A voluntary, 90-day freeze on hundreds of sexual-abuse lawsuits against the Boston Archdiocese was set to expire Monday with no settlement in sight.
"It amazes me that they want to continue the public relations disaster," said attorney Nance Lyons, who represents about 20 people who say they were molested by priests. "Why don't they want it to go away?"
In February, attorneys put about 500 sexual abuse claims against the church on hold for 90 days to allow negotiations toward a settlement. Bishop Richard Lennon has publicly expressed a willingness to settle.
But in the moratorium's waning hours, attorneys for the plaintiffs said they had not received an offer from the church and had begun preparations to take sworn statements from witnesses and file new motions.
A spokesman for the archdiocese did not return several messages.
The attempt to reach a settlement did not include everyone. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents about 100 alleged victims, opted not to join in the talks, and lawsuits filed by two alleged victims of the Rev. Paul Shanley were excluded.
The archdiocese last week asked some attorneys to extend the moratorium for a month. The attorneys refused, saying there had not been enough progress on a settlement to merit an extension.
"There was nothing in our conversations with the archdiocese that anything would be any different 30 days from now than they are now," said Roderick MacLeish Jr., an attorney whose firm represents some 240 alleged victims. "If the bishop were to say something, we'd reconsider, but it's all coming from the attorneys."
Last year, a similar agreement to suspend action for 45 days ended without an agreement.
The crush of litigation started in January 2002, when files from the archdiocese revealed that for years the church had quietly shuffled sexually abusive priests between parishes.
Garabedian reached a $10 million settlement with the archdiocese in September for 86 alleged victims of the Rev. John Geoghan.