johnsch322

I am not sure it was a TCC lawyer who said that but rather a member of the TCC. I just reread the FAQ that the TCC put together and it isn’t exactly clear why one would need a lawyer though I do have one. My understanding is that once the settlement trust is established that would be when a lawyer would be most helpful. I would like to hear some real expertise on this.

Sounds less like attacking survivors. I am sorry for being a bit personal. I wouldn't wish my misery on anyone and I feel for those who are innocent of the acts that were committed upon my body and soul. Conversely there is no amount of money that could actually compensate me or other survivors.

This feels like you are saying that survivors of abuse are extracting (possibly illegally) billions and shouldn't expect half of the take (common word for stolen money?). That you would need that much to to extract (steal) if some one raided a castle (stealing again?). And it really doesn't matter who you are (abuse survivors) or how tough life's been for you (being, raped as a child and having to live with that for your life). (deleted-personal attack)

I vote 55B

The TCC has been extremely quiet. Any idea about the next town hall?

The issue of debating about lawyers could be compared to 'What came first the chicken or the egg". I find from the above that you are speaking from both sides of a coin. You pretty much say it is good but it is bad and you are correct. Do I wish it was 10, 20, or 30 percent of course. First contract I signed was 40% and then when my lawyer assigned me to another law firm it became 33.3% plus expenses. It is a larger law firm handling many more of these cases and when I talked about it to my first lawyer he said he was happy for me (I am sure he will get his cut of the 33.3%). Could I have done this myself...well I could have filled out the POC beyond that no. Original intent was to file in a court and then of course the bankruptcy came along. Definitely could not have represented myself thru the court system. Does it feel wrong that my law firm will get 33.3%...no. When I consider that they have major amounts of overhead which includes many lawyers, support staff, rent, utilities etc. etc. well maybe you can see where I am going from here. But how much is really fair....I would have to say fair is what I agree to. How much is appropriate...well you might get what you pay for. What really isn't appropriate is how much the BSA has spent on lawyers fighting to keep from paying money to survivors.

I think we might see other states open up own investigations.

Obviously I cannot speak for everyone I can only tell my story. What I can say is that the claimants lawyers are in the business of practicing law. The imperative word in that last sentence being business. They all have expenses rent, utilities, support staff etc. etc. Most if not all of these lawyers took these cases on a contingency basis meaning if there is no recovery they get nothing and not all contingency cases are won. However I will say that if the minimal $9,000 is all that is recovered per claim than I am confident that all the firms with a large amount of cases will at least clear their expenses. Also from what I can garner not all claims will receive any money. Some will be denied. Secondly they all have a fiduciary obligation to maximize the amount recovered.

As I have stated in posts previously all of this has been like pulling a scab off of a wound. The first person I talked to was someone on the end of an 800# and it did not go well. She ended up saying they would send me a link to the perversion files. When I called back I left a message and no one got back to me and I am sure it was just an intake person whom I had talked to. I did a little research and found a lawyer who specialized in survivor cases and had started his career as a psychiatrist and transitioned into law. I left a message and he personally got back to me. he spent quite of bit of time talking to and listening to me. He explained the history of what was transpiring and made me feel extremely comfortable. He set up an appointment with a psychiatrist who could affirm for the courts that indeed I had the symptoms of past abuse. He followed up with me and offered to have professionals reach out to me to help with my feelings with no out of pocket costs. Unfortunately he came to an untimely death and it was with great sorrow i heard of his passing. Fortunately for me his son was part of practice. His son has the positive attributes of his father. I am able to text him at anytime with any of my concerns and worries and he always gets back to me. When this into bankruptcy my lawyer informed me that he was going to assign me to one of the larger firms (I think that they represent about 1600 claimants). He explained to me that I would be better served by the bankruptcy expertise that my current representation has and that with so many claimants they would have a seat at the main table. This firm called me multiple times and explained what was happening and each and every time it was a lawyer. We set up a time to talk to do the POC and spent about 2 hours going over it. She took her time asked questions had me expound upon what I said. She probed but she was empathetic and made me feel comfortable even between the tears. I opened up about something I had personally done after my own sexual abuse which I believe could be very important at some point of time. She is the only person I have ever told that to. This is probably more than you had asked for and may not even be helpful to you but believe me writing these words is helpful to me.

From what I understand once the settlement trust is established it will be our lawyers (for those of us that have one) that will be presenting our individual cases to establish valuations. Theoretically if $100,000 is on the table they can make a case for $200,000 (as an example) and thus earn their fees. My lawyer/lawyers help me prepare my claim and thru their questioning I am sure it is much stronger just because of that. I believe that is why the TCC is encouraging survivors to have legal representation.

Does this sound somewhat familiar Police were not to be called on predatory coaches at USA Gymnastics, says former worker – Press Enterprise (pe.com) And what was the payout to the victims for this misguided, shameful, coverup/hide policy?

