24/7 LIVE STAFF — Compassionate help, any time day or night
CALL NOW 1-888-ATTY-911
Blog |

Clergy Sexual Abuse & Institutional Liability Attorneys: The $180 Million Diocese of Camden Settlement for 300 Survivors Resolves Decades of Concealed Child Abuse by Clergy, Attorney911 Brings Ralph Manginello’s 27+ Years of Federal-Court Trial Practice to New Jersey’s Revival-Window Claims, We Pursue the Dioceses and Archdioceses Through the Bankruptcy Claims Process and Pull the Personnel Files, Secret Archives and Bishop-to-Bishop Correspondence Before They Are Sealed, the State Grand Jury Investigation Remains Active, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider Who Knows How Institutional Claims Are Valued and Denied, the Firm Has Recovered Millions in Catastrophic Cases — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911

July 9, 2026 28 min read
Clergy Sexual Abuse & Institutional Liability Attorneys: The $180 Million Diocese of Camden Settlement for 300 Survivors Resolves Decades of Concealed Child Abuse by Clergy, Attorney911 Brings Ralph Manginello's 27+ Years of Federal-Court Trial Practice to New Jersey's Revival-Window Claims, We Pursue the Dioceses and Archdioceses Through the Bankruptcy Claims Process and Pull the Personnel Files, Secret Archives and Bishop-to-Bishop Correspondence Before They Are Sealed, the State Grand Jury Investigation Remains Active, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider Who Knows How Institutional Claims Are Valued and Denied, the Firm Has Recovered Millions in Catastrophic Cases — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911 - Attorney911

Camden, New Jersey Clergy Sexual Abuse Settlement: What $180 Million Means for Survivors — and What Comes Next

If you are reading this page, you may be one of the approximately 300 survivors whose claims against the Diocese of Camden are part of the $180 million settlement announced this week. Or you may be someone who was abused by clergy in South Jersey and has not yet come forward — wondering whether the door is still open, whether it is too late, whether anyone will listen. We are writing to you directly, and we want you to hear this first: what happened to you was not your fault, it was not God’s will, and the law of New Jersey gives you rights that no institution can take away. The settlement announced by Bishop Joseph Williams — covering the Diocese of Camden and its six southern New Jersey counties — is a milestone, not an endpoint. It represents institutional accountability for approximately 300 survivors who had the extraordinary courage to come forward. But the ongoing state grand jury investigation, authorized by the New Jersey Supreme Court after the diocese withdrew its objection, means the door may still be open for survivors who have not yet filed claims. We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC. Ralph Manginello has spent 27+ years in courtrooms, including federal court, and Lupe Peña sat inside the rooms where insurance companies decide how to delay and devalue claims — and now uses that knowledge for injured people. We handle institutional sexual abuse cases. We do not get paid unless we win your case. And the consultation is free. Call 1-888-ATTY-911, any hour, any day.

What the $180 Million Diocese of Camden Settlement Actually Covers

The Diocese of Camden — covering Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties — has agreed to a $180 million settlement resolving clergy sexual abuse allegations brought by approximately 300 survivors. Bishop Joseph Williams announced the settlement in a letter to the diocese, calling it “a milestone in their journey toward restored justice and the healing and recognition they have long sought and deserve.” That $180 million figure includes approximately $87.5 million that the diocese had previously agreed to pay in 2022 as part of an earlier settlement framework. The incremental new commitment is approximately $92.5 million. This is not a payment that goes out automatically. The settlement must still be approved by the federal bankruptcy court handling the Diocese of Camden’s Chapter 11 case. Approval means the bankruptcy judge reviews the settlement terms, evaluates whether they are fair and reasonable to the survivors, and enters an order that authorizes the creation of a settlement trust or claims-resolution facility through which individual payments are distributed. The settlement does not write a single check to each survivor. Instead, it creates a structured process — typically overseen by a bankruptcy trustee or a claims reviewer — that evaluates each survivor’s claim individually and assigns a payment based on the severity, duration, frequency, and psychological impact of the abuse they endured.

