California Clergy Abuse Attorney Dies

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Gallup Independent
June 7, 2013

http://www.gallupindependent.com/Independent/Index.html

A memorial service will be held in California Saturday for an attorney who claimed to represent many alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse from the Diocese of Gallup.

James Zorigian, 66, died May 21. A memorial service will be held Saturday in Los Angeles.

Zorigian, who practiced law in California for more than 40 years, was drawn into the Diocese of Gallup’s legal morass of sex abuse allegations a decade ago. In 2003, former Winslow resident Joseph Baca sought Zorigian’s assistance in pursuing a clergy sex abuse claim against the Gallup Diocese. Zorigian, who had experience in railroad and transportation law, had previously represented Baca in a railroad claim.

Without ever filing a lawsuit against the diocese, Zorigian negotiated a financial settlement on behalf of Baca. Zorigian, Baca and Gallup diocesan officials have never disclosed the amount of that settlement. However, as news of Baca’s settlement spread through Winslow, Zorigian began acquiring a number of other alleged clergy abuse survivors as clients.

In an interview in 2011, Zorigian claimed he had obtained out-of-court settlements for more than a dozen alleged victims in the Gallup Diocese and had another dozen clients preparing to file claims. Most, if not all, were reportedly from Winslow.

Because Zorigian did not file lawsuits, the public and the media were never able to review his clients’ allegations through public court documents, court hearings or media coverage. Zorigian and the Diocese of Gallup have never provided information as to what allegations have been made against what clergy members, and neither have provided information about settlement amounts paid to alleged victims.

Baca is the only Zorigian client to discuss his allegations publicly.

In 2011, Zorigian said the settlement agreements he negotiated were not confidential, just the specific amounts of the settlements were confidential. He claimed officials with the Diocese of Gallup didn’t want abuse survivors comparing settlement amounts. However, Deacon Timoteo Lujan, the former Gallup diocesan chancellor, previously stated in an email that Zorigian had been the one to request confidentiality of the settlement amount.

In contrast, Lujan and former Bishop Donald E. Pelotte had not been hesitant to publicly acknowledge that a $134,000 settlement had been paid by St. Bonaventure Mission to a victim of Douglas A. McNeill. That settlement, inked in 1995, arose out of a very publicly reported lawsuit filed by the late attorney Bruce E. Pasternack.

Unlike attorneys who file lawsuits and prepare for possible trials, Zorigian did not request records or information on the alleged abusers. According to Zorigian, he simply notified the Gallup Diocese that he had another claim, he submitted a statement by his client about the alleged abuse, diocesan attorneys conducted an interview with his client, and the two parties then negotiated a settlement.

Although advocates for survivors of clergy sex abuse encourage victims to file reports with law enforcement agencies, Zorigian said he didn’t think any of his clients wanted to file police reports so he never encouraged them to do so. Therefore, his clients who claimed they had been abused by James M. Burns never went to the police while Burns was still alive, and those who claimed abuse by John Boland never went to the police while Boland was still living in the United States.

As a result, Arizona law enforcement officials never had the opportunity to investigate allegations made by Zorigian’s clients, and prosecutors never could evaluate the allegations for possible criminal prosecution.