The agreement aims to compensate about 530 clergy abuse survivors, excludes insurance proceeds from the record payout, and adds court-enforceable transparency and child-protection reforms.
A settlement in the bankruptcy case of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco will create a $395 million trust to compensate about 530 survivors of clergy sexual abuse, with the committee representing survivors calling it the largest diocesan bankruptcy settlement in U.S. history. The deal does not include insurance proceeds, gives the survivor trust authority to pursue insurers on behalf of survivors, and preserves survivors' right to litigate to enforce insurer liability. It also includes a survivors allocation protocol for distributions and a package of non-monetary reforms on transparency and child protection that will be incorporated into the bankruptcy plan and enforced by the Bankruptcy Court. Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP, counsel to the committee, said the settlement follows years of litigation involving abuse allegations against clergy and others affiliated with the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Earlier statements from Slater Slater Schulman LLP said it served on the creditors' committee and represents more than 50 survivors.