MYCVAStory

Good day for Survivors in court. The Judge said that the appointment of Kevin Cary, as a part of any trust, is a "non-starter" and now places the impartiality of the mediation in doubt. The selection of Carey made her think about cancelling mediation! But, because one is left, Gallagher, mediation may continue. Carey is no longer a mediator!! So the only mediator left is one who specializes in insurance mediation. The judge is completely amazed that the BSA and Coalition would try this.

The Judge and Trustee are two entirely different entities. Remember, a hearing or two ago the Trustee suggested a solution was for teh three AIS firms to stop contacting their clients entirely!

The judge is trying to do everything possible to eliminate arguments at confirmation. So, this deletes "we didn't have enough time."

Not exactly. Voting report is 1/6, confirmation hearing still 1/24 start, various objection deadlines altered slightly. BSA spoke about reserving the right to challenge reporting requests. Sounds like they may not want to report out where the $3500 elections came from as applied to Council.

And with that....voting deadline extended two weeks. If you thought calls from an attorney were about to come to an end, you were wrong. If you wanted time to get a ballot and change your vote, you've got it.

Noticed this: NOTICE OF DECEMBER 2, 2021 VIRTUAL TOWN HALL MEETING HOSTED BY THE OFFICIAL TORT CLAIMANTS’ COMMITTEE PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Official Committee of Tort Claimants’ (the “TCC”) holds weekly meetings to keep survivors of abuse (“Survivors”) and their representatives informed. The next meeting will be on December 2, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. (ET). The details for the next meeting are below. PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the Tort Claimants’ Committee will hold a virtual town hall meeting on December 2, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). Zoom: https://pszjlaw.zoom.us/j/82272826295 (no registration required) Dial-In by Telephone: 888-788-0099 (Toll Free), Webinar ID: 822 7282 6295. If asked for a “Participant ID,” just press # PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that, pursuant to section 1102(b)(3) and 1103(c) of the Bankruptcy Code, the TCC holds virtual town hall meetings for Survivors of childhood sexual abuse and their representatives Survivors who are not appointed to the Tort Claimants’ Committee to provide updates and access to information about the bankruptcy cases. The identity of participants shall be kept strictly confidential, but if you ask questions using the Zoom “Q&A” function, you might want to use your initials or otherwise abbreviate your name PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that this Town Hall will include: Topics Communications with the TCC and its Counsel TCC’s continued goals of (1) more money for the trust, (2) independent governance of the settlement trust, and (3) meaningful youth protection. Voting Deadline and Confirmation Timeline PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the Town Hall meetings will occur on every Thursday at 8:00 p.m. (ET) using the same Zoom link above and dial in information. Recordings and transcripts of all Town Hall meetings are posted after they are concluded at www.TCCBSA.com.

This was the important takeaway of the day. Whether the TCC refiles its motion or not several parties stated that a fight is coming over the validity of some votes. The last matter though, and the Judge making a decision, was telling because the Judge made it clear that attorneys who signed claims were to have first-hand knowledge of the claim. This can come via discussion directly with the client, reading a client's report of what happened, etc. She signaled this long ago when the issue first came up. She made it clear then that she ONLY wanted attorneys signing claim forms for their clients when they had enough knowledge of the claim to do so. So, the discovery then will look like this "Mr. Attorney, tell me about the process you used to determine that claim 12345 you signed was accurate and truthful." If, and that's a big IF but I suspect it's the reason insurers are pressing this, Mr. Attorney bought clients/claims and didn't do any due diligence then it's going to put those claims and votes in question. As ThenNow pointed out, it appears to be the reason the Coalition brought in a heavy hitter like Robinson. It doesn't want the discovery. In court, always look to see what a party is fighting or preparing to fight the hardest. It's often its biggest weakness.

I appreciated the light humor! To be fair, the TCC's Town Hall was about six minutes long and basically said there were no developments, they encouraged every Survivor to vote (regardless of what that vote was) and keep an eye on their website for any updates. No bait and switch. As far as Stang stepping down, I have to guess that this was a tough decision by PSZJ but it speaks to wanting Survivors and the court focused on the settlement. PSZJ said in court it made a mistake and is owning it. It will now be interesting to see how far the Coalition wants to rub PSZJ's nose in the dirt. We have to remember that these bankruptcy attorneys all compete for the same business. So now they're going to act like children playing in the sandbox, reaching for a toy at the same time, and neither will let it go. I was happy to see the TCC working to ignore that spat and I fully expect the Coalition having won this fight over a toy to now wave it in the TCC's face. Survivors don't like bullies. The TCC as nine survivors and NOT a group of lawyers has already shown it won't sit quietly and be bullied. That'll be the wrong move if the Coalition overplays its hand. It's still about money and YP. Every Survivor should be thinking about the MOST the Coalition can get from the BSA and insurers. Starting off so low makes the MOST possible a bar too low for me. Let's see if any insurance settlements are announced and whether they come with charter organization releases. If so, every Survivor whether they have voted or not should consider the ramifications of that and whether the settlement is anywhere near giving a CO a pass on all responsibility without a contribution and for open States what that means realistically for a case already filed where the insurance has evaporated.

