BishopAccountability.org
	Church Insurers Suit Is Put on Hold By Jean Guccione Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles CA] November 9, 2005 A Los Angeles judge Tuesday put on hold a lawsuit filed by the church's insurers accusing Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of withholding information about claims that the archdiocese failed to protect children from sexually abusive priests. Four of the 15 insurers — Employers Reinsurance Corp. and three members of American International Group Inc. — Insurance Co. of the State of Pennsylvania, Granite State Insurance Co. and American Home Assurance Co. — had sued to obtain documents that they said could show that the archdiocese had forfeited its insurance coverage by covering up for child molestation by clergy. The companies also said they needed the documents — including the archdiocese's assessment of the strength of the cases, and its analysis of its potential liability — to decide whether settlement demands from the alleged victims were reasonable. But Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley J. Fromholz said that forcing the issue would "prejudice the archbishop" and delay three-year efforts to settle more than 500 sex-abuse suits against the Los Angeles Archdiocese. In two lengthy opinions, the judge said there was no evidence that the archbishop had withheld information inappropriately. The ruling came a day after Fromholz put 44 civil abuse cases targeting the archdiocese on track for trial sometime next year. The church and lawyers for the alleged molestation victims said they would continue to try to settle the cases in the interim. Mahony's lead attorney, J. Michael Hennigan, told the court in a written declaration that insurers have been allowed to review detailed claims from the victims and "a wide range of other materials." But attorney Craig de Recat, representing Employers Reinsurance, said the available data was inadequate to evaluate insurance policies dating back more than three decades. "What we want to do is understand the facts and the policies," he said. Lawyers for the insurers said Mahony had placed them in a Catch-22 situation where they either must pay to settle all the cases, without knowing whether they are valid, or refuse and be sued for failing to provide coverage. Attorney Robert Levy, who represents AIG, declined to comment. Another church lawyer, Kirk Pasich, said he disagreed with the insurers' contentions, and believed that the suit was inappropriate. Still, he said he hoped that the dispute could be worked out. Fromholz said insurers have the option of meeting settlement demands and then suing later to recover any money paid out for damages not covered by the archdiocese's existing policies.