On April 19, 2023, the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy plan “went effective.” The Plan went effective when the Third Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals denied various objectors efforts to stay (or pause) the bankruptcy settlement. This means that our Trustee can finally begin to implement the terms of the settlement, begin analyzing claims, and start the administration of the Trust.
Unfortunately, none of this happens overnight but it is certainly a step in the right direction. With 82,000 claims to analyze, the Trustee will need to take time creating the infrastructure and hiring the individuals necessary to review claims. Our firm is directly involved in this process, as Chris Hurley is the Chairman of the Settlement Trust Advisory Committee. We can assure you the Trustee is moving as fast as legally and humanly possible.
There will not be distributions until late this year at the earliest. The timing of the distributions will largely hinge on how quickly the Trustee can analyze each claim and how quickly the Appeal is decided. Certain insurance settlements, amounting in the billions, are not due to the trust until a final order is entered in the case. This will require the Third Circuit to decide the pending appeal on its merits.
We do not know how much each BSA abuse victim will receive. This is because there are still 17 additional insurance companies that have yet to settle. We also do not know precisely how the Trustee will factor in various aspects of claims.
Hurley McKenna & Mertz [HMM] represents nearly 4,500 men who were sexually abused as children during their involvement in Boy Scout youth organizations. HMM has worked constantly over the last three years to ensure that BSA and its sponsoring organizations take responsibility for their actions and that HMM’s clients and all BSA sexual abuse victims get a just and fair result. With Chris Hurley as the Chairman of the Settlement Trust Advisory Committee, we will continue to fight for justice for all BSA abuse claimants as the claims review process begins.