How the Settlement Money Is Divided Among 300 Survivors

The $180 million settlement resolves claims for approximately 300 survivors. That averages roughly $600,000 per survivor before allocation adjustments and attorney fees. But averages in clergy sexual abuse bankruptcy settlements are misleading — and the defense knows it. Individual awards are almost always tiered. A bankruptcy court’s claims-resolution procedure typically establishes severity categories that account for the nature and duration of the abuse, the age of the survivor at the time, the psychological injuries documented, whether institutional concealment can be proven, and the impact on the survivor’s life trajectory. Individual per-survivor allocations in a settlement of this structure likely range from approximately $100,000 on the low end to over $1,000,000 for the most severe cases. The bankruptcy court’s claims procedure — not the diocese, and not the survivors’ attorneys alone — governs how those tiers are defined and how each claim is valued. The $180 million is the ceiling. The claims-resolution procedure is the mechanism. And the individual survivor’s documented injuries are what drive where in that range their particular claim lands. This is why the quality of the evidence preserved, the thoroughness of the psychological evaluation, and the skill of the legal team presenting the claim to the bankruptcy trustee all matter enormously — not just to whether a survivor receives compensation, but to how much.

New Jersey’s Statute of Limitations Reform: How the Door Opened for 300 Survivors

The reason approximately 300 survivors were able to bring claims against the Diocese of Camden — and the reason the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy — is that New Jersey changed its law. New Jersey extended the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse civil claims and created a revival window that allowed previously time-barred claims to be filed. Before that reform, most of these claims would have been legally dead — the deadline to sue would have expired years or decades before the survivor was ready to come forward. Child sexual abuse by clergy produces injuries that often do not surface for decades. The survivor who was abused at twelve may not connect their adult depression, substance use, inability to trust, or suicidal ideation to what happened in a rectory or a parish school until they are in their thirties, forties, or fifties — long after any ordinary statute of limitations would have run. New Jersey’s legislature recognized this reality. The revival window it created allowed survivors to file civil claims that the old deadlines would have blocked. That legislative change is what triggered the flood of lawsuits that led the Diocese of Camden — like dioceses across the country — to seek the protection of the federal bankruptcy court. New Jersey does not impose a blanket statutory cap on damages for sexual abuse claims, meaning both compensatory and punitive damages remain theoretically available in civil actions against individual perpetrators or non-bankrupt institutional entities. However, once a defendant enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy, survivor claims are processed through the bankruptcy trust, and the settlement fund effectively caps total recovery. The statute of limitations and the bankruptcy process interact in ways that are not obvious — and a survivor who is unsure whether their claim is still alive should never assume the door is closed without checking with a lawyer who understands both systems.

The Diocese of Camden Bankruptcy: How the Claims Process Works

The Diocese of Camden filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid the torrent of lawsuits that followed New Jersey’s statute of limitations reform. Chapter 11 is a reorganization bankruptcy — not a liquidation. The diocese does not close its doors. Instead, the bankruptcy court oversees a process in which the diocese’s assets and insurance coverage are marshaled, survivor claims are consolidated, and a settlement framework is negotiated and approved by the court. The $180 million settlement announced by Bishop Williams is the product of that negotiation. But the bankruptcy court’s role does not end with the announcement. The court must approve the settlement. It must approve the claims-resolution procedure — the rules that govern how individual survivors submit proof of their claims and how those claims are valued. It must set a claims bar date — the deadline by which survivors must file their claims or lose the right to recover from the settlement fund. And it must oversee the distribution of funds through a bankruptcy trust or similar mechanism. For survivors who are already part of the settlement, the bankruptcy process is the path to receiving compensation. For survivors who have not yet come forward, the claims bar date is the critical deadline — miss it, and the right to recover from the $180 million fund may be gone forever. The bankruptcy court’s claims procedure has specific deadlines and procedural requirements that survivors must understand clearly. If you believe you may have a claim and you have not yet filed, the single most important thing you can do is determine whether the claims bar date has passed — and if it has not, file before it does.

The Ongoing New Jersey Grand Jury Investigation: What It Means for Survivors Who Have Not Come Forward

The Camden settlement follows the diocese’s withdrawal of its objection to the State of New Jersey’s grand jury investigation into decades of alleged sexual abuse of children by clergy. The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s investigation could proceed. The previous bishop had fought the investigation; Bishop Williams withdrew the objection, and survivors’ advocates praised the change in approach. The grand jury investigation — conducted by the New Jersey Attorney General’s office — has the power to compel testimony, demand documents, and produce findings that could support additional civil claims or criminal referrals. For survivors who have not yet come forward, the grand jury investigation may create opportunities. Its findings could identify perpetrators whose names were not previously public. It could document institutional patterns of concealment that strengthen individual civil claims. And it could produce evidence that extends the statute of limitations analysis for survivors whose claims might otherwise be time-barred — particularly where fraudulent concealment by the diocese prevented survivors from discovering their claims within the limitations period. The grand jury process operates under secrecy rules that may limit public access to its proceedings, and the timing of any public report is uncertain. But the investigation is ongoing, it is authorized by the state’s highest court, and it represents a separate pathway to accountability that exists alongside — not instead of — the civil claims process.

