GUAM
KUAM News
December 5, 2017
By Krystal Paco
To date, close to 150 clergy sexual abuse lawsuits have been filed in the local and federal courts. While the majority have showed interest in settlement, there could be some dealbreakers ahead. The local court giving those uncertain parties a deadline to figure it out, or go to trial.
Will majority of the clergy sexual abuse lawsuits be settled out of court? That depends if parties can agree on pre-mediation protocol. The Court, during a status hearing on Tuesday, hoping to push parties along. Superior Court Judge Michael Bordallo said, “The reality is dates tend to get people to move.”
That day is January 16.
By then you’re committed to settlement or you prepare for trial. Church attorney John Terlaje reporting the majority appear to be agreeable to pre-mediation terms, saying, “About 95% of the cases are involved in this pre-mediation protocol.”
The remaining plaintiffs, Terlaje reports, are the 11 represented by attorney Anthony Perez. Perez said, “It’s not that we’re not on board. It’s just that we’ve been working on it for four months. We’ve had meetings in Hawaii. Meetings in Minnesota. Non-stop emails. And from three months or four months ago to today, nothing’s been accomplished.”
So, what appears to be the deal breaker? Terlaje said, “The biggest issue is if there’s going to be an individual mediation or there’s going to be a group mediation. If the one group stays out and doesn’t want to do the mediation and they insist on individual mediation, so be it.”
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