The ongoing mediation between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and attorneys for hundreds of plaintiffs who filed sexual abuse claims under the Child Victims Act is teetering on collapse, the Albany Times Union reported. One of two mediators overseeing the negotiations, which have languished for months, described them as a "complete and total waste of time." That analysis by Paul A. Finn, a Massachusetts attorney who oversaw the settlement of 552 cases of sexual abuse against the Archdiocese of Boston, came during a court conference last week when leaders of a committee representing dozens of plaintiffs' attorneys informed the diocese's attorney they should file for bankruptcy if they can't provide a meaningful offer by Tuesday. Cynthia S. LaFave, an attorney on the plaintiffs liaison committee, said they have been waiting since July for the diocese to offer what they expect to be a figure in the hundreds of millions of dollars for a fund that would be used to settle and pay damages to the hundreds of alleged victims. "We do not see the previous offer as a realistic offer," LaFave said of a deal put forth by the diocese in July. She added that if the diocese believes the undisclosed offer made four months ago is fair, "then they might as well just file for bankruptcy now — because there is not a single plaintiff’s attorney that will agree with that analysis."