Who Can Be Held Accountable: The Institutional Defendant Structure

A clergy sexual abuse case is almost never about one perpetrator alone. The institutional structure that allowed the abuse to happen — and that often concealed it — is a central defendant. In the Diocese of Camden cases, the defendant structure includes several layers. The Diocese of Camden itself is the primary defendant — the entity responsible for clergy under its control and supervision, the entity that filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the entity that agreed to the $180 million settlement. Individual clergy members who perpetrated abuse are direct defendants for their own acts — but individual perpetrators are often judgment-proof, lacking personal assets or insurance sufficient to compensate the survivors they harmed. Diocesan leadership and predecessors may face claims for concealment, failure to report abuse to civil authorities, and obstructive conduct regarding investigations. The prior bishop fought the state grand jury investigation; prior leadership may face claims for decisions that enabled continued perpetration. The broader Catholic Church supervisory hierarchy is a potential discovery target — archdiocesan or national church entities that may have participated in clergy reassignment or in the concealment of abuse histories. The discovery process in clergy sexual abuse cases is designed to reach through the institutional structure to find who knew what, when they knew it, and what they did or failed to do about it. Personnel files, assignment records, internal correspondence, and the so-called “secret archives” that some dioceses have maintained are the documentary spine of these cases.

The Theories of Liability: How Clergy Sexual Abuse Cases Are Built

The legal theories in clergy sexual abuse cases are not limited to the direct assault. They reach the institution that enabled it. Negligent supervision is a central theory — the diocese failed to adequately supervise clergy who had access to children, despite actual or constructive knowledge of abuse risk. Negligent retention is the claim that the diocese kept clergy in positions involving child contact after receiving allegations or warnings of sexual misconduct. Intentional tort — sexual assault and battery — addresses the direct acts of abuse by clergy members against child survivors under positions of religious authority and trust. Concealment and fraudulent concealment is the theory that the diocese concealed abuse allegations, enabling continued perpetration and preventing survivors from discovering their claims within limitations periods — and this is where tolling doctrine applies, potentially extending the deadline to sue based on the institution’s concealment. Breach of fiduciary duty addresses the spiritual authority and trust that clergy occupied over children, and the corresponding fiduciary obligations the diocese owed and breached. Negligent infliction of emotional distress covers the severe emotional trauma from abuse by trusted religious authority figures, compounded by institutional concealment. Each of these theories is a separate path to accountability, and a well-built case pleads all that the facts support.

The Evidence: What Records Exist and How Fast They Disappear

Clergy sexual abuse cases are document cases. The evidence that proves negligent supervision, concealment, and institutional failure lives in records the diocese created and controlled — and some of those records are on clocks that can destroy them. Diocesan personnel files and clergy assignment records are critical — they document clergy transfers, reassignments, and any internal abuse allegations. These are the files that show whether a priest who abused a child in one parish was moved to another parish with access to new children. They are the proof of negligent supervision and concealment. In the bankruptcy context, document retention policies and discovery deadlines constrain availability — but the bankruptcy court has the power to order production. Internal correspondence between diocesan leadership is the evidence of knowledge of abuse, concealment decisions, and failure to report to civil authorities. Letters, memoranda, and emails between bishops, vicars, and administrators can show that the institution knew about abuse and chose to hide it rather than protect children. Grand jury investigation findings and transcripts, when released, may establish institutional patterns of abuse and concealment that support individual civil claims. But grand jury secrecy rules may limit public access, and the timing of any release is uncertain. Survivor testimony, depositions, and statements are the first-hand accounts that establish specific causation, abuse details, and damages for individual claims. The aging survivor population is a real concern — survivors who were abused decades ago are themselves aging, and the window for capturing their testimony is finite. Diocesan insurance policies and coverage archives determine what insurance proceeds are available for settlement and may reveal what insurers knew about abuse allegations. In the bankruptcy proceeding, these records are part of the bankruptcy estate. The bankruptcy court controls discovery, and the claims bar date controls the deadline for submitting claims. The preservation of evidence is not automatic — it requires legal action to freeze records before they can be lost, destroyed, or rendered inaccessible.

