The Christian Brothers has denied claims it is delaying settlements, adding it has paid out over €40m to more than 200 victims of abuse.
The Roman Catholic congregation has been accused of using tactics that delay settling civil abuse claims and litigations by legal representatives for victims of historical childhood abuse.
Last week, the High Court granted permission for the publication in the Irish Independent of the names of 341 former Christian Brothers who are now co-defendants accused of a breach of duty in a civil abuse claim. They are not accused of any assaults.
The names were published on Tuesday this week in a legal notice in the Irish Independent.
In a statement to the Irish Independent on Wednesday, the Christian Brothers said its focus remained “resolutely on settling claims in a timely manner without the stress and delays of litigation.”
“Our typical approach is to acknowledge a claim with an offer of mediation, and we can confirm that, at present, a majority of notified claims are settled within 12 months without the stress of a court appearance,” the statement said.
‘It’s not good enough to go silent,’ solicitor tells 341 former members of Christian Brothers named in civil claim
“Claimants are listened to in a non-adversarial setting and their claims are settled in a timely manner. The vast majority of claimants and their legal representatives are opting for non-adversarial resolution of claims.
“Our experience is that protracted litigation has very little, if any, benefit to claimants.”
The Christian Brothers said it had paid compensation of over €40m, including legal fees, to over 200 claimants, and provided counselling for the survivors of abuse.
These figures were in addition to its contributions to the Redress and Statutory Funds, a scheme set up to compensate survivors of abuse.
The congregation said compensation in protracted litigation is not “materially different” to what is received through an early settlement. The statement added that legal fees in longer cases was “typically four times the compensation received by claimants” and could be significant higher.
“In one recent case the claim for legal fees by a law firm was almost 19 times the compensation paid to the claimant.
“Regrettably protracted litigation diverts and depletes resources available for future claims and serves only to enrich the legal firms focussing on protracted litigation.”
The Christian Brothers invited any past-pupil of its schools who may have experienced sexual abuse to make contact with a view to a timely resolution.
On Tuesday, a lawyer representing the claimant in the breach of duty civil abuse claim against the Christian Brothers said he would pursue “civil judgments in default of appearance” later this year if those named in the Irish Independent legal notice did not answer the claim.
The civil case was brought by a plaintiff who was abused by Christian Brother Liam Coughlan (90) while he attended a school in Co Kilkenny in the 1970s. Mr Coughlan was jailed in 2023.
As an unincorporated association, the Christian Brothers cannot be sued if it does not provide a “nominee” for the congregation to deal with lawsuits.
The only way around this is for a survivor to sue everyone who was a member of the community at the time they were abused, under the doctrine of vicarious liability.
The now-head of the Christian Brothers, David Gibson, has refused to act as a nominee for the congregation, leaving litigants needing to bring legal action against individual members or former members of the order.
In response to the statement, the lawyer representing the claimant, Philip Treacy, a senior solicitor at Coleman Legal, questioned who “we” and “our” were in the quotes from the Christian Brothers.
He said Mr Gibson had been offering to meet in a personal capacity only.
“The offer to meet victims in a personal capacity only is disingenuous given those legal implications,” he claimed.
“Victims of sexual abuse have a right of access to justice through the Courts, to seek vindication for the heinous actions of the perpetrators and the Order who failed for decades to prevent these sexual abuses being carried out on children.
“Nothing we have done on behalf of our clients has been unnecessary. It is all a direct consequence of the Christian Brothers choosing to not nominate a member to act on behalf of the Congregation.
“They should be pressed on why they refuse to nominate, which they fail to address in their statement, and which would be in no way prejudicial to them, they can still meet for settlement or fully defend a case.”
Treacy said he believed it was the Christian Brothers who were causing protracted litigation by failing to nominate, resulting in delays and “additional stress on victims of childhood sexual abuse.”
“As Solicitors for many clients who are victims of childhood sexual abuse, we make every effort to bring litigation to completion as soon as possible for our clients in a timely, just and equitable manner.”
On Tuesday, Mr Treacy said he would pursue “civil judgments in default of appearance” later this year if those named in the legal notice did not answer the claim.