I disagree. Look, I applaud ANY survivor involvement but this is putting a band-aid on a spurting artery. Will survivors help at any level? Sure. But think as well how that is going to shake out over the coming years and the challenges inherent with volunteers let alone with the sensitivity of the "qualification" needed. What's needed is an independent body made up of survivors, bsa-types and MOST importantly outside experts to inform the BSA and make recommendations, assess accountability and data to be published, and serve at the highest levels. First the BSA said it would add a Survivor to its Board. ONE Survivor. Now LCs are saying the same. The TCC has repeatedly said that an organization responsible for 82,500 victims needs a lot more than that. All this seems to me to be is again the absolute minimum and may even do more harm than good. Abuse has gone on with well-meaning volunteers serving on Boards. Adding ONE Survivor, as the press release says will help but Survivors, and I'm one, do NOT have the expertise to make recommendations and enact cutting edge abuse elimination protocols. So disappointing.

NOT surprised.

The comparison between the two groups is increasingly striking. The TCC in order to avoid ANY connection to a mistake by one of its staff replaces its lead with another attorney from the firm. The Coalition Tells everyone in its Tuesday night Town Hall to tune back in Friday for BIG news and has....NONE. High road....low road.

Exactly. This email mistake is red meat for the bankruptcy professionals and a way to point fingers and curry favor. But, this vote is going to be analyzed many ways, and the communication (all of it) will be a topic during a confirmation hearing. It for sure was an unforced error by the TCC professionals but at the end of the day Survivors don't care and the vote will let the Coalition declare total victory if it gets 75% of the vote, partial victory if it gets 66%, TCC will do the same if it gets more than 25% or 33%, and then when the $3500 votes are backed out the same arguments will be made. Lastly, remember that Survivors can vote repeatedly with the last vote cast counting (not reported to an attorney if superseded by a mailed-in ballot). So, the Coalition wants to take its pound of flesh now on a remedy because they don't get to argue but so much later on and have the judge say "I gave you your remedy and you agreed on it. You don't get to say NOW that it wasn't enough."

For some context and in the interest of accuracy, Stang the TCC's attorney had no problem saying that he had been asked to send out a letter for an attorney (Kosnoff), had it in writing, and did so. Kosnoff has been promoting a NO vote and was mad that parts of AIS were saying the opposite so he wanted his message out. This was supposed to go out to a Kosnoff client list but someone MISTAKENLY sent it out to a larger list. Again, Stang said it was a mistake and not malicious. As well, he said his folks won't be sending out any messages on behalf of counsel. The TCC's professionals and Coalition's and BSA's are conferring now to come to an agreement on a message to send out to the recipients making clear the mistake and whatever else they can come to agreement on. What's important is to remember that the lawyers live for this stuff and if the Coalition and BSA were concerned that they'd lose the vote this lets them throw mud on it for their use later. So, cue the outrage and suggestions of conspiracy between evil attorneys and TCC. As well, get ready to hear "unprecedented" a thousand times. This IS unprecedented in many ways. Not only the scale of abuse but the fact that normally 95% of a bankruptcy "class" votes to approve a settlement. The BSA and Coalition appear to have underestimated Survivor sentiment so they'll grab onto this opening. On Wednesday they'll turn outrage up to 100%, Stang will say "We made a mistake", hopefully they'll come to an agreement on what's to be sent out now, and it'll make for a headline or two in the legal/bankruptcy trade sites. As a Survivor, my hope though is that the TCC at its Thursday night Town Hall will say "A mistake was made" and get back to what matters most to Survivors; how to vote, validating your vote, whether the settlement is fair and whether children will be protected. Survivors aren't huge fans of ALL the lawyers right now so all your school-yard fighting is going to do is either make people NOT want to vote or just vote and change the channel until the results come in. I suspect the latter will be true.

TCC just put out a video on the mechanics of completing your ballot "manually." Found it on the TCCBSA,COM website, it's to help Survivors make sure they fill it out and return it correctly and isn't heavy on whether they think anyone should vote to approve or reject.

