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A federal judge ordered the Archdiocese of Agana to file by Nov. 29 a reorganization plan, which includes how it intends to compensate nearly 300 clergy sex abuse claimants and other creditors, the Guam Daily Post reported. It's been 32 months since the archdiocese sought chapter 11 protection so it can reorganize its finances amid abuse claims exceeding $1 billion, while keeping its Catholic parishes, schools and programs running. District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, in her order, said the Nov. 29, 2021 deadline for the archdiocese to file the reorganization plan is subject to extension "only upon showing of good cause requested prior to the expiration of the deadline." "The debtor's failure to comply with this deadline will provide cause to dismiss this case," the judge wrote in her order. Parties in the bankruptcy case have gone through mediations but the archdiocese has yet to present a plan agreeable to the creditors. In January 2020, or a year after the bankruptcy filing, the archdiocese released a $21 million plan to pay sex abuse claimants, using proceeds from the sale of real estate properties, payments from insurance firms, and contributions. The survivors and other creditors described the proposal as unreasonable, fundamentally flawed and has little hope of confirmation. No formal vote was taken to approve or disapprove the proposal at the time.

The National Rifle Association urged a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James, saying she hasn’t shown rampant misconduct by top executives, Bloomberg News reported. Even if she could prove her claims, they would mean the NRA was a victim and that James’ push to dissolve the guns-rights group is misguided, it argued in a court filing. James is seeking the NRA’s “corporate death” over allegations that executives at the New York-chartered nonprofit misused millions of dollars of assets, the organization said Wednesday in a court filing. The attorney general sued in state court last year and amended her complaint after the NRA’s failed attempt to declare bankruptcy and move to Texas. “Even if the disputed allegations against the individual defendants were true, the NRA itself, its Board, and its members were the victims of the wrongdoing, not the perpetrators,” the organization argued. “It would be a fundamental miscarriage of justice — and contrary to New York law — to punish the NRA’s 5 million members by dissolving the NRA.” James has failed to provide evidence that the NRA, longtime leader Wayne LaPierre and three executives diverted millions of dollars in assets to themselves, the group said. The NRA also said the attorney general hasn’t provided support for her claims that LaPierre improperly controls the 76-member board of directors. The NRA repeated an earlier claim that James had a “political vendetta” against the group. The legal attack on the James lawsuit came four months after a bankruptcy judge in Texas dismissed the gun group’s attempt to reorganize there, ruling it was an “inappropriate attempt to avoid” the lawsuit in New York.

A committee charged with representing tens of thousands of alleged victims of child sex abuse in the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy asked the judge yesterday to terminate the BSA’s exclusive rights to file a reorganization plan, so that it can file its own, the Associated Press reported. The committee’s court filing came hours after attorneys for the Boy Scouts filed a fifth version of a proposed bankruptcy plan, which contains settlements the committee describes as “grossly unfair.” The committee asserted that it is the only party in the case that can propose a plan that treats abuse survivors “fairly and equitably” and not “sell out” or leave them short. “More than 18 months into the chapter 11 cases, the debtors’ fifth effort at a plan is just as inadequate and flawed as the first four,” the committee's attorneys wrote. The committee, joined by attorneys for several insurance companies, also asked the judge to postpone a key hearing, scheduled for next Tuesday, for at least three weeks to allow parties to review and file objections to the BSA’s new plan. The hearing was intended for the judge to consider the adequacy of a disclosure statement outlining a reorganization plan the Boy Scouts filed in July. That plan was superseded by the plan filed Tuesday, which includes substantial changes and additions.

PG&E Corp. is being sued by more than 200 victims of the Dixie Fire, adding to the potential wildfire liabilities confronting a utility that barely a year ago emerged from a bankruptcy case sparked by earlier fire damages, the Sacramento (Calif.) Bee reported. The Singleton Schreiber McKenzie Scott law firm of San Diego, which has tangled with PG&E for years over wildfire liability claims, said Wednesday it’s filed a pair of lawsuits against California’s largest utility over damages caused by the Dixie Fire. Cal Fire is investigating whether the Dixie Fire — already the second-largest fire in California history, as measured by acres — was caused by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. equipment. The utility has disclosed that an employee spotted a “healthy green tree” leaning against a conductor on a utility pole July 13, the day the fire started in the Feather River Canyon. The same employee saw fire burning at the base of the tree. The fire has burned 960,583 acres, including much of the tiny Plumas County community of Greenville and was 75% contained Wednesday. More than 1,300 homes and other buildings have been destroyed.

One of the primary insurers of the Boy Scouts of America announced Tuesday that it has reached a tentative settlement agreement with the organization and with attorneys representing tens of thousands of men who say they were molested decades ago by scoutmasters and others, the Associated Press reported. Under the agreement, insurance company The Hartford will pay $787 million into a fund to be established for the men, the company said in a news release. In exchange for the payment, the Boy Scouts organization and its local councils have agreed to release The Hartford from further liability regarding sexual abuse claims. Under a separate settlement, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has agreed to pay $250 million into the fund for abuse claimants, said church spokesman Eric Hawkins. The denomination, commonly known as the Mormon church, was the largest single sponsor of Boy Scout troops before ending its partnership with the BSA at the beginning of last year. The proposed settlements are part of an ongoing effort by the Boy Scouts, which declared bankruptcy in February 2020, to forge a reorganization plan that must win approval by a majority of abuse victims and the court. Attorneys are still trying to negotiate a settlement with the Boy Scouts’ other major insurer, Century Indemnity. The proposed settlements are opposed by the official victims committee appointed by the U.S. bankruptcy trustee, as well as law firms separately representing hundreds of men who have filed sexual abuse claims. Representatives of the official victims committee described the proposed settlements as “grossly unfair.” The proposed settlements will be incorporated into a new reorganization plan that attorneys for the Boy Scouts were expected to file late last night. The new agreement with The Hartford was negotiated after the bankruptcy judge last month rejected two key provisions of an $850 million deal that the BSA had reached with attorneys representing a majority of abuse claimants. Judge Laura Selber Silverstein denied the BSA’s request as part of that deal for permission to withdraw from a previous $650 million settlement it had reached with The Hartford. The Boy Scouts sought to withdraw from that April agreement after attorneys for abuse claimants repeatedly insisted that their clients would never vote for a reorganization plan that included it.

