MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: October 14, 2014
The historic settlement of a clergy abuse lawsuit Monday now moves to a sticky second phase as attorneys try to negotiate financial settlements for dozens of other church lawsuits either filed or pending court action.
Under the “new era of cooperation,” the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and victims’ attorneys will work to forge out-of-court settlements for the lawsuits filed since Minnesota relaxed its statute of limitations on older abuse cases last year. That includes three cases scheduled for trial in January.
“We agreed to a noneconomic portion of a global settlement; now we will try to achieve an economic portion of a global settlement,” said Charles Rogers, a Minneapolis attorney recently retained by the archdiocese to negotiate with victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson.
Anderson said his office has filed 16 lawsuits to date on behalf of alleged victims of clergy sex abuse. Dozens more are pending. And the Minnesota Child Victim’s Act, which opened the doors to lawsuits from decades-old abuse, doesn’t expire until May 2016. Those cases also will need to be negotiated.
Neither side predicts that a global economic settlement will be easy. But it makes more sense to assist victims than to pour money into lawyers fees and litigation, they said.
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