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  Archdiocese of St. Louis Drops Lawsuit

St. Louis Post-Dispatch [St. Louis MO]
June 13, 2007

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/
F48062147C9E88B1862572F9001793C4?OpenDocument

The Archdiocese of St. Louis dropped a lawsuit Monday against a St. Louis law firm that has represented the majority of clergy sexual abuse cases against the archdiocese.

The archdiocese had filed suit against Chackes, Carlson, Spritzer and Ghio last month seeking relief against what it called the firm's "past disclosure and anticipated future disclosure" of archdiocesan personnel and medical records to "third parties." The suit and the church lawyers alleged that one of those parties was the Post-Dispatch.

The church withdrew the lawsuit Monday before a hearing called to discuss whether Archbishop Raymond Burke would have to testify under oath in a deposition for the case.

"When the Archdiocese learned that information provided in the context of mediation had been publicly released, we felt we needed to file an action for an injunction," according to the statement released by the archdiocese. "After discussing the issue with attorneys representing the Chackes law firm, we believe that our point of protecting the integrity of the mediation process has been understood and that we can proceed with the mediation of additional claims."

Gerry Greiman, an attorney representing Chackes, Carlson, Spritzer and Ghio, said he was pleased that the lawsuit was dropped. "We've always felt this case had no merit," he said. "I can only assume based on the archdiocese's actions today that they agree."

 
 

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