In particular PSI Seminars. There is something very wrong happening there and I doubt that I am the first woman that has experienced it. I really don't want to say much more for know as I am looking for a lawyer to help me understand my rights. So far I've only talked to two very stupid lazy lawyers. Does anyone have a idea as to what type of lawyer I should look for?

In my experience, there appears to be nothing but stupid and lazy lawyers. I've met hundreds of lawyers in my time, and I would say 1-2 were diligent and ethical to the required standards, and the rest were just apathetic losers.

You probably wont like my advice. Learn the law yourself. Become a pro-se litigant. The judge can't call a pro-se litigant into chambers and tell them to shut up and "take a dive", rewarding them with country club membership (as a judge would do for a lawyer). Nor can a judge call a pro-se litigant and tell them that they will lose their law license if they pursue a certain case aggressively. Opposing counsel can't call you up, and give you a bribe for taking a dive. Actually, all they can do is offer you a settlement, and that's good.

Look for other victims. Strength is in numbers!

I am not a lawyer, and I am not giving professional legal advice. I am sharing with you my life experience for educational purposes.

The court system of Cook County, Illinois was deemed a criminal enterprise in the 1980's. Judging from what I've seen of other counties, I think they're all infested.

Contact Lexisnexis and have them do a search for you. It's not that expensive to search in their county, but the problem is that a lawsuit can be filed from anywhere.

You may even be able to find something online yourself. More and more counties are putting files online. Do a search for the county clerk of courts office.

Attorneys have a service to research case law, but the public can't access it. I had no luck trying to get an attorney to search for me.

Good luck.

You might want to explore this page and possibly contact some of the board members for a referral for a lawyer and\or other professionals.

[www.cultinfobooks.com]

Michael Flomenhaft should be easy to look up:

Actual psychotic breaks occur in customers unprepared for the emotional rigors of the workshops. Attorney Michael Flomenhaft contends that his client, a young florist on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, still requires psychiatric care after having a severe psychotic break after attending Lifespring 10 years ago. "These groups misrepresent themselves as something innocuous," says Flomenhaft, who settled the case out of court last February and is about to try a new case against Lifespring. "But in actuality they are quite malignant." Hundreds of other lawsuits have been filed against the groups as well.
Excerpt from:[www.culteducation.com]

Hope this helps.
Snailster

Westlaw is the service that the attorneys use. Apparently it's a system they use to look up case law. If you can get someone to access that, it could be very helpful.

I have the same question about finding existing lawsuits on the LGAT that conned me for 6 years. Does anyone know what actually constitutes a case? As PSIsurvivr said, something very wrong was happening there. I'm under the impression, though, that someone has to have suffered measurable damage, such as psychiatric hospitalization, attempted suicide, in order for there to be a case. Is being conned enough to make a case? I would love to sue, or join a suit on, the LGAT that took 6 years of my life. And that now has my sister's life, for which I am concerned about her son.

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skeptic
I have the same question about finding existing lawsuits on the LGAT that conned me for 6 years. Does anyone know what actually constitutes a case? As PSIsurvivr said, something very wrong was happening there. I'm under the impression, though, that someone has to have suffered measurable damage, such as psychiatric hospitalization, attempted suicide, in order for there to be a case. Is being conned enough to make a case? I would love to sue, or join a suit on, the LGAT that took 6 years of my life. And that now has my sister's life, for which I am concerned about her son.

In France, they have the About-Picard law that makes "psychologic suggestion" (sujetion psychologique) criminal. Unfortunately, there is no such law in America. But it's good to know that Landmark has ceased all of it's activities over the French territory in 2004 after the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Financed launched an inquiry on Landmark's activities. What was illegal in France was to have unpaid volunteers working for the company among other things.

Our bill or rights and constitution gives the freedom to choose, freedom of religion, freedom of association, etc... and that renders possible (and legal) those activities put forward by deceptive groups. If Tom Cruise can go on National TV and claim Scientolgy is "fantastic" and if he can be backed by Oprah, how can we put a stop to it? La Lotta Continua (The fight goes on).

Good luck.

On the subject of lawsuits, I read with much interest on www.cultnews.com the summary of Landmark's lawsuit against Rick Ross and the subsequent withdrawal of that suit.

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“Schreiber says, "At no time has Mr. Ross been willing… to take The Landmark Forum." That is a false statement. I repeatedly agreed to take the… Forum. However, under no circumstances would I agree to sign paperwork waiving the right to a trial by jury in the event of any personal injury, even though such a waiver is required from every Landmark course participant.”

Anyone who would ever sign such a waiver really has to check himself into the “Stupid Hospital”. Under NO circumstances should anyone ever sign their legal rights away. Any lawyer worth his salt will tell you that. And of all groups to sign your rights away, Landmark???? That’s the group made up of non-psychologists who put you on psychological highs (anyone who has taken the Forum knows what I mean) and who by their own admission seeks to “transform” you. Look at this post I found on another site:

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"My son has gone through the [Landmark] program, and is now sitting in a hopital [sic] under psychiatric care. Where are they when their program goes bad? They don't want anything to do with him! Afraid of the lawsuit maybe. this is not an isolated incident - it happens often -”

So let me get this straight. Every single participant who enrolled in Landmark - and I’m sure we’re talking at least a couple of million world-wide since Landmark's inception in 1991 - signed this waiver. And they didn’t mind signing it - these sheople just went right ahead and signed on the dotted line. I wonder, did any of them even bat an eye when they came to the part about waiving their right to a trial in the event of personal injury? Did it cross anyone’s mind as to WHY Landmark insisted they sign this waiver? Did they think perhaps Landmark might have their reasons for wanting them to sign this waiver? Did they get any independent legal advice before they signed? B-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

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So let me get this straight. Every single participant who enrolled in Landmark - and I’m sure we’re talking at least a couple of million world-wide since Landmark's inception in 1991 - signed this waiver. And they didn’t mind signing it - these sheople just went right ahead and signed on the dotted line. I wonder, did any of them even bat an eye when they came to the part about waiving their right to a trial in the event of personal injury? Did it cross anyone’s mind as to WHY Landmark insisted they sign this waiver? Did they think perhaps Landmark might have their reasons for wanting them to sign this waiver? Did they get any independent legal advice before they signed? B-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

My understanding is that everyone has signed this waiver however like me and mostly like everyone else most of us read it and it went over our heads, use of legal jargon for most people is like a sleeping pill, it numbs you to what is actually being said.

Were we stupid, yes looking back you could call it that, however I dont personally think we were stupid, just naive and perhaps over trusting of the friends, family or collegues who took us to that first introduction.