Mediation in insurance lawsuit not yet successful, say lawyers

By Father Bill Pomerleau

PITTSFIELD – An effort to reach a mediated settlement in a complex lawsuit brought by the Diocese of Springfield against its insurance carriers have not yet succeeded, attorneys told a Superior Court judge here April 30.

“We have made substantial progress, but we have significant issues to resolve,” Attorney John J. Egan told Associate Justice John A. Agostini at a pretrial hearing here.

Egan, the principal attorney for the diocese, declined further comment to iobserve on how the mediation effort is going, citing confidentiality rules for the court-sanctioned process.
However, statements made in open court revealed that the mediation is being led by Paul A. Finn of Commonwealth Mediation Services, a firm that has in the past helped the Archdiocese of Boston and the Diocese of Springfield to reach settlements with individuals claiming sexual abuse by clergy and other church employees.

Egan confirmed to iobserve that talks have been ongoing since February. He told Judge Agostini that there had been e-mail exchanges about matters subject to mediation as recently as April 29, and that Finn has suggested that the parties to the dispute consider resuming face-to-face negotiations. The Springfield Diocese reported to the court that it was agreeable to following Attorney Finn’s suggestion.

The judge said that at the next pretrial hearing on May 23, he will either begin the process of working out the details of a mediated agreement, or resume the complicated process of motions and counter-motions leading to a month-long trial in November.

He then set a series of deadlines to decide various matters, including whether the case would be heard before a jury or a judge; what expert witnesses would be allowed to testify; and what remaining witnesses would be required to submit pretrial depositions.

Before the deposition process was halted in February, nearly every past and current chancery official with any connection to clerical misconduct and/or record keeping in the diocese had been asked to provide testimony in the case.

The latest court session also revealed the growing divergence of interests among the various insurers being sued by the diocese. An attorney for the Travelers Insurance Company Interstate Fire and Casualty said his clients would like to argue that abuse claims before 1971 should not have been paid, since the church then enjoyed complete charitable immunity under then-state law.

A lawyer for Interstate Fire and Casualty told the judge that the company would try to eliminate 17 out of 23 claims made against it.

Diocesan attorneys said that they would like to resume the suspended deposition of a claims official at Travelers to testify on what basis he denied claims made against the company by the church.

Also still to be resolved is the possible involvement of the individuals who have claimed sexual abuse. The insurance carriers wish to take these victim depositions. John Stobierski, a Greenfield attorney representing all of the plaintiffs in the 2004 settlement with the diocese and others with unresolved claims, asked Judge Agostini to schedule a separate hearing for him and seven other lawyers representing claimants if mediation fails.

“Everyone concerned will be warned that this is still a live issue. But I remind you that you have wanted this resolved quickly. We can’t have something that will bump up against our November (trial) date,” Judge Agostini said. That trial date will not be postponed, he said.