Can I sue my ex-wife for damages because she defrauded me of my right to be heard by the court?
My ex-wife sued me in a custody/child support case. During discovery, my lawyer stopped informing me of, or responding to, her legal actions (he was subsequently disbarred for this). She knew of his dereliction but I did not. She exploited his malfeasance by contriving an allegation that I had not provided my tax returns in discovery and, unknown to me, obtained sanctions against me on that basis. My attorney did not notify me of the date of the hearing. The Master asked if I had provided the requested discovery and my ex said I had not, so the Master invoked the sanctions and proceeded with the hearing in my absence on the basis that, even were I there, I would not have been allowed to testify.
In the hearing, my ex took advantage of my absence to tell many lies about my care of my daughter and my income, etc, that I could have easily rebutted, but that went unchallenged by my lawyer. The resulting order was very negative for me, including the loss of time with my daughter and wildly excessive child support relative to my actual income. In addition to these damages, I fell into a suicidal depression when I learned what had happened, was involuntarily committed to a mental ward for a week, and had to give up the graduate studies I was pursuing toward a new career in order to go back to work (I'm also on a pension).
I initially attributed the discovery problems to my own lawyer's dereliction (I assumed he had not passed the tax returns to my ex wife during discovery) but, in the process of appealing the ruling, I read the record and there discovered clear evidence that my ex had received the tax returns directly from me several times within the discovery deadline.
The right to be heard by the court on allegations against you is fundamental, but I can't find any basis in the MD code for a cause of action against someone who damages you by defrauding you of that right. Have I missed something?
My ex-wife sued me in a custody/child support case. During discovery, my lawyer stopped informing me of, or responding to, her legal actions (he was subsequently disbarred for this). She knew of his dereliction but I did not. She exploited his malfeasance by contriving an allegation that I had not provided my tax returns in discovery and, unknown to me, obtained sanctions against me on that basis. My attorney did not notify me of the date of the hearing. The Master asked if I had provided the requested discovery and my ex said I had not, so the Master invoked the sanctions and proceeded with the hearing in my absence on the basis that, even were I there, I would not have been allowed to testify.
In the hearing, my ex took advantage of my absence to tell many lies about my care of my daughter and my income, etc, that I could have easily rebutted, but that went unchallenged by my lawyer. The resulting order was very negative for me, including the loss of time with my daughter and wildly excessive child support relative to my actual income. In addition to these damages, I fell into a suicidal depression when I learned what had happened, was involuntarily committed to a mental ward for a week, and had to give up the graduate studies I was pursuing toward a new career in order to go back to work (I'm also on a pension).
I initially attributed the discovery problems to my own lawyer's dereliction (I assumed he had not passed the tax returns to my ex wife during discovery) but, in the process of appealing the ruling, I read the record and there discovered clear evidence that my ex had received the tax returns directly from me several times within the discovery deadline.
The right to be heard by the court on allegations against you is fundamental, but I can't find any basis in the MD code for a cause of action against someone who damages you by defrauding you of that right. Have I missed something?
