Hundreds of New Child Sex Abuse Lawsuits Flood in Due to Deadline Uncertainty

By Steve Orr and Sean Lahman, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle via Daily Messenger
July 27, 2020

https://www.mpnnow.com/news/20200727/hundreds-of-new-child-sex-abuse-lawsuits-flood-in-due-to-deadline-uncertainty

More than 400 child sexual abuse suits have been filed in the past month, and 1,000 since late May

Victims of child sexual abuse are rushing lawsuits into state court, fearful that two attempts to extend the deadline for such suits will amount to nothing.

More than 400 child sexual abuse suits have been filed in the past month, and 1,000 since late May. Hundreds more are expected before the original deadline arrives in three weeks.

“Our firms are working around the clock to finalize the complaints. We’re filing all of our cases now,” said Michael Pfau, a Seattle-based lawyer who, in conjunction with a New York firm, has filed upward of 600 such lawsuits to date.

The firms have at least 200 more cases that will be filed shortly.

The state’s Child Victims Act, adopted in early 2019, carved out a one-year window during which suits can be brought by people who allege they were sexually abused when they were young.

That window of opportunity closes at 11:59 p.m. Aug. 13.

In an odd double-dip, Albany political leaders have twice taken steps to keep that window open longer — but lawyers for child sexual abuse victims are distrustful of both efforts.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order in early May using his authority under the coronavirus disaster emergency to extend the CVA by five months, to Jan. 13. The rationale for that extension is that state courts had been closed by the pandemic, and new suits couldn’t be filed.

A few weeks later, both chambers of the state Legislature passed a bill to extend the deadline by a full year, to August 2021, saying they do so because other states had given victims more than a year to bring suit.

The bill will not take effect until Cuomo signs it. The governor has not said publicly if he intends to sign it.

In an op-ed published in the New York Daily News last Wednesday, the bill’s sponsors urged Cuomo to sign their extension into law without delay, expressing doubts that his executive order would survive legal scrutiny and concern that as a result, survivors who wait may not get their day in court.

“This order, in place today, has been challenged by some legal scholars as beyond the scope of the governor’s emergency powers,” wrote state Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal. “The defense bar has promised to sue. Survivors and their attorneys have been left stunned by the absence of clarity about their rights under the window. Amidst the chaos, the one-year window that was opened by the CVA is set to close next month; with it, the doors to justice will be sealed permanently to countless survivors.”

In relation to the executive order, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi defended it as legally sound. “We’re fully confident that this action was well within the bounds of the power granted to us by the Legislature during this trying time,” he said.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers aren’t so sanguine, however. They fear the governor’s extension by executive order will not pass constitutional muster, giving them no choice but to file every legal action they can by Aug. 13.

Jennifer Freeman, senior counsel with the Marsh Law Firm in Westchester County, which is partnering with Pfau, said lawyers are particularly concerned that the executive order is valid for only 30 days if not renewed. Cuomo has so far renewed the order twice.

Mike Reck, an attorney with Jeff Anderson & Associates, another prominent sexual-abuse law practice, said Catholic Church leaders in other states have shown themselves willing to thwart victims’ litigation and fears the same here.

“I would not put it past them to try to use the court system to invalidate the emergency actions taken by Governor Cuomo and undercut the ability of survivors to bring forward their claims,” Reck said. “Our firm, and most advocates for survivors are doing everything in their power to file cases now, during the pandemic, to preserve survivor rights. The only other true remedy would be for the governor to sign the legislation extending the CVA.”

About two-thirds of the CVA suits filed so far have named Catholic priests, brothers, deacons or nuns as defendants.

More than 2,800 suits have been filed overall.

Leander James, an Idaho lawyer who has filed dozens of CVA cases in New York and has many more in preparation, said he very much wishes Cuomo would approve the legislature’s one-year extension.

“Until he does, I am concerned there is a risk he may not sign it, and my team cannot take any chances,” James said. “Opponents of abuse survivors may mount a constitutional challenge to his executive order ... so we are not comfortable relying on his executive order. We are filing all complaints prior to Aug. 13.”

More than 600 suits were filed on Aug. 14 last year, the first day the CVA’s one-year window was opened. After that initial flurry, the volume of cases fell quickly.

Pfau said attorneys devoted much of the next six months to vetting and researching cases for new clients. Just when they were preparing to file those suits, the coronavirus pandemic forced closure of the state courts. Only emergency actions could be filed from mid-March to late May.

“We’ve lost almost three months. That’s been a very difficult thing for many of our clients,” Freeman said.

The decision to file suit against a sexual abuser is a difficult one, she said. “Sometimes we talk to people for months. It’s something that takes a lot of time and effort.”

Having no sure extension of time to replace the three months lost to the coronavirus, Freeman said, “is very frustrating.”

What about the dioceses?

The Catholic dioceses in Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a maneuver that moved all child sexual abuse claims against those dioceses into those bankruptcy proceedings.

Relatively early in the process, the bankruptcy judge must set a bar date — the day by which any additional claims for past child sexual abuse must be filed with the court.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Warren, who is handling the Rochester diocese case, ruled in February that the bar date would be Aug. 13, to coincide with the end of the CVA one-year window.

Earlier this month, lawyers appointed to represent sexual abuse victims and other unsecured creditors filed a motion to change the bar date to Jan. 14 — the day the CVA window would close under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order.

Judge Warren has not yet ruled on the motion.

The judges handling the Syracuse and Buffalo diocesan bankruptcy cases have not yet set bar dates. The Buffalo diocese has proposed a Dec. 1 date.