What methods are you talking about? The advertising in Facebook and other media with the headline "Were you abused in Scouting" well thank god they did because until then I thought I was the only one. BSA knew 11 to 13 boys in my troop had been abused but not one person from BSA asked me that question. How they go about what? Bring lawsuits against the BSA? There had been dozens of lawsuits successfully won and or settled prior to all of this. These were just the miniscule tip of the proverbial iceberg. The BSA was so afraid of sinking like the Titanic that they entered into Bankruptcy thinking it was the easiest the inevitable. Unreasonable expectations? So is restitution in the amount of say $500,000, $1,000,000, 10,000,000 or $20,000,000 unreasonable? If you were the victim of 2 men when you were a boy, lived a life of hell and had the unspeakable happen to you what amount would be reasonable. The only reason the number is $103 Billion is because of the shear number of cases. The cost of mental health care itself can run into the 100's of thousands of dollars. Not everyone has insurance resources and must pay these expenses out of pocket. The larger damage? Damn don't exactly know where to go with that. BSA will be allowed to live on but mine and possibly 100's of thousands of lives were destroyed by BSA policies of cover up and hide. Solutions that are balanced? I think you are trying to say solutions that cost the BSA less assets. Am I mistaken? I am glad to hear that you did your due diligence if you had information but as you say they weren't sexual. Follow up should be with the victim making sure the aren't goods afterwards. BSA dropped the ball? Heck they did the proverbial we own the ball and we make the rules. Their rule was deny deny, and hide the facts. Lobby against anything that might damage our reputation and don't ever do anything that might help the victims of our rules. Fair and rational outcome? What would you consider fair and rational? Needing legal help in this situation I signed away 33.3% (contingent) of my settlement which (which is fair and reasonable). If you wish my lawyer/law firm to get little or no compensation you are wishing the same for myself and most other victims/survivors.

You are correct that money cannot cure everything. However restitution for pain, mental suffering, loss of possible wages (personally I think I underachieved in this life because of the abuse), my daughters suffering from my emotional unavailability (if there is enough restitution at some point she will benefit) and the fact I realize now I might need mental care the rest of my lifetime so restitution/money won't cure me but it will make my life easier. Are you so naive to think that the BSA ever cared for those of us who were abused? Did they ever reach out and say hey we have issues within BSA and your troop and we suspect you may have been a victim and want to help you? Hell no they didn't. Only with legal pressure (deleted) did they do anything positive. I read your profile and see you were an ASM in 1966 and 1967 (67 was the year I was raped by 2 adult volunteers) and you have been active in BSA for most of your life. Did you ever hear of anything going on and if you did were you alerting scouts to this issue? When all of this started to come to light many years ago did you go to the higher ups and say hey we need to do something here. (deleted) this was started because to many leaders in troops, and councils, and in the national turned there backs and did not do what was correct. This in military terms is called a failure to lead. If it wasn't for lawyers the perversion files would not have seen the light of day. If it wasn't for the legal system the BSA would still be hiding everything. If BSA had not hid and covered up what was happening they might not have the wealth they have today since the big reason it was hidden because they did not want their fund raising, donations, and scout levels to drop. The TCC has publicly stated that they do not want to destroy the BSA. (deleted). And as for your "Good luck" you can keep it...I just want full restitution for all that I deserve.

You don’t have to tell me I am dealing with it every day.

Muttsy I hate to be the one to tell you but we are already in 2021 and half of it is gone. But I get what you are implying.

I would say 12 to 18 months for money from BSA and LC’s and 3 to 4 years for insurance money. They will be fighting and delaying at every turn.

Thank you for the clarification. Given that I would think that it would make sense for all of the insurance company's to try to settle beforehand. Possibly the TCC et.al does not want them to knowing the trustee will determine they will owe much more.

I take from that statement a lawsuit can be filed against an insurance company by the trustee?

Ok. How does the trustee get the non settled insurance company's to pay into the settlement? Where will the motivation be to settle if they cannot be sued? Or will the trustee be suing them on behalf of all claimants or will they file individual suits? Sorry if I sound ignorant.

So if my LC opts into the settlement I have to depend on the trustee to go after the insurance company? I cannot go after them as an individual? I am a little confused.

So if one were to opt out of the settlement could the BSA, LC be sued?

So if the revised plan is passed as is, will lawsuits against the insurers be allowed on an individual basis i.e. survivor in California which has look back?

Yesterday I was a recipient of an email from the law firm representing me. It emphasized that this really is just the beginning and that the earliest they expect any of the settlement to be distributed will be in about 9 months. This will be a slow process but the real process has just started. It has been anguishing up to now and I don’t expect it to get any easier. @ThenNowwe still need you around. Your insights are valuable and you and everyone else relieves some of my stress. Thank you all.

I feel a need to revisit this. BSA has spent a tremendous amount of money for legal fees and other costs associated with this bankruptcy and they did it for one reason to keep themselves from losing everything. It is probably more then the amount that they want National to put into the settlement trust. White Cassel has made a large bucket of money and will make more the longer that this drags on (which is to their benefit). Who are the activists you are referring to that wants to "tear down another pillar of traditional American society & culture"? The "bureaucrats protecting their rears" all seem to be part of BSA national hence the strategy of the global plan and the short sightedness of how many survivors would come forward (and that back fired big time). I don't think victims are being victimized all over again by #1 and #2 but more by the #1 the BSA (offering so little and spending so much to offer so little) and the BSA legal team who came up with this crazy legal strategy. If it wasn't for the lawyers who reached out and made it OK to come forward who let survivors know they weren't the only victims the BSA's strategy may have worked. I believe that if it wasn't for the lawyers you believe are victimizing survivors would get much less compensation when all is said and done. Who is going to go up against the insurance company's, the CO's and maybe the LC's? And yes they do not do it for free.

Even the smokers knew that it increased risk for death. My father started smoking at the age of 12 and told me that they called cigarettes "coffin sticks" back that then. He died of lung cancer and it didn't take a warning on a cigarette pack to tell him what his eventuality would be. BSA knew long before I became a scout that there was a distinct chance that I could be abused (they had records and files about abusers) yet I am sure that no one told my parents and definitely never told me "hey be careful we don't know a lot about those men that will be camping with you or your child". Maybe if they had I would never been a scout and never been abused.