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	New Diocese Abuse Judge 'A Breath of Fresh Air' McGinnis Moves to Wrap up Case By Paul A. Long Cincinnati Post [Covington KY] October 5, 2006 http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061005/NEWS01/610050344 The new judge in the Diocese of Covington sexual abuse case wasted little time Wednesday in taking control. Judge Robert McGinnis ordered that attorneys sever the battle over their fees and file a new lawsuit to determine whether Covington lawyer Barbara Bonar is entitled to a share of what's expected to be more than $18 million in payments to lawyers in the case. "You understand how detestable this is to the public," said McGinnis, who regularly presides in cases in the Kentucky counties of Harrison, Pendleton, Nicholas, and Robertson. "This gets it out of the limelight of the case. It's a distraction." He said while Bonar may have a legitimate claim, it was getting in the way of the more important issue - ensuring the victims of sexual abuse by priests get paid in a settlement to which the diocese agreed. McGinnis was appointed after Senior Judge John Potter stepped down last month because his term had ended. McGinnis said he wants to wrap up any issues in the case quickly so those who were abused can receive their settlements. His probing questions, quick pace and lack of pretension on Wednesday seemed to go over well with the attorneys in the case, one of who called him "a breath of fresh air." Those same attorneys seemed to have tired of Potter, who they felt was meddling too much in the process of how the awards were made to plaintiffs. They also objected to his order requiring that names and addresses of victims be forwarded to state prosecutors. That issue is now before the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Robert Steinberg and partner Stan Chesley, with several other attorneys, filed the lawsuit in Boone County in 2003, claiming a 50-year cover-up of sexual abuse by priests and other employees of the diocese. The diocese agreed last year to put up $40 million to help settle the case. Originally, insurance companies were to kick in another $80 million, but that figure was cut to $44 million when fewer victims than expected came forward. Diocesan attorney Carrie Huff told McGinnis that the two men selected as special masters in the case - William Burleigh, chairman of the board of the E.W. Scripps Co., and Thomas D. Lambros of Ashtabula, former chief federal judge in the Northern District of Ohio - continue to review claims. They have approved nine so far, she said. The hearing Wednesday originally was scheduled to hear arguments relating to Bonar's claim to attorneys' fees. She was one of the original attorneys to file the lawsuit. She said she did much of the preliminary work in finding clients and gaining access to records of the diocese. She was later forced out of the case, she said, in a dispute over the way Steinberg and Chesley were handling it. But Chesley said she did little work and forfeited any right to fees when she left the case over a conflict of interest. Both sides agreed they would file a new lawsuit that would be handled separately from the diocese case.
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