The Injury: What Clergy Sexual Abuse Does to a Human Being

Child sexual abuse by clergy produces catastrophic psychological injuries — and these injuries are not opinions. They are diagnosable, documented, and devastating. The medical science is clear and settled. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a formal diagnosis with eight separate diagnostic criteria under the DSM-5 — the diagnostic manual the American Psychiatric Association publishes. A survivor has to meet every one: the traumatic event, the intrusive memories and nightmares that will not stop, the avoidance of anything that triggers the memory, the negative changes in thinking and mood, the alterations in arousal and reactivity that leave a person hypervigilant and unable to sleep, symptoms that last more than a month, functional impairment, and the absence of any other medical explanation. This is not a label a lawyer picks. It is a medical diagnosis with a structured clinical instrument behind it. And the research is unambiguous about what causes it: in the largest epidemiological study ever conducted on trauma, sexual assault carried the highest conditional probability of producing PTSD of any traumatic event measured — more likely to cause lasting psychological injury than combat, than a car wreck, than a natural disaster. When a trusted spiritual authority figure — a priest, a deacon, a religious brother — abuses a child, the psychological devastation is compounded by the betrayal of trust at the core of the survivor’s spiritual life. Complex PTSD, major depressive disorder, substance use disorders, suicidality, dissociative disorders, disrupted attachment capacity, and significantly diminished earning potential are the documented, long-term consequences of clergy sexual abuse. These injuries often manifest decades after the abuse — the survivor who was abused at twelve may not recognize the connection between their adult struggles and what happened in a rectory until years of therapy have uncovered it. The defense playbook in these cases exploits the invisibility of psychological injury. There is no X-ray that shows PTSD. There is no blood test for complex trauma. The defense will argue the survivor was already predisposed to depression, anxiety, or substance use — that something else caused their problems. The answer is the medical record built from the moment the survivor enters treatment: the contemporaneous therapy notes, the PTSD diagnostic testing, the treating clinician’s testimony, and the life-care planner’s projection of the decades of treatment the survivor will need. The injury is real. The science proves it. The defense knows it — and the defense also knows that if the survivor’s case is built carefully, the evidence is overwhelming.

What These Cases Are Worth: Damages and Compensation in Clergy Sexual Abuse Claims

The $180 million settlement resolves claims for approximately 300 survivors, averaging roughly $600,000 per survivor before allocation adjustments and attorney fees. Individual per-survivor allocations will be determined by the bankruptcy court’s claims-resolution procedure and likely range from approximately $100,000 to over $1,000,000 based on severity tiers. This case is already settled — the settlement fund is fixed at $180 million. But for comparable new clergy sexual abuse claims against other New Jersey dioceses or institutions — including those potentially generated by the ongoing grand jury investigation — individual case values would likely range from approximately $300,000 to $2,000,000 or more per survivor, depending on abuse severity, duration, institutional concealment evidence, and defendant solvency. The damages in a clergy sexual abuse case are built from several categories. The economic stream includes past and future mental health treatment — trauma therapy, psychiatric medication management, residential treatment where needed, and the decades of ongoing care that complex PTSD demands. Lost earning capacity is a major component — survivors of child sexual abuse often have significantly diminished educational attainment, employment stability, and lifetime earnings. The non-economic component compensates for pain, suffering, loss of trust, loss of religious faith community, and the profound emotional distress that defines the survivor’s daily existence. Punitive damages are typically structured within the global bankruptcy settlement rather than separately awarded, but the concealment allegations in clergy cases would support punitive theories in non-bankruptcy civil actions against individual perpetrators or supervisory entities. Where a survivor has died since the abuse — whether from suicide, substance use, or natural causes — survival actions may apply, and wrongful death claims may be available to families. The life-care planning for survivors must account for long-term trauma therapy, psychiatric medication management, and the real possibility of residential treatment needs. A forensic economist reduces these future costs to present value — because a settlement or verdict pays the future in one present-day sum. The defense will argue that the survivor’s psychological injuries are pre-existing or unrelated. The answer is a properly constructed damages model, built by a life-care planner and a forensic economist, that traces the cost of the harm across the survivor’s lifetime and presents it in dollars a jury or a bankruptcy trustee can understand. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.

