BishopAccountability.org
	Lawyers Bill Church $19 Million Abuse by Priests - Fees for the Portland Archdiocese's Bankruptcy Are in Addition to Legal Fees in Abuse Cases By Ashbel S. Green The Oregonian August 21, 2007 http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/118766673164840.xml&coll=7 Portland (OR) — Lawyers have submitted their final bills to the Portland Archdiocese for bankruptcy proceedings: $18,842,506.13. It's not clear how they figured the 13 cents. The total includes only the lawyers and experts who worked on the case in Bankruptcy Court. Attorneys for priest accusers who filed the lawsuits that sent the archdiocese into bankruptcy in 2004 earned an estimated one-third of the $50 million in sex abuse settlements. That puts the total payout to lawyers at about $35 million. The Portland Archdiocese emerged from bankruptcy in April by settling with about 175 people who claimed they were sexually abused by priests or other employees of the archdiocese. The archdiocese also set up a $20 million fund for future lawsuits. The archdiocese paid for the bankruptcy with about $50 million in insurance money, other assets and a line of credit. No parish assets were used, and parishioners were not asked to contribute toward the settlement. That's in contrast to places such as Spokane, where Catholic leaders sought contributions from rank-and-file Catholics to pay for settlements against priests. The bankruptcy legal bill included $10,854,856.02 in fees and $1,085,589.40 in expenses charged by four law firms representing the archdiocese. The rest are expenses and fees charged by attorneys and experts working for other parties, including a committee of plaintiffs. An archdiocese spokesman declined to comment on billings. In Bankruptcy Court, the party seeking protection pays for everyone's lawyers. Portland was the first archdiocese in the country to seek bankruptcy protection from priest sex abuse litigation. Dioceses in Tucson, Ariz.; Spokane; Davenport, Iowa; and San Diego have since filed for bankruptcy. In a separate case, the Oregon Department of Justice in July reached a $1 million settlement with more than a dozen men who said the Rev. Michael Sprauer sexually abused them at a state reform school in the 1970s. The state paid more than $1.4 million in outside legal fees to defend Sprauer, who has repeatedly denied molesting boys. Ashbel S. (Tony) Green: 503-221-8202; tonygreen@news.oregonian.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.