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56 Def. Counsel J. 110 (1989)
Litigation Response Syndrome: How Stress Confuses the Issues

handle is hein.journals/defcon56 and id is 112 raw text is: LITIGATION RESPONSE SYNDROME: HOW STRESS CONFUSES THE ISSUES People involved in litigation may become frustrated and emotionally disturbed. Defense counsel should be alert to the consequences for their case BY PAUL R. LEES-HALEY FOR MANY people litigation is a deeply frus- trating and emotionally disturbing experience. As I noted in the American Journal of Forensic Psychology, litigation is often so troublesome that it leads to Litigation Response Syndrome, known as LRS, which is a group of stress prob- lems caused by the process of litigation. LRS is made up of complaints that arise solely from the experience of being personally involved in a lawsuit, rather than from the events that precip- itated the litigation. It is an ephemeral conse- quence of litigation, not a permanent problem, and needs to be distinguished from allegedly en- during problems it resembles. KNOW IT WHEN YOU SEE IT? Many attorneys are aware of LRS intuitively without recognizing its full impact on the law- suits for which they are responsible. For exam- ple, LRS resembles complaints that are listed among the damages in personal injury and work- ers' compensation claims, especially stress cases and cases involving chronic pain or disa- bility. It is quite similar, for example, to com- plaints reported in toxic tort litigation, cancerphobia and fear of future harm. It can contaminate evaluations in criminal and family law, when the person being evaluated by a psy- chologist is upset primarily about the lawsuit, rather than suffering from a permanent mental disorder. LRS also can interfere with the capac- ity of people in lawsuits to act effectively in their own and society's interests. As a result of LRS symptoms, a plaintiff who has recovered from the injury on which the law- suit was based will not be identified as having re- covered. Defendants in criminal or family cases can be so terrified and emotionally traumatized by the litigation that they appear to have mental disorders. Yet the complaints associated with LRS are temporary; they disappear after settle- ment. LRS confuses some of the most funda- . Paul R. Lees-Haley, Ph.D., is a diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psy- chology and of the American Board of Voca- tional Experts. He operates a consulting service based in Encino, California. mental issues of litigation that require evaluations of individuals, issues such as dam- ages, competency, fitness as a parent and so on. Differentiation of the litigated injury from LRS in personal injury and workers' compensation claimants is further complicated by the tendency of these claimants to deny pre-injury problems and emphasize post-injury complaints, as noted in previous research. LRS helps to explain other troubling behavior patterns we observe in the course of lawsuits. For example, LRS is a partial explanation for the symptom development pattern of claimants who are injured, make a recovery and then become worse immediately after meeting an attorney who wishes to represent them. It also helps us to understand the puzzling observation that very nice, honest people who ordinarily would not dream of cheating or lying, sometimes will grossly exaggerate or misrepresent the extent of their injury in a lawsuit. The answer is that they are not totally aware that they are misrepresent- ing things because they are disturbed by the in- tense pressure of litigation. They cope with a confusing situation by doing things that are out of character. Granted, they are influenced by re- wards such as money, retirement, escape from boring or obnoxious work, freedom to help care for family members, as examples. But some be- haviors that might appear on the surface to be purely malingering or fraud are in reality stress responses to litigation. The fact that human beings under stress some- times make inaccurate claims is not a mysterious experience. For example, every parent is aware that children do not know how to evaluate their

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