The Insurance and Institutional Playbook: What Survivors Should Expect

The institutional defendant in a clergy sexual abuse case does not approach the survivor with empathy. It approaches with a playbook designed to minimize compensation, limit institutional exposure, and close the case as quietly as possible. Understanding that playbook is the first step in countering it. Play one: the delay strategy. The institution and its insurers know that time erodes evidence, witnesses die, memories fade, and survivors grow weary. The bankruptcy process itself can take years. The counter is aggressive preservation — locking down documents, taking depositions while witnesses are alive, and pressing the bankruptcy court for a claims-resolution procedure that moves efficiently. Play two: the credibility attack. The defense will look for inconsistencies in the survivor’s account — different details told at different times, gaps in memory, delayed disclosure — and will argue these inconsistencies mean the abuse did not happen. The counter is the medical science: trauma scrambles the bookkeeping of memory. A survivor may recall the smell of the room and the sound of the abuser’s voice with brutal clarity while struggling to put the events in chronological order. A timeline that is not tidy is not a story that is not true. Play three: the alternative-cause argument. The defense will attribute the survivor’s psychological injuries to anything other than the abuse — a difficult childhood, a family history of mental illness, substance use that the defense will frame as a choice rather than a symptom. The counter is the treating clinician’s testimony, the PTSD diagnosis, and the causal connection between child sexual abuse and the documented injury pattern that the medical literature establishes beyond dispute. Play four: the low settlement tier. In the bankruptcy claims process, the claims reviewer may assign the survivor’s claim to a lower severity tier than the facts support, reducing the payment. The counter is a thoroughly documented claim — detailed abuse narrative, psychological evaluation by a qualified expert, corroborating evidence where available, and a legal team that knows how to present the claim at its true value. Play five: the institutional concealment defense. The diocese may argue it did not know about the abuse, that it followed the practices of its time, or that individual perpetrators acted outside the scope of their clerical roles. The counter is the personnel file — the transfer records, the internal correspondence, the pattern of reassignment that documents institutional knowledge and institutional failure.

Your First Steps: A Roadmap for Survivors

If you are a survivor of clergy sexual abuse in the Diocese of Camden — or in any New Jersey diocese or religious institution — and you are considering your legal options, here is what we recommend. First, connect with a trauma-informed mental health professional who is independent of the legal process. Your healing comes first. The legal case is built on a foundation of psychological treatment, and the treating clinician’s records are the evidence that proves the injury. Second, if you are already part of the Diocese of Camden settlement, make sure you understand the bankruptcy court’s claims-resolution procedure — how your individual claim will be valued, what documentation you need to submit, and what the deadlines are. The claims bar date is a hard deadline. Missing it can mean losing the right to recover from the settlement fund. Third, if you have not yet come forward — whether your abuse was in the Diocese of Camden, another New Jersey diocese, or a religious institution of any kind — talk to a lawyer who understands both New Jersey’s statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims and the bankruptcy claims process. The revival window that opened the door for the 300 survivors in the Camden settlement may or may not still be open for new claims, and the grand jury investigation may create additional pathways. You need a specific answer for your specific situation — not a general assumption. Fourth, do not give a recorded statement to anyone representing the diocese, its insurers, or its bankruptcy estate without legal representation. What sounds like a simple conversation can become evidence used to minimize your claim. Fifth, document what you can remember — dates, locations, names, circumstances — in writing, while your memory is engaged. Trauma affects recall, and capturing what you remember now, in a form that is preserved, is valuable. Sixth, if you have evidence — letters, photographs, records, anything that documents the abuse or the institution’s response — preserve it. Do not destroy anything, and do not confront the institution or the perpetrator directly. Contact a lawyer first.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much will each survivor receive from the $180 million Diocese of Camden settlement?

The $180 million settlement covers approximately 300 survivors, averaging roughly $600,000 per survivor before allocation adjustments and attorney fees. Individual awards are likely tiered by severity, duration, frequency, and psychological impact of the abuse, with per-survivor allocations likely ranging from approximately $100,000 to over $1,000,000. The bankruptcy court’s claims-resolution procedure will govern how individual claims are valued and distributed. No survivor receives an automatic payment — each claim must be submitted, documented, and reviewed.

Is it too late to file a clergy sexual abuse claim in New Jersey?

That depends on your specific circumstances. New Jersey extended its statute of limitations for child sexual abuse civil claims and created a revival window that allowed previously time-barred claims to be filed. Whether that window is still open for new claims, and whether the ongoing state grand jury investigation creates additional pathways, are questions that require a specific legal analysis of your situation. Never assume the door is closed without checking with a lawyer who understands New Jersey’s child sexual abuse statute of limitations and the bankruptcy claims process.

