Even as lawyers inched closer last night to settling 86 claims of sexual abuse involving just one priest, advisers to the Archdiocese of Boston played hardball yesterday with other molestation claimants, saying the church's ability to pay for settlements would likely be limited to $50 Million.
Addressing intense five hours of talks between himself and lawyers for the church, Mitchell Garabedian, who represents victims of pedophile ex-priest John J. Geoghan, said last night he was ``close to a settlement but a settlement has not been reached.''
``There is no agreement right now. We just had further settlement discussions but nothing was signed,'' said Garabedian, who has been trying to settle the cases without going to trial for nearly a year.
Garabedian would not discuss the nature of yesterday's talks with The Rogers Law Firm and mediator Paul A. Finn, but has set a press conference at his law offices for 10:30 a.m. to make a statement about the pending claims.
``There will not be an agreement by then,'' he said, adding that he and the archdiocese's lawyers had not set a time to meet again.
While Garabedian and the church's lawyers were hashing out a possible deal, legal and political advisers brought in by Bernard Cardinal Law last month to help cope with the multitude of cases against the church sent a strong message yesterday that funds were limited to the $50 million range to cover both the Geoghan cases and other pending claims.
Those advisers warned that lawyers who weren't willing to quickly settle those claims may find the church has little or nothing to pay their clients.
``These lawyers are going to have to make realistic choices,'' said one adviser, referring to the attorneys for scores of people who are accusing at least a dozen other Boston priests of abuse. ``Those who wait may find themselves in a position to get nothing because there are only a certain number of (archdiocese) assets. And there are all kinds of defenses here, like the statute of limitations.''
The adviser, one of two who spoke to the Herald on condition of anonymity, said the church was pursuing two tracks in its settlement talks. The first track is to come to terms with Garabedian.
To that end, church lawyers have been pressuring Garabedian to accept about $20 million for his cases, going so far as to float that number aggressively in the media in an effort to box in the lawyer.
Also taking part in yesterday's discussions was Finn, of Brockton Mediation & Conciliation, who is positioning himself to become the chief mediator for all sexual abuse cases involving archdiocese employees.
One adviser familiar with the discussion said the settlement offer ``does not provide for a single amount, it is a high-low bracket.''
``People will get things depending on the nature of the injury alleged,'' the church adviser said.
Many of Garabedian's clients have severe claims of sexual abuse, others say they were touched against their wishes by the former priest, and some have minimal claims, such as seeing Geoghan naked.
``Let's have this Garabedian settlement consummated,'' said another adviser, ``and let's pay on it with a mix of available insurance, private donors and maybe an asset sale.
``Then let's get another protocol to embrace the rest,'' he said.
The adviser said the number of post-Geoghan cases the archdiocese is anticipating settling is about 30, and it hopes to allot no more than $30 million.
Other sources said the money would be placed in a fund that would be administered by independent mediators aided by forensic investigators.
``Now that you know what your cap is, you are in a position then to make a realistic judgment in terms of how you will go about funding it,'' said an adviser, adding that selling church assets such as property to cover the claims is ``very much on the table.''
But in a clear message to lawyers lined up to pursue their own cases, the adviser said plaintiffs who choose to litigate rather than accept the mass settlement proposals may find themselves getting no more than the $20,000 cap the church is obligated to pay under the state's charitable immunity statute.
Law and his lawyers will be far more generous to those willing to settle quickly out-of-court, the adviser said.
``You don't have defendants who are people of means here,'' he said, referring to priests and clerical supervisors who generally have few if any assets. ``The plaintiffs can bankrupt the various bishops and the priests who are the pedophiles, but where does that get them?''
The notion that the church would try to cap liability for non-Garabedian cases at $30 million, or suggest that there were no more than 30 other viable plaintiffs, brought scornful reactions from attorneys representing the nearly 100 people even now filing suits against current and former priests.
``That amount is absurd,'' said Roderick MacLeish Jr., who successfully settled a case with the Diocese of Fall River involving former priest James R. Porter in 1992. ``I already have cases that are clearly multimillion claims, and we are actively looking at 60 legitimate claims as we speak.''
Jeffrey A. Newman of Newman & Ponsetto, who represents 14 victims of church worker and serial pedophile Christopher R. Reardon and dozens more plaintiffs, was equally dismissive.
``If this church wants to leave as its legacy that it allowed priests to molest kids and destroy lives and then refused to pay judgment on its employess even though their supervisors knew it was going on, let them try and we'll see them in court.''
The prospect of having to sell off church assets has created ``tension'' between Law and his finance council, said another adviser.
Law is leaning toward selling what needs to be sold to generate the necessary funding, while members of the council are concerned about any depletion of assets that would have a negative effect on the charitable operations the church is responsible for - such as programs for the homeless, hospitals and parochial schools.
``Is there a tension, of course there is,'' the adviser said.