The Milwaukee archdiocese has asked bankruptcy judge Susan V. Kelley to approve a settlement that would more than double the $4 million the archdiocese has offered the victims childhood sexual abuse.
The archdiocese and the insurance companies – London Market, OneBeacon, and Stonewall – have been negotiating for more than four years and entered into mediation several times. According to the proposed agreement, the insurance companies will buy back policies for a total of $10.3 million. Half of the money will go to a fund for victims, and the other half will go toward legal fees that now amount to more than $18 million, some of which has already been paid.
Jerry Topczewski, a spokesman for the Milwaukee archdiocese, said in a statement: “Because of the archdiocese’s relentless pursuit of a settlement with insurance carriers, it has brought more than $10 million into the plan of reorganization which benefits abuse survivors and it brings us another step closer to a resolution of the Chapter 11 proceeding.”
But Peter Isely, Midwest regional director for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and one of the claimants in the bankruptcy, described the proposed settlement as “a Christmas gift for lawyers” and said it likely would not be approved by the committee of creditors.
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