SPOKANE (WA)
NWCN

by KREM.com
NWCN.com

Posted on October 14, 2012

SPOKANE, Wash. – Bishop Blase Cupich explained in a letter to parishioners of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane why he’s suing the lawyers who represented the diocese in the priest sex abuse bankruptcy and settlement and why parishioners won’t be hearing much about it as the lawsuit presses forward.

The malpractice lawsuit was filed last week and seeks more than $12 million from the Spokane law firm Paine Hamblen Coffin Brooke and Miller.

The Diocese said in court documents that its bankruptcy lawyers, Greg Arpin and Shaun Cross, failed to explore other means of ending the abuse scandal. It also blames the lawyers for writing a bankruptcy plan that failed to adequately fund the risk of new claims.

The Diocese declared bankruptcy in 2004 and eventually settled with 180 people who claimed they were sexually abused by…