I am the OP's husband.
For topics like stalking, please encourage forum members not to use human names
justblue - thanks for the link! We did already try there however thank you just the same.
Regarding "pay one" and "call some" - we would love to pay one. We have called several dozen. We are both untrained in law and so we have to turn places like this to try and figure out how to articulate our problem - or, how to discern that it is a non-starter. I strongly suspect there are many practical, professional reasons lawyers do not prefer this kind of case (how to mitigate those objections was the premise behind the OP's post).
We have had five consults. One said they had established a virtual presence in OH, but he didn't want to go beyond the consult and didn't state why. One said to spin this as private nuisance, but didn't want to go beyond the consult and didn't state why, even though I tried to do the homework he gave me to work on our articulation and formulation. One does take cases like this, but she said we were failing to articulate a sufficiently big problem. One was, for lack of a kinder word, triggered by her own alienation from her kids, so she thought it was a non-starter. One said that they don't take cases like this, and did not provide any further feedback other than encouraging us to keep looking. Throughout all of this, we spent a few hundred hours trying to focus and streamline our case and trying to learn from each interaction. Typically, we spend a minimum of 1-2 weeks revising after we get feedback.
Like Hunting, we have not had much success with law enforcement. One investigator told us that OH wouldn't seek extradition from IL for something that in OH is a misdemeanor, and every other agency said our local city had jurisdiction.
Mighty, I know you asked for more detail, we tried to start with a lower level of detail rather than start with a wall like this post to avoid TLDR responses. Suffice it to say, three times they stated in writing intent to inflict emotional distress if they didn't get their way, they followed through, and it worked. The only example I've been able to find online regarding IIED is a nursing home worker telling a resident their family member was dead when it wasn't true, that is directly analogous here x7... except she wasn't fully shunned or we would be enjoying life and not posting here. The manipulation through others, the circumventing of blocks, enough is enough. We have two psychological professionals willing to testify plus notes from another we haven't asked yet. There have been many other actions I think are outrageous, but that'll be up to any judge/jury/administrator. For the sake of argument, let's go with Counsel's recommendation that it's at least worth sitting down with a lawyer.
We want it stopped before they start cyberstalking our kids and manipulating them too.
First, did we post this in the right forum, or would another category be more appropriate?
Second, is it standard industry practice to just not respond to a contact request?
Third, what are some ways that we can increase our chances of getting a callback? This could be guessing a case value beyond our receipts, this could be choosing the right topic (private nuisance vs IIED), this could be sharing more detail...
Fourth, is it better to ask for help with a restraining order, or better to ask for help litigating? One is probably a flat fee and the other might net them more money.
We have been operating on the "less is more" principle in the hopes that they could help us answer these questions correctly, rather than us incorrectly presenting.
Thanks again for the thoughtful input.