Two things: 1. I'm tired of hearing "Historic settlement amount." Damn right it is. It should be. The number of victims IS historically high. Broken down per claimant you know what else is historic? the awards they'd receive. Historically low. 2. When looking at the cost per youth, the TCC is pointing out recent trends. Look at the two LC analyses while we await others. Available assets have gone up for many Councils as the number of members have gone down. The rationale of "Covid....our membership is about to increase..." Well, let's take a look at upcoming membership numbers, consider the impact of the public really coming to understand the amount of abuse and what that does to recruitment, and consider whether the BSA should be able to save its money right now instead of compensating Survivors that were abused back when.

The devil is ALWAYS in the details. Survivors are voting on the Non-Monetary (youth protection) portions of the settlement as well as the monetary portions. The only thing "guaranteed", and for a short time, are the vague assurances of what happens AFTER Settlement approval. Then....the Coalition has ZERO motivation to see that any changes actually happen. THAT'S why the non-monetary must be as stringent as possible NOW. I REALLY hope that the Coalition hasn't concocted its "working group" as a reaction to the TCC shedding light on the non-monetary weaknesses, pulled in very well-meaning Survivors, and uses them for photo ops and settlement endorsement.

From TCCBSA.COM website....... Topics at this Town Hall will include: How much is your Local Council contributing towards your Claim? The TCC will discuss inadequacies of the cash and other asset contributions made by Local Councils. Respond to voting questions: “where is my ballot,” “how do I fill out my ballot,” “what are the elections under the ballot,” and “where do I send my ballot” Why the TCC Recommends a “NO” Vote. View Most Recent Notice Zoom link: https://pszjlaw.zoom.us/j/82272826295 (no registration required) or by phone: 888-788-0099 (toll free), Webinar ID: 822 7282 6295

Yep, and remember, the TCC has had BRG on the payroll this whole time doing financial analysis.

Well...well.. Just spoke to my attorney. The TCC is going to be discussing and starting release of the the LOCAL COUNCIL DASHBOARDS tonight at its Town Hall!

My bottom line, this is nothing but a distraction from the Coalition's inability to this point of gaining a bigger trust fund AND a reaction to the TCC making it clear that abuse elimination is a SERIOUS part of a reorganization strategy. See this grand Coalition announcement for what it is, an interim step. It does NOT change the fact that the settlement's "protection" of youth guarantees NOTHING when it comes to transparency with the public. I appreciate any Survivor wanting to lend a voice and I thin most would line up at the chance to speak with the BSA right now. We want to prevent what happened to us from ever happening again. But you know what that makes me an expert in? How to prevent MY abuse. The Coalition's working group does NOT include experts in the field. It does NOT include the immediate reporting of data. It does NOT include a TCC demand that ALL recommendations would be released publicly so that the BSA could inform the public of what will be followed and what WILL NOT. This is another Coalition attempt to distract from what's most important by throwing the barest attention at an issue. Don't tell me "They're trying." If they were serious about protecting our youth they would have listened to the TCC last Thursday night, which they obviously did, and said "We can do even more." They have not. They have announced a minor initiative before a plan that DOES NOT guarantee any significant changes.

It's just amazingly tone deaf. Survivors are struggling, especially now. Some have been active on this forum and you can feel their pain. The right thing to do from the people who stand to make MILLIONS from our abuse is to just take a while off from reminding us that their life is so great. Anyone who wants us to believe that he has empathy for the daily struggles of so many Survivors shouldn't take comfort in the ones that have expensive hobbies or the friends that do, he should instead be behaving in a manner that makes us feel like he remembers and cares about the ones that don't.

I'll just leave this here...it is SO unfortunate that an attorney saying he reprsents thousands of Survivors, many who have had their lives ruined, would post this right now courtesy of Tim Kosnoff's Twitter: https://twitter.com/SexAbuseAttys/status/1453544554452303873/photo/1

Reminder for tonight....guest on the TCC Town Hall. It's nice of the TCC to remind us all that this is about more than money. It's also a REORGANIZATION to ensure the safety of our nation's youth: The next Town Hall of the Official Committee of Tort Claimants' (the “TCC”) in the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy cases will be held on Thursday, October 28, 2021, 8 pm (Eastern) Michael Johnson, former Director of Youth Protection for the BSA, will join the October 28th Town Hall to discuss Youth Protection and the deficiencies of the current plan. View Most Recent Notice Zoom link: https://pszjlaw.zoom.us/j/82272826295 (no registration required) or by phone: 888-788-0099 (toll free), Webinar ID: 822 7282 6295

In case it hasn't been posted... Here's another group that isn't a fan of the Coalition's scare tactics. I have ZERO connection to it. http://nobsadeal.com/

Look at your retainer agreement. Ask how much you'd be billed NOW if you released them. If that doesn't get their attention then suggest that you will fight paying for service you didn't receive. Then represent yourself or get another attorney. I am NOT an attorney but I was once involved with a lawsuit where a member of my family did NOT release counsel when she should have, lost, and it was a hard-learned lesson.