The Right Bug Repellant
Years ago when I first started studying the conduct of professionals who assist families during times of conflict, I noticed something interesting. When someone who is intensely worried and frustrated believes they have the right counsel, they will dress as they are told, cut their hair and change various behaviors for the sake of achieving the objective of the day. These changes in behavior and style and speech seem to happen quickly, without study, due diligence or challenge.
Imagine if a man relying on counsel is heading into the woods instead of into a courtroom.
He’s mainly worried about mosquitoes.
He asks his highly recommended counsel to hand him bug repellant to save him from the buzzing mosquitoes. He’s assured that if he applies this spray liberally and forges ahead, he will come out fine on the other side of the woods.
As he heads into the woods, believing he is covered and really has only about 100 yards to go, the buzzing sound goes away but he notices something else. He pulls up his pant legs to find a handful of ticks – you get the picture. Ticks dig in and they are hard to get out. Treating disease caused by ticks? Expensive, time-consuming, stressful, and not always possible.
The man is confused. He has no reason to believe that his counsel would not give him the right advice or that he wouldn’t receive the protection he’s paying for and expecting, so he starts looking around trying to figure out where all the ticks came from and why he wasn’t warned about them. The ticks are much more threatening and painful than the mosquito bites he was trying to avoid…so what to do?
He calls out to his counsel who offers to sell him another bottle of spray and some ointment. So the man pays for what he is handed, takes the bottles out of the bag and begins spraying and applying the ointment. While he’s busy with these bottles another problem hits him. He can’t see his feet…or his ankles any longer. While applying the ointment to the back of his legs and prying out ticks, he doesn’t see he’s been standing in quicksand. He panics – he’s never seen quicksand before and realizes it seems to be pulling his legs in an inch at a time!
Now angry and scared, he calls out loudly to his counsel. Then he pauses.
He sees his counsel and a couple of other suits approaching with shovels and barbed wire. Quickly he tries to rationalize how they are going to save him with barbed wire? Is the shovel enough to move the quicksand away as he is now in up to his hips?
Feeling stuck?
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Guardian Ad Litem System in Augusta Explains Damages Across Georgia
Cases and complaints have been pouring in for years from the Augusta judicial district after we first investigated and reported on cases where evidence was being suppressed and children harmed. Good parents and grandparents have been undermined and even blocked from seeing children, even when there was no justification for this.
Billing records were reviewed, showing discrepancies that explain why parents are failing financially as they can’t keep up with the financial burden, let alone understand what they are being charged for to see that things don’t add up. 
This article by the Augusta Chronicle is based on very compelling research that enlightens citizens and leadership about how certain bad actors on this stage are able to control outcomes of cases while lining their pockets. One of the bad actors in the Guardian ad Litem program here is a business owner named Janet Weinberger. This news report by Fox 54 confirmed there are even more cases with complaints against Weinberger for billing issues along with allegations that key evidence was left out of reports leaving children and parents unprotected and destabilized. To see previous news reports related to this judicial district, click here.
My Advocate Center’s analysis, combined with investigative reporting and fed-up litigants exposing evidence of wrong-doing, is opening the door for larger investigations and for consideration of civil actions to help victims recover from damages caused in these cases. At the very least the data is building to a point that state leaders and advocates across the country will have a clear picture of the direction needing to be taken to improve public safety.
WFXG FOX54 Augusta – Your News One Hour Earlier To learn more about our case studies, to contribute to this effort to improve family stability and health, or to report case details or other billing records, please contact us here.
