Judge Overseeing Church Bankruptcy Orders Mediation

By Martin Moylan
Minnesota Public Radio
January 20, 2015

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/01/20/archdiocese-bankruptcy-mediation

The federal judge overseeing the bankruptcy of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has ordered all parties into mediation.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel expressed concern about the length and cost of other church bankruptcies. He is starting off this case with mediation to encourage a relatively quick and inexpensive settlement.

• Earlier: Bankruptcy best path for clergy sex abuse claims, Nienstedt says

Archdiocese officials said they were pleased by the mediation order, as was attorney Jeffrey Anderson, an attorney who represents sex abuse victims. He said judges typically order mediation only later in a bankruptcy, after legal bills mount.

"Here he ordered it right away, which means all those administrative costs and bankruptcy lawyers' attorneys' fees don't have to be expended," Anderson said.

Mediation could take weeks or months and may or may not work.

So far, insurers have disputed archdiocese insurance claims that would help fund compensation for abuse victims.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy on Friday, saying it could not afford potential monetary awards to abuse victims.