postpone the trial since Ms. Shapiro had a number of trials coming up and a postponement of our trial would be disruptive of the Court’s schedule.
Mr. Moore indicated that he was not a malpractice lawyer and could not go to trial. He openly stated he would have to resign. Mr. Moore and told us again that Columbia intended to sue us for defamation.
So here we were. Two bereaved parents, facing no choice at all. We are not wealthy people and did not have the money necessary to hire a lawyer who could continue the case. And what lawyer would take a case with liens intact.? Nor did we have the money necessary to defend a defamation suit.
Facing us was the prospect of losing everything. Mr. Moore was going to resign and the Judge indicated that the trial would have to go forward in the coming week. We were not lawyers and were totally unprepared to try to pursue the trial on a Pro Se basis. We had no time to prepare, and did not have expert witnesses (Mr. Frank claimed he had experts but withheld their names from us). Were we to maintain our position not to settle, the Judge would have no choice but to dismiss the case.
And, if the case were dismissed, we would then be in the position of being sued for defamation. What would that entail? We had no money for a lawyer to defend us.
Now, in the Judge’s chambers, the meaning of Mr. Moore’s choice was clearly evident to us. He had said in his office that our only choice was to sign or "commit suicide". It seemed so painfully clear to us. We had to sign or face the total destruction of our case, the loss of our website, and then bankruptcy.
In our eyes, the Judge was definitely on the side of signing. She said to Stephanie, "I understand you have 2 daughters, Mrs. Speken, Think of them." The Judge’s pressure was very clear. She repeated these same words three times. "Think of your daughters, Mrs. Speken". Stephanie perceived this as a "mafia shakedown".