The Filing Comes Days Before a New Maryland Law Will Go Into Effect, Opening the Courthouse Doors to Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse from Long Ago.
Strict Filing Deadlines Will Be Set by the Federal Bankruptcy Court. Contact Us Now to Discuss Your Options.
On September 29, 2023, just days before a new Maryland law would have opened courthouse doors to clergy sexual abuse survivors, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On Sunday, October 1, a law goes into effect that revives old claims of child sexual abuse in Maryland, which would have have allowed survivors to sue the Archdiocese for its part in their abuse, regardless on when the abuse occurred. Now, those same survivors must have their claims considered in the federal bankruptcy proceeding, not in front of a jury.
The Baltimore Archdiocese is the oldest in the United States, having been established in 1789, two short years after the U.S. Constitution was written. More than a dozen Roman Catholic dioceses across the country and the Boy Scouts of America have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in recent years due to the rising cost of child sex abuse lawsuits.
Horowitz Law has identified more than 200 clergy and employees accused of abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, including many who were recently identified in a lengthy investigative report authored by Maryland’s Attorney General.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore, which lists more than $250M in assets on its website, claims it has neither the financial means nor the practical ability to litigate all of the abuse cases it expects would be filed in state court under the new law. The Bankruptcy filing now requires all of the abuse claims to be filed and decided in a single forum – the Bankruptcy Court, without the same rules governing the disclosure of information to the survivors and their attorneys.
A claims filing deadline, also called a “bar date,” will soon be established by the Bankruptcy Court. If you were a victim of child sex abuse by a priest or other church employee in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, you should contact an attorney to discuss your options as soon as possible.
The attorneys at Horowitz Law have a long history of representing survivors of child sex abuse. If you or someone you know was abused by a priest in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, please contact Horowitz Law today for a free consultation. We can help you understand your legal options and fight for the justice you deserve. Our lawyers have handled cases in Maryland and across the country. Please contact our law firm at 888-283-9922 or send an e-mail to sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz at [email protected] for a free consultation.