---

After another contentious Zoom meeting last month between a group of lawyers representing victim-survivors who filed lawsuits against the Diocese of Albany under the Child Victims Act (CVA), and the Diocese of Albany, the prospect of the two parties settling the hundreds of claims via mediation seems no further along than when the process started in July. So what does that mean?

We will attempt to answer some frequently-asked questions that the faithful in the Diocese of Albany may have as well as provide an update on the process.|

WHAT HAPPENS IF MEDIATION ENDS?
The Diocese has been in mediation for the past several months with plaintiff-attorneys — a group of lawyers representing victim-survivors known as the Plaintiff Liaison Committee (PLC) — as both parties attempt to settle the over 400 abuse cases filed under the CVA. Once a month, Michael Costello, longtime diocesan counsel, and the PLC — most notably Jeff Anderson, Cynthia LaFave and Mitchell Garabedian — meet via Google Zoom to provide State Supreme Court Judge L. Michael Mackey with updates and concerns. The last two meetings have been contentious to say the least. 

On Nov. 18, the PLC said it did not want to give more information — known as verified bills of particulars — to the diocesan insurance carriers, who will pay a large portion of any negotiated settlement that would be given to victim-survivors of abuse, because the PLC felt it would not move the mediation process forward. The Diocese obviously was not willing to move forward without carrier involvement but Costello added that the Diocese remains committed to the mediation as the “most efficient and less costly way” which would not happen in a Chapter 11 filing.

Paul Finn, one of the co-mediators along with Simone Lelchuck, added that information given to the carriers could be turned around in 90 days. After hearing from both parties, Mackey scheduled another meeting for Nov. 23. 

During that meeting right before Thanksgiving, an agitated Finn called the mediation process “a complete and total waste of time” — as the PLC started off the Zoom call demanding that the Diocese make a “realistic” offer for what it would contribute to a global settlement fund on Nov. 29 or the mediation process should end. The first undisclosed diocesan offer was made in August.

Costello countered that the Diocese would need until Jan. 15 to come up with an “enhanced offer” because that number would include what the named co-defendant parishes and schools — which currently number 77 — would contribute. Costello, who has long said that the Diocese’s first offer was not a final offer, and Father David LeFort, Vicar General for the Diocese, stressed the Diocese was working in good faith but needed the additional time because the boards of trustees of the parishes would have to go back to their finance and pastoral councils with the information they had received about the cases to figure out what they would commit to the settlement.

Lelchuck added that both parties needed to “stop worrying about dates” and the Diocese should come up with its newest offer when it can and “see what happens.”

As Mackey noted that the two parties seem no closer than they were in July, a point made earlier in the call by Joan Feeney, a former bankruptcy judge and consultant to the Diocese, is worth noting. Feeney said that if the Diocese files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, “it is in nobody’s best interest” as the costs for lawyers’ fees and other expenses would run close to $600,000 per month. Feeney added that when she was a bankruptcy judge, she had mandated global meditation; the same kind of mediation which the Diocese and the PLC are doing right now in an attempt to resolve the cases. So as attorneys for the PLC were saying the Diocese might as well file Chapter 11 because of the state of the current mediation process, during a bankruptcy proceeding, the two parties would be right back at mediation again.

If mediation were to end, however, that would not immediately mean the Diocese would file for bankruptcy. Both parties agreed that they would continue with the process of litigation — there are trial dates set for each month next year and the next Zoom call is set for Jan. 11 — with the hopes that other cases could be resolved along the way, and there would be no pause in trial dates or discovery. So far roughly 30 claims have been settled against the Diocese.

WHAT WILL THE PARISHES AND SCHOOLS CONTRIBUTE?
There are 77 parishes and schools named as co-defendants in the CVA cases. The Diocese has been meeting with the parish leaders, finance and parish councils to determine the level of commitment from each entity. This is a long process, which is why the Diocese asked Mackey for more time to come up with its second “enhanced offer.” The process is also delayed because Berkeley Research Group (BRG), which was to evaluate the assets of the Diocese, is no longer part of the process. 

On top of that, during the call on Nov. 23, James Ruggieri, who is representing the Hartford Insurance, said in the 76 claims that he is dealing with, he is still missing information — verified bills of particulars — from the plaintiff-attorneys on 64 claims. 
As an example, the Diocese of Rochester, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019, and its related entities — parishes and schools — will pay $55 million into a global fund to settle some 475 CVA cases. That money would be combined with money from the insurance carriers, which would make up the majority of settlement. In May, the Diocese of Rochester asked a federal bankruptcy judge to approve $107.25 million in insurance settlements to be combined with its diocesan figure. Plaintiff lawyers blasted that figure as too low; hearings are scheduled to take place in January 2023.

WILL THE DIOCESE FILE BANKRUPTCY?
The hope is to avoid bankruptcy. A quick glance at dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy show that it is a long, drawn-out process that takes two-to-three years. The Diocese has always said mediation would be the most equitable and expedited process to get aid into the hands of victim-survivors to assist them in hope and healing. The Diocese of Rochester is moving into its fourth calendar year of being in bankruptcy. With average costs expected to be $600,000 a month just for legal fees, a theoretical three-year bankruptcy cost of those fees alone would run the Diocese of Albany roughly $21 million, money which would not be available to go to victim-survivors.

But, as Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger shared in a recent letter to the faithful, there is still hope for healing in the Church and we are all part of the solution. This is a time to stand together as a community in Christ. He said, “pray, lean on the Sacraments, Scripture, Mass – receive Him into your minds, hearts, and souls. Nurture your connection to Him so you can share that connection with others.”

“Jesus is the answer,” he added. “Let’s BE that community in Christ, walking with Him, walking together, helping each other to grow stronger – to heal. Through Him, with Him, in Him, healing IS possible.”

---