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	Attorney: Archdiocese Settles Lawsuits By Tom Heinen Milwaukee Journal Sentinel September 1, 2006 http://www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=9/1/2006&id=10779 The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has reached settlements that could total $16 million or more with eight victims of clergy sexual abuse whose lawsuits were heading for trial in California, according to an attorney representing one of the victims. Jeff Anderson, a Minnesota attorney who is known nationally for his handling of sexual abuse lawsuits, said early this morning that his client received a $2 million settlement. Based on his conversations with other attorneys, he said he thought that seven other victims probably received settlements ranging from $2 million to $3 million. The settlements were approved by a judge in California on Wednesday, he said. As part of the agreement, the settlements were to be announced today, he added. Asked whether the archdiocese had reached settlements in the California cases, archdiocesan spokesman Jerry Topczewski early this morning said, "I can tell you this: the Archdiocese of Milwaukee remains committed to seeking resolutions with any victim survivor of sexual abuse of a minor by a diocesan priest." Pressed to say more, he repeated the same statement several times. The archdiocese had previously reported that it was facing 10 sexual abuse lawsuits in California. Anderson said he knew only about the status of eight cases. Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan prepared the 10-county archdiocese's 700,000 Catholics for the potential impact of those lawsuits earlier this summer, writing in his column in the weekly Catholic Herald newspaper that their resolution could result in "staggering financial consequences" and a curtailment of ministries. It was not clear early today how much of the settlements might be paid by insurance companies and how much by the archdiocese. The archdiocese has had a pending lawsuit against numerous American and British insurers, trying to get them to accept responsibility for the costs of legal defenses and settlements or judgments in sex abuse cases. Dolan has not ruled out having the archdiocese file for bankruptcy because of these cases and other costs related to sexual abuse, including much smaller out-of-court settlements it has reached with more than 100 victims in Wisconsin through its independent mediation process. But Dolan and Topczewski, his chief of staff, have stressed that bankruptcy would be a last resort and would not happen without extensive consultation with archdiocesan advisory groups. Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions in the mid-1990s have, in effect, barred lawsuits in this state against religious institutions by people sexually abused as minors by clergy who were under the supervision of those institutions. The California Supreme Court ruled in early 2004 that the Milwaukee Archdiocese could be sued by a victim in a California court for the role of its hierarchy in the transfer of the late Father Siegfried Widera from here to the Diocese of Orange in California. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider an appeal of that decision.
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