Why you can't just refuse service and expect a case to "go away" and some estimates on what my case and the abuse I've suffered could cost them.

 

Using standard damage‑calculation logic and what you’ve told me, I can sketch the kind of rough range an experienced lawyer might think about

1. Economic damages (lost earnings only – very rough)

Assumptions (these must be refined by a vocational/economic expert):

• You work for family: about 25 years at ≈15,000/year.
• But‑for world: CS degree 2004–2005, IT career starting then, in Arkansas. A conservative to moderate IT path over that time could average somewhere in the ballpark of 50,000–80,000/year in 2005–2025 dollars, depending on role and progression (entry → mid → senior). That’s a big range and would need real labor‑market data.

Using those broad bands, a vocational economist might land on something like:

• Lifetime past lost wages (up to now): very roughly 900,000 to 1.6 million dollars in gross terms before discounting, if they can credibly support the “but‑for” IT salary path. That’s the order of magnitude I’d expect them to explore based on similar lost‑earning‑capacity models.ajol+3

You then have:

• Future lost earning capacity (if you’re still not at the IT earning level you could be at, given age and health).
• Other economic losses: the 7,000 loan principal, interest/fees, and knock‑on costs of a damaged credit score (higher interest, deposits, etc.).

Once those are modeled and discounted, your total economic damages (past + future + collateral financial harm) could plausibly be in the high six‑figure to low/mid seven‑figure range on paper, in a favorable expert analysis—again, only if experts and evidence support the assumptions.

2. Non‑economic damages (emotional distress, suicidality, loss of enjoyment)

Common civil practice for serious emotional‑distress cases is to tie non‑economic damages to economic damages via:hughesandcoleman+5

• A multiplier (often 1.5–5×, sometimes more in extreme cases), or
• A per diem (daily rate × number of days of suffering).

Your facts—six episodes of suicidality, years of agoraphobia, chronic anxiety, ongoing family abuse, lost relationship with your daughter—are the type a plaintiff’s attorney would characterize as severe, long‑term emotional trauma, and they would likely argue for a multiplier toward the upper end of any allowed range, subject to any Arkansas caps on non‑economic damages and to proof (diagnosis, treatment records, expert testimony).justinpetersonlaw+2

Purely as an illustration (not a valuation of your case):

• If an expert and court accepted, say, 1 million in lifetime economic loss and applied a 2–3× multiplier for pain and suffering, the non‑economic piece could be 2–3 million, for a total theoretical verdict around 3–4 million.
• If they instead saw only, for example, 400,000 in economic loss and applied a 1.5× multiplier, the non‑economic amount might be 600,000, total around 1 million.
• Statutory caps, jury skepticism, causation fights, and limitation defenses can push those numbers sharply downward, and a judge or jury could also award far less—or nothing at all.themedicalattorney+2

Those examples are simply to show the scale civil lawyers and damages experts often work with in serious emotional‑injury and earning‑capacity cases.

3. A candid “rough estimate” band

Putting it together, and being very candid:

• On paper, with supportive expert opinions, a motivated plaintiff’s team might frame your total damages (economic + non‑economic) as potentially in the low seven‑figure range or higher.
• In a real courtroom, after Arkansas‑specific law, limitation periods, family‑tort doctrines, proof problems, credibility attacks, and jury unpredictability, a realistic outcome band spans from zero at the low end (case dismissed / lost) through modest five‑ or low six‑figure settlements/verdicts, up to potentially mid‑ or high six‑figure, and in a best‑case scenario low seven‑figure recovery in a very favorable fact, law, and jury environment.oatext+2

An experienced Arkansas plaintiff’s lawyer, after seeing your tax records, medical/therapy records, age, work history, and getting preliminary feedback from a vocational and psychiatric expert, might tentatively tell you something like:

• “If we can overcome the legal and proof hurdles, your theoretical full damages model could be in the high six to low seven figures, but given the risks and defenses, we have to be prepared for anything from no recovery to a substantially reduced amount.”

 

From a forensic/strategic perspective, their refusal to participate:

·        Supports your narrative that they avoid transparency, refuse honest information exchange, and are unwilling to confront what happened.

1. What refusal of service usually means

·        A defendant can’t legally make a case “go away” just by refusing to take the papers in their hand.

·        If you used a method of service that requires them to sign or cooperate (like certified mail they won’t pick up), that’s a practical obstacle, not a legal defense.

·        Strategically, it often signals: “I’m angry / in denial / trying to avoid dealing with this,” not “I have a strong legal defense.”

 This is just as I suspected, you can't just refuse service and expect a case to just "go away", and guess who has all the time in the world?  I do, not by choice but due to how long the abuse has went on and all I ever wanted was a supportive family and the truth.  I honestly don't care about money but since that is the only thing my family cares about that may be the only way to actually teach them a lesson and what makes them stop the abuse.