Its Like Novocaine

So I have this case running right now. Straight forward contract. One side did the work under the written contract the way they were supposed to do it. The other side did not pay. Now, there could be a good reason for this, but the other side refuses to say what it is.

My clients asked nicely to get paid. That got them no response at all. Then a demand letter got sent. The other side said "No". My client, after not getting anywhere, finally hired me to file a lawsuit to get paid.

The other side has since engaged in a Fabian campaign. First they claim that no, we never got your complaint. Then it was, we got your complaint but we did not get the complaint. Then, they asked for an extension. Finally there is an answer, with a bushel of affirmative defenses... some of which don't even bare a resemblance to the type

Ok, I get it. They are doing their best impression of Quintus Fabius Maximus. Maybe later, they will go scorched earth a la John Ofori-Tenkorang.

Part of me wants to push through all this, try and accelerate the process somehow and get my client the recovery to which they are entitled. But then I have to remember, there are certain things which just can not be moved in civil litigation. That there are stations of the cross that we all have to go through.

The mantra for this case now is what Coach Boone in Remember the Titans said, "Its like novocaine, just give it time, always work."