Dear Hockey,

I'm so so sorry to hear about your problems. I know how litigation can take a toll, at around the time I got sick I was involved in some legal matters and had to let the case drop since because of my illness I couldn't handle it, although I was the victim. Unfair but what could I do.

I think you are in a different country and I'm not a lawyer anyway, but you might look into the option of changing your lawyer. Do you have good evidence in your case? If they think you have good evidence it may pressure the other side to settle, however, they might be waiting for the discovery period to see just what evidence you have, after discovery they will probably want to settle, but knowing you are desperate to settle they don't have incentive to give you a good offer.

Another thing is can you find a lawyer to work on contingency (meaning they get a percentage of what you get, not paid by the hour) because it sounds like you are running up a huge legal bill. Warning my lawyer was on contingency and didn't work very hard on the case at all (since no hourly incentive to spend time on it) On the other hand the other side had a fancy expensive law firm with lots of lawyers, they knew the evidence was against them and just spent time harassing everyone I know, calling them and trying to dig up dirt to use against me (they couldn't find any). My lawyer even said "you don't know what they'll do" kind of like they were threatening. Discovery can get ugly and expensive if you're paying by the hour, especially when they waste time and run up the cost with threats and harrassment. Anyway I had to drop so they got what they wanted.

There are some legal websites where you can ask a question free to a lawyer online anonymously or ask for a free confidential case evaluation, see if there are sites like these for your country. Maybe try some of those anonymously and see if you can change lawyers to someone who will work on contingency and handle the case as you want. You will still have the first legal bill to deal with, but I guess that will have to be factored into the settlement agreement. If you think something is unethical or against the rules, there should be a legal organization you can report the lawyer to, here you can report them to the Bar. But be careful with that, as your lawyer will defend herself, hate you, and possibly that can effect your case.

Good luck and Wish you all the best.