Post #38

One of the biggest challenges in any civil law suit is to determine what the injury suffered by the victim is worth in terms of dollars and cents. The other challenge, especially when dealing with class action suits, is to determine whether all of those who come forward with claims are actually victims. Those are two important considerations to keep in mind as lawsuits against the various Roman Catholic dioceses in North America moved forward.

A recent story in the Toronto Star, part of which is excerpted below, tells the stories of some people with claims against the dioceses and what they feel are stalling tactics being used by the dioceses. There doesn’t appear to be much consideration given to the fact that the dioceses must challenge these claims to ensure they are valid plus, as painful as it seems, there needs to be a process in place to determine the dollar value of the injury suffered by the claimant. That is not a nice process but when one resorts to the legal route for remediation, it is part of the process both sides have to follow.

It is also important to remember that legal firms or individual lawyers generally get a portion of the settlement so it is in their interests to ask for the highest possible amount. The claimants will end up with significantly less. As an example, there are reports that despite the hundreds of millions of dollars paid out in the residential schools case a number of years ago, the individual claimants ended up with about ten thousand dollars each. Hardly what they had hoped for, but the lawyers walked away with huge amounts of money.

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Excerpt from The Toronto Star:  Sex abuse victims say church is still tenaciously fighting claims

May 30, 2010

by Mary Ormsby

“They don’t want to pay out the money,’’ said Jack Lavers, a Newfoundland lawyer who has worked both sides of the liturgical legal landscape. “There are (cases) that do start and never seem to finish.”

Seemingly relentless legal campaigns — especially against victims like Caruso, whose abuser had been convicted — appear to clash with church reforms adopted two decades ago after the Mount Cashel orphanage sex scandal. Pastoral outreach for victims of clergy abuse was among the recommendations in the 1992 “From Pain to Hope” report commissioned by the Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops. Counselling and empathy for the abused were again recommended in a 2007 CCCB task force.

The CCCB declined to provide a spokesperson to address allegations of legal bullying and stalling, and instead suggested contacting church representatives from Cornwall or London.

London’s vicar general, Rev. John Sharp, has worked on nearly 60 lawsuits involving victims of the late Charles Sylvestre, convicted of abusing 47 women as minors. Nearly 40 more women came forward after the priest was jailed in 2006.

Sharp said each victim’s circumstances are unique and claims of harsh treatment “may very well be” in some cases. But London-area victims are “immediately” offered counselling with a professional of their choice as soon as they report abuse.

“In our diocese we are committed to keep these things moving as quickly and fully as we possibly can,” said Sharp, who estimates he still has 20 active Sylvestre cases.

“I would do it every day to keep at it but there’s a whole process that’s involved in (litigation): lawyers’ schedules, availability, all that stuff. I can appreciate (cases) taking so long; I wish this had been over a long time ago.”

Lavers said courtroom reality is that plaintiffs often get worn down and agree to accept smaller sums or drop their cases completely.

The St. John’s lawyer, who defended the Mount Cashel superintendent in criminal and civil court, now represents victims. He’s settled about 30 cases against the Catholic Church, taking “10 and 12 years to bring some of them to closure.”

Cases drag on while medical, education and work history information is gathered and studied for discovery and mediation sessions. Insurance company lawyers — insurers pay plaintiffs if the church has coverage — add another layer of scrutiny.

Source: http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/816223--sex-abuse-victims-say-church-is-still-tenaciously-fighting-claims