Church Offers $55m To Settle Sex Abuse Cases
Jeffrey Newman, an attorney representing more than 200 abuse victims, welcomed the offer which was made during an afternoon meeting with mediators in the case on Friday, August 8.
The Church proposal, if accepted, would settle all 542 suits currently pending against the archdiocese.
Newman said the lawyers would discuss the offer with a victims’ steering committee and then come back to the table with a counter-offer within a week, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"I think it’s a good start and I think the manner in which they’ve done it is setting the atmosphere for good discussion," he noted.
"For the first time in a year and a half, we are being treated as equals and human beings and being asked to discuss the resolution of what has been a terrible, horrendous torment for a large number of people."
Lawyers for the victims have, in the past, had an extremely combative relationship with the archdiocese hierarchy, accusing O’Malley’s predecessor, Cardinal Bernard Law, of reneging on promises of a substantial settlement.
They have no doubt that the new approach was the work of O’Malley, who has a reputation as a troubleshooter.
"I think he should take all the credit. Since he’s been installed, there’s been an obvious change in attitude," said Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer for more than 100 alleged abuse victims.
