Remember, this fellow is paying a lawyer, so drag it out. Write endless long letters to his lawyer, which his lawyer will charge exhorbitant fees to pretend to read. Whenever his lawyer tries to play legal tricks and ambush you in court (which is the instinctive response of lawyers to facing an opponent of the unprofessional persuasion) simply ask for another adjournment to research the surprise argument and complain about the unprofessional conduct of the other party.
In other words, turn the tables. In a war of attrition, the winner is the side which loses least. make the other person lose more. Doesn't matter how deep the other fellow's pockets are, if he bleeds continuously and you don't bleed hardly at all, he has to lose. He has more to lose than you, follow my advice and he'll be pleading for mercy after a couple of years of this.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas