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A federal bankruptcy judge has set a deadline of March 15, 2022 for receipt of claim forms from people who say they were sexually assaulted by priests and employees of Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich, Conn., the New London (Conn.) Day reported. Victims who fail to do so will likely lose their right to obtain compensation from the diocese and possibly its parishes. The diocese filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in July as it faced more than 60 lawsuits filed by young men who charge they were sexually assaulted as boys by Christian Brothers and other staff at the diocese-run Mount Saint John Academy in Deep River from 1990 to 2002. Mount Saint John was a residential school for troubled boys whose board of directors was headed by retired Bishop of Norwich Daniel Reilly. Since then, additional people whose sexual assault allegations involved not only Mount Saint John but diocesan churches have filed claims in the bankruptcy case. The court has set a deadline of Jan. 31, 2022 for the diocese to file its plan, but that could be extended. The 51 parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich are now seeking to join the diocese in seeking bankruptcy protection from sexual abuse claims against priests and other employees and will have to contribute funds to the settlement. This would leave victims unable to sue the parishes in the future. The official notice of the deadline or "bar date" from the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut states in bold letters that anyone who was sexually abused, on or before July 15, 2021, the date the diocese filed bankruptcy, and believes the diocese may be responsible for the sexual abuse, must file a claim.

A New York real estate lawyer who has been accused by creditors of misusing client funds has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and will surrender for arrest next month, the Manhattan district attorney's office told a federal bankruptcy judge on yesterday, Reuters reported. In a letter to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones, prosecutors said they expect attorney Mitchell Kossoff to surrender on or about Dec. 3 and to enter a guilty plea a week later. The letter did not specify the criminal charges or include details about Kossoff's plea. Kossoff PLLC was forced into bankruptcy in May after creditors claimed Kossoff, once a fixture in the New York real estate scene, misappropriated more than $8 million from the law firm's escrow accounts. A lawyer for Kossoff, Walter Mack, declined to comment. Mack has said Kossoff would cooperate in the bankruptcy proceedings if he is granted immunity from prosecution. Kossoff has not responded directly to his creditors' claims in bankruptcy court. The DA's letter asked Jones to extend its deadline to respond to Al Togut, the chapter 7 trustee overseeing the dissolution of Kossoff PLLC. Togut is seeking grand jury materials relating to prosecutors' investigation of Kossoff and asked Jones to force the district attorney to turn them over. Once Kossoff has entered his guilty plea, the grand jury's investigation will be complete, rendering the dispute moot, prosecutors said. The office will seek a court order allowing materials to be shared with Togut, the letter added.

Johnson & Johnson will likely have to wait until next year before it can restart negotiations to resolve 38,000 lawsuits filed by people who claim one of its oldest products, baby powder, causes cancer and other diseases, Bloomberg News reported. A federal judge questioned whether spending money on formal settlement talks makes sense while victim advocates oppose mediation. “I can order it tomorrow, but I don’t have any great anticipation there will be” progress, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael B. Kaplan said yesterday during a court hearing in Trenton, N.J. “I’d rather have their hearts and souls in it.” Last month, J&J created a unit to hold its talc liabilities and then put that company, which has no operations, into bankruptcy. The goal is to negotiate with victims to create a trust with at least $2 billion to pay all current and future baby-powder claims. The bankrupt unit, LTL Management, wants to get mediation started immediately, Greg Gordon, the lawyer leading the chapter 11 case, said in court. Before LTL filed bankruptcy, the groups made “good progress” in settlement talks as part of a separate bankruptcy case filed in Delaware by the former J&J talc supplier, Imerys Talc America, Gordon said. Tens of thousands of women claim the talc in baby powder causes cancer, a charge J&J denies. For years, the company focused on fighting lawsuits one at a time in courts around the country until the consumer giant switched tactics and decided to try to resolve all current and future claims in bankruptcy.

Twenty-six former high-level figures at LeClairRyan, including firm founder Gary LeClair, CEO Eric Gustafson and former general counsel Lori Thompson, have reached an agreement with their insurer and the bankruptcy trustee for the defunct firm to settle a set of pending claims against them for $10 million, Law.com reported. Trustee Lynn L. Tavenner, the 26 defendants, and Columbia Casualty, which issued the firm’s management liability policy, participated in an all-day settlement conference Nov. 16 in which Columbia agreed to pay the trustee $9.425 million to resolve claims including conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, and trade secrets against the defendants, and an additional $575,000 to satisfy claim expenses. Together, this sum equals the $10 million liability limit on the Columbia policy.

A group representing people alleging that Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based products cause cancer said on Friday that the planned spinoff of the pharmaceutical giant’s consumer health division will create new problems for talc claimants, Reuters reported. The group, known as the talc claimants’ committee, filed a statement with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, where the chapter 11 case of J&J’s subsidiary that holds its talc liabilities was transferred this month. The subsidiary, LTL Management LLC, filed for bankruptcy protection in October with the goal of settling 38,000 talc cases. J&J maintains that its talc products are safe. In Friday’s statement, the committee said that J&J’s plan to split its consumer division from its pharmaceuticals business “would create further barriers between tort claimants and assets that should be available to satisfy claims.” It contends that if J&J becomes two separately traded entities, disputes will arise over which one will be on the hook for a funding agreement in the LTL bankruptcy. The committee also accused J&J of using the bankruptcy process as a litigation advantage. J&J said when it announced the split that the move had nothing to do with the talc litigation or the bankruptcy. A status conference is scheduled on Monday before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan in Trenton, New Jersey.

Bikram's Yoga College of India LP, which filed for bankruptcy in 2017 after facing legal judgments related to sexual harassment, discrimination and other allegations, has sold six additional cars that were once part of the hot yoga pioneer's collection, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The vehicles grossed $250,000, with a 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom going for $155,000. Parties receiving the proceeds will include City National Bank and creditor Minakshi Jafa-Bodden. The cars also included a 2002 Bentley Arnage and a 2008 Mercedes Benz. Late last year, the bankruptcy auction of 22 of Bikram's cars received winning bids totaling $915,000.

A lawyer for sex abuse survivors in the Boy Scouts of America's bankruptcy said yesterday that two attorneys for the official committee representing survivors' interests in the case should be disqualified after the committee sent an "inflammatory" email about the BSA's proposed reorganization plan and sex abuse litigation settlement, Reuters reported. Ken Rothweiler of Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck claimed during a virtual hearing before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein that James Stang and John Lucas of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones, who represent the official committee, knew the email was inappropriate but allowed it to be sent to thousands of survivors anyway. Rothweiler told the judge during the hearing that the email, which encouraged the survivors to vote against the plan, has tainted the voting process. Sex abuse claimants have until Dec. 14 to submit votes on the plan, which would establish a trust to compensate men who say they were sexually abused as children by troop leaders. The trust currently has around $1.887 billion available for survivors. The plan is supported by one large survivor group that Rothweiler works with. However, the official committee opposes the deal, saying that the amount being offered to more than 80,000 abuse claimants is too low. The committee sent an email on Nov. 6 to around 20,000 survivors that included a letter from plaintiffs’ attorney Tim Kosnoff, who is not part of the committee. The Boy Scouts say the letter contained false and defamatory statements. Additionally, the letter directed readers to Kosnoff’s Twitter account, where he has attacked Rothweiler, among others involved in the bankruptcy.