Chapter 11 announced - Part 14 - Plan Effective

[BadChannel70]

US court reluctant to blow up Boy Scouts’ $2.46 billion sex abuse settlement | Reuters

[MYCVAStory]

On 11/7/2024 at 1:11 PM, Muttsy said:

But this plan has barely been implemented. Time was wasted but that is irrelevant. Most of the money hasn’t been transferred to the trust and only a tiny fraction 1.5% has been paid out. The test is “substantial consummation.” This is nowhere near that. 
The court can pinch its nose and rubber stamp it but that only invites an endless parade of other mass tort manipulations they have to deal with down the road. I watched these judges and have studied their past rulings. These cats aren’t rubber stampers. 

I'm looking forward to January when several people with experience with this court think there will be a ruling.  A few others think it'll be sooner since they know money into the Trust is being held up.  All believe that the "equitable mootness" doctrine is of course at play here but the LAST thing this court wants to do is use this case, and dying Survivors, as the opportunity to make a statement.  That point was driven home.  Consummation is defined as more than dollars out the door when the very appeal is the thing holding that up.  We'll see.

 

Edited Friday at 06:13 PM by MYCVAStory

[Eagle1970]

My favorite part of the oral argument was the statement referring to requiring survivors to pay back what they have received.  Last I heard, only a few thousand had received anything.  And my total "award" to date is far less than a single Social Security payment.

[MattR]

On 11/7/2024 at 11:41 AM, BadChannel70 said:

US court reluctant to blow up Boy Scouts’ $2.46 billion sex abuse settlement | Reuters

One quote from that struck me. This from a lawyer representing 75 survivors:

Quote

"Nobody can bargain away my clients' claims without their consent, not even other survivors," Lujan Wolff said.

In other words, if this plan is rejected then it's everyone for themself. Get in line and hopefully you're at the front. That's a couple of winners and a whole lot of losers.

[Eagle1993]

Lujan rejected a substantial settlement in the Guam lawsuit right before bankruptcy.  Now her clients will receive less than that offer and I expect she is personally and professionally vested in doing everything possible to undo that mistake.  The BSA bankruptcy possibility was very well known, I'm not sure why she rejected that initial offer.  I give her credit, she is fighting hard to represent her clients; however, over the last four years she seems to struggle to make solid arguments in court and rarely wins substantial rulings.   

I highly doubt the appeal will work.

[Muttsy]

Don’t forget the other appeals are not trivial threats to be brushed away. The non-settling insurers have compelling Due Process points. This Rube Goldberg IRO absurdity promising survivors what is in reality an expensive, wasteful bridge to nowhere that will never result in full recovery (or any recovery)  for the handful of claimants that were duped to support the plan on the basis of a lawyer-invented cynical mirage.  
Talk about long waits. The non-settling insurers will never pay those awards and Houser will quickly lose if and when the insurance litigation ever resumes. It’s existential, non-negotiable for insurance companies to maintain the bedrock foundation of liability coverage insurance that only carrier, not the insured, has the right to decide whether to pay a settlement and for what amount. It cannot be transferred by the insured or taken by a bankruptcy judge and given to a trustee without consent of the insurance company  This reality was completely misrepresented or hidden from the claimants during the voting. It was hidden mostly because the TCC, after spending 70M on attorneys (Stang), capitulated and never put on a case in the confirmation trial  it was left to Lujan and Dumas to champion these issues at trial and they were completely financially outgunned. Only Lujan’s client on the TCC had the courage to  push back and vote no on supporting the planin the committee  

Bottom line is those carriers have clear contract rights that can’t be taken away by a bankruptcy court for the sake of expediency. This was never explained to survivors by the TCC, who simply capitulated under pressure of their individual lawyers and Pachulski Stang and dissenting voices were silenced by the BSA and the mass tort lawyer cabal. 
What truly terrifies all these plan proponents (BSA, Coalition, TCC, PS) when the Plan fails, is not facing the anger of thousands of betrayed, misled clients, but facing them without the protection of the exculpation clauses they showered on each other in the Plan. These clauses shield these law firms and committee members from personal civil liability for fraud, negligence, misrepresentation etc related to their actions and advice in the bankruptcy. Over 500M in estate assets were wasted on these bankruptcy lawyers to produce this debacle. 
If you want to be angry, be angry at those lawyers and the TCC, not Lujan and Dumas. 

[Ojoman]

A lot of law firms and lawyers eyes lit up 22 years ago when the BSA was forced to open their files. I remain convinced that the majority of lawyers just saw $ signs and rushed to get as many plaintiffs signed up as possible to get as big a slice of any settlement as they could with not that much regard for the victims. Call me a cynic but most victims would probably have been better served in individual actions. Just my opinion: https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2012/06/boy_scout_perversion_files_are.html

 

[johnsch322]

17 minutes ago, Ojoman said:

Call me a cynic but most victims would probably have been better served in individual actions.

