Really a lawyer was involved. i hope it is not the same who dragged you to appeal, while knowing that the 16 month absence without working would not be overlooked for PR
. Honestly some of those so called lawyer need their licence to be revoke
My lawyer was asking too much money so decide to do it alone with help from this forum. Moderators (especially Obie), Gurus and members of the forum were of a great help guiding me as much as they could. But also i made my own research through the forum reading every post regarding ROR and gather documents accordingly.
i suggest you start going through the forum as you may find someone who was successfull while in the same situation as you (filling wrong form).
Best of luck