Purdue Pharma, the bankrupt maker of the OxyContin painkiller, yesterday obtained court approval to pay up to $7.1 million in incentive payments for five top executives if they meet certain goals, despite opposition from U.S. government lawyers, Reuters reported. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, N.Y., signed off on the executive incentive plan at the conclusion of a virtual hearing. His ruling comes about two weeks after he said that he will approve Purdue’s reorganization plan, which rests on a $10 billion settlement of opioid-related litigation. The judge said repeatedly during yesterday’s hearing that he does not consider the incentive payments “bonuses” because even if they are paid out in full, the executives would still only fall in the middle of the total compensation range for executives at major pharmaceutical companies. The incentive payments, he said, are essentially part of the executives’ salaries, he added. “No doubt my ruling will be construed by some as authorizing large bonuses to executives. I do not believe that is in fact the case here,” he added. “A bonus is something you get over and above median compensation.” He rejected an argument from the U.S. Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog, the U.S. Trustee, that Purdue failed to show that the 2021 incentive plan is truly incentivizing, rather than a bonus for executives who are simply showing up to work.

A federal judge wants PG&E Corp. to explain why it didn’t turn off power sooner to a utility line suspected of causing the second-largest wildfire in California history, Bloomberg News reported. At a hearing yesterday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who oversees PG&E’s criminal probation, questioned a PG&E troubleman who initially discovered that a tree had fallen on the line near the origin of the Dixie Fire. Alsup asked the worker, who the court wants to remain unidentified, why he didn’t consider shutting off power to the line while investigating the cause of the outage that occurred in a high-fire risk area. The troubleman said he initially didn’t see a tree on the line or signs of flames and needed to drive several hours before getting closer to the scene to investigate. When he arrived, he saw a tree leaning into wires and a small fire, which he tried to put out. It took PG&E almost 10 hours to respond to the initial sign of trouble on the early morning of July 13. “Wouldn’t it have been the prudent thing to do to turn that power off in case there was a tree on the line?,” Judge Alsup said during the hearing. Judge Alsup said that it was possible that the tree could have caused a ground fault with electricity flowing through it and eventually igniting it. He directed PG&E to identify the individuals who made the decision to respond to the event and answer his additional questions about the blaze by Friday.

Endo International PLC agreed to pay $50 million to settle with New York state and county authorities over the opioid crisis as the drugmaker pursues a broader resolution to its opioid-related liabilities, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The settlement with New York state, Suffolk County and Nassau County officials removes Endo from a continuing trial over allegations that it and other drugmakers contributed to widespread opioid addiction. Jayne Conroy, lead counsel for Suffolk County, said the settlement with Endo “ensures funding will be made available for critical abatement programs in a more expedited fashion.” Under the settlement terms, Suffolk and Nassau counties will receive $13.85 million each, while $22.3 million will go to the New York state attorney general’s office. Endo still faces nearly 3,000 other legal cases pending against it from states, counties, cities and Native American tribes over opioids, which the company said Thursday it is focused on resolving. The company, which has operations in Malvern, Pa., but is domiciled in Ireland following a 2014 corporate tax inversion, also said it is exploring strategic alternatives and “may seek to implement one or more of those alternatives” if it can’t reach a broad global deal to settle the opioid litigation.

A nearly 3-year-old bankruptcy case filed amid hundreds of child sexual abuse allegations has cost the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, N.M., more than $2.3 million in legal fees alone, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Federal court records show the Roman Catholic institution has used the services of at least four law firms with expertise in cases involving clergy sexual abuse and bankruptcy. The archdiocese seeks to reach a settlement with 385 claimants in its December 2018 chapter 11 filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Albuquerque. This archdiocese and many dioceses across the nation, including the one in Gallup, have claimed bankruptcy in the Catholic Church scandal that began to receive attention in the early 1990s. U.S. Bankruptcy Court records show the Albuquerque firm Walker & Associates this week billed the Archdiocese of Santa Fe $374,999 for work done over 13 months ending in July. Including bills for two previous periods, Walker's billings have totaled about $907,200. Walker & Associates meticulously detailed its phone calls, meetings, projects, time spent and amount billed in a 165-page court document. Depending on which attorney or staffer worked on a matter, the firm's fees ranged from $75 to $295 an hour. The court reviews the charges and has final say on whether they are reasonable.

The federal judge handling the bankruptcy filing by the Diocese of Norwich, Conn., raised concerns yesterday about the number, cost and role of the lawyers and financial experts in the case and their possible effect on the compensation available to those who say they were sexually assaulted by diocesan priests and other employees, The Day reported. At one point Judge James Tancredi called the $490-an-hour paralegal rate charged by Ice Miller, the New York City firm hired by the diocese, as "shocking" for someone who doesn't have a license to practice law. Judge Tancredi also warned that if the case gets "get out of control with professional fees," he would not hesitate to look at implementing measures such as budget caps. He also urged lead diocesan attorney Louis DeLucia to "efficiently deploy his staff" to "avoid rate shock" at the end of the case. U.S. trustee attorney Steven MacKey added the diocese's decision to hire two legal firms is increasing the legal costs. He said that his office will continue to monitor how the diocese is spending money on its legal and financial experts to avoid unnecessary costs.