The BSA made sure that couldn’t happen because they filed the bankruptcy. 

[MYCVAStory]

On 11/9/2024 at 8:13 AM, Muttsy said:

Don’t forget the other appeals are not trivial threats to be brushed away. The non-settling insurers have compelling Due Process points. This Rube Goldberg IRO absurdity promising survivors what is in reality an expensive, wasteful bridge to nowhere that will never result in full recovery (or any recovery)  for the handful of claimants that were duped to support the plan on the basis of a lawyer-invented cynical mirage.  
Talk about long waits. The non-settling insurers will never pay those awards and Houser will quickly lose if and when the insurance litigation ever resumes. It’s existential, non-negotiable for insurance companies to maintain the bedrock foundation of liability coverage insurance that only carrier, not the insured, has the right to decide whether to pay a settlement and for what amount. It cannot be transferred by the insured or taken by a bankruptcy judge and given to a trustee without consent of the insurance company  This reality was completely misrepresented or hidden from the claimants during the voting. It was hidden mostly because the TCC, after spending 70M on attorneys (Stang), capitulated and never put on a case in the confirmation trial  it was left to Lujan and Dumas to champion these issues at trial and they were completely financially outgunned. Only Lujan’s client on the TCC had the courage to  push back and vote no on supporting the planin the committee  

A few things:

1.  The IRO wasn't designed to come up with award amounts and then assume insurers would magically hand the money over.  It serves to show insurers their potential losses, which they can and will ignore I assume, so then the Trust uses those cases to produce significant award verdicts, a portion of which goes to the Trust, and puts pressure on the insurers to start wondering how much it'll take to stop the bleeding.  Remember, the non-settling insurer takes part in the IRO hearing so they can beat up the claim if they want, but also they receive a first-hand view of the future.

2.  So Lujan's client on the TCC voted no on supporting the plan in a committee meeting?  Where was that reported?  As far as courage, the opposite could also be suggested.  Official committee members serve ALL Survivors and not just their own interests or those of a smaller set of Survivors.  Seems to me the "courageous" thing to do would have been vote AGAINST the wishes of his attorney if they were in the best interest of all.  Again, we don't apparently have the inside information into the inner workings of the TCC you apparently do.

 

On 11/9/2024 at 8:13 AM, Muttsy said:

Bottom line is those carriers have clear contract rights that can’t be taken away by a bankruptcy court for the sake of expediency. This was never explained to survivors by the TCC, who simply capitulated under pressure of their individual lawyers and Pachulski Stang and dissenting voices were silenced by the BSA and the mass tort lawyer cabal. 
What truly terrifies all these plan proponents (BSA, Coalition, TCC, PS) when the Plan fails, is not facing the anger of thousands of betrayed, misled clients, but facing them without the protection of the exculpation clauses they showered on each other in the Plan. These clauses shield these law firms and committee members from personal civil liability for fraud, negligence, misrepresentation etc related to their actions and advice in the bankruptcy. Over 500M in estate assets were wasted on these bankruptcy lawyers to produce this debacle. 

So the TCC capitulated to pressure?  Do you have specific examples to show that was the case or is this the opinion of someone who wasn't a part of their work?  As far as the "shield", that's standard operating procedure and without them NO one would practice this law, or agree to serve on a committee as a volunteer.  On the subject of the cost of all of this, agreed.  Nice work if you can get it. 

On 11/9/2024 at 8:13 AM, Muttsy said:

If you want to be angry, be angry at those lawyers and the TCC, not Lujan and Dumas. 

I'm a Survivor plan proponent and I'm not mad at Lujan or Dumas.  Do I wish they weren't holding this up?  Absolutely.  Too many Survivors are passing away waiting for this to be out of appeal.  But, I also respect these attorneys' right to provide the best possible representation for their clients.  Those same clients have the right to fire their attorneys and aren't so I'm not going to be mad at them either.  I just wish they would accept that their number isn't enough change the plan vote outcome, and the reality is that in Bankruptcy we are ALL in a class, whether we like it or not.  If anything, I'm jealous of the Lujan clients.  The 280 have settled with the Catholic for between 34-45 million dollars.  That's on top of any BSA awards.  And Lujan...at 40% stands to make 16-18 million dollars?!  Just saying.  If my family member passed away before the appeals were exhausted I'd have ads and billboards up in Guam asking when enough is enough. What I AM mad at is jamming the round sexual abuse reason for this bankruptcy into the square hole that is commercial bankruptcy law.  It wasn't designed for this or any other case of mass sexual abuse.  There is support for Bankruptcy reform on Capital Hill.  Grassley and Warren are trying.  Child USA is fighting.  Maybe when this becomes "real" for the public, when "checks hit mailboxes" and people can put a tangible cost to what we have suffered, maybe then the need for change will become "real" as well for Society.  Too late for so many, but maybe it'll be the driver of much needed change.