What is the claims bar date in the Diocese of Camden bankruptcy?

The claims bar date is the deadline set by the bankruptcy court by which survivors must file their claims or lose the right to recover from the settlement fund. This deadline is set by the court during the bankruptcy proceedings and is a hard deadline — missing it can permanently bar your claim. The specific date must be confirmed from the bankruptcy court’s docket. If you believe you may have a claim, determining whether the bar date has passed is the single most urgent step you can take.

What if I was abused by clergy in a different New Jersey diocese?

The Diocese of Camden settlement covers only survivors whose claims are against the Diocese of Camden. Other New Jersey dioceses — including the Archdiocese of Newark, the Diocese of Trenton, the Diocese of Metuchen, the Diocese of Paterson, and the Diocese of Wilmington (which covers parts of southern New Jersey) — are separate legal entities with their own assets, insurance, and litigation posture. If your abuse occurred in a different diocese, your claim would be against that entity, and the Camden settlement does not resolve it. The ongoing grand jury investigation covers alleged abuse across New Jersey and may produce findings relevant to claims against other dioceses.

Do I have to sue the priest who abused me?

Not necessarily. While individual perpetrators can be named as defendants, they are often judgment-proof — lacking personal assets or insurance sufficient to compensate the survivor. The primary defendant in most clergy sexual abuse cases is the institution — the diocese, the religious order, or the church entity that employed the perpetrator, supervised him, and failed to protect the child. The legal theories of negligent supervision, negligent retention, concealment, and breach of fiduciary duty are directed at the institution, not just the individual abuser. Some survivors choose to name the perpetrator; others do not. This is a decision made with your lawyer based on the facts of your case and your own preferences.

What if the abuse happened decades ago?

Child sexual abuse by clergy often produces injuries that do not surface for decades. The survivor who was abused at twelve may not connect their adult psychological struggles to the abuse until they are in their thirties, forties, or fifties. New Jersey’s statute of limitations reform was designed to address exactly this reality. The revival window allowed previously time-barred claims to be filed. Whether your specific claim is still viable depends on when the abuse occurred, when you discovered or should have discovered the connection between the abuse and your injuries, whether the institution engaged in concealment that tolled the limitations period, and whether any revival window is still open. This is a legal question that requires a specific answer based on your facts.

Will what I tell a lawyer be confidential?

Yes. Communications between you and a lawyer are protected by attorney-client privilege. The consultation is free and confidential. A lawyer cannot disclose what you tell them without your permission. This confidentiality is absolute — it survives the attorney-client relationship and extends to the lawyer’s staff. If you are considering coming forward, the safest first step is a private conversation with a lawyer who handles clergy sexual abuse cases, where you can ask questions, learn your rights, and make decisions at your own pace and on your own terms.

What does it cost to hire a lawyer for a clergy sexual abuse case?

We work on contingency. That means we do not get paid unless we win your case. The consultation is free. If we take your case, the fee is a percentage of the recovery — 33.33% before trial and 40% if the case goes to trial. You do not pay hourly rates, and you do not pay upfront costs. The expenses of building the case — expert witnesses, medical records, depositions, court filings — are advanced by the firm and repaid from the recovery if there is one. If there is no recovery, you owe us nothing for fees or costs. This structure exists so that survivors can pursue justice regardless of their financial situation. You can learn more about how this works on our contingency fee explainer.

Why Attorney911

Ralph Manginello has spent 27+ years in courtrooms, including federal court — the same federal bankruptcy court system that is handling the Diocese of Camden’s Chapter 11 case. He was a journalist before he was a lawyer, which means he knows how to find the story the documents tell — the personnel file that shows the transfer, the internal memo that shows the concealment, the pattern that proves the institution knew. Lupe Peña spent years inside a national insurance-defense firm — the rooms where claims like yours are priced, devalued, and delayed. He knows how the institutional defendant’s lawyers evaluate a survivor’s claim, what they look for to minimize it, and where the pressure points are that move a case from a low tier to a fair one. He now uses that knowledge for survivors. He is fluent in Spanish and conducts full consultations in Spanish without an interpreter. We handle institutional sexual abuse cases because the fight matters. The institution that enabled the abuse, concealed it, and failed to protect the children in its care should be held accountable — not with words, but with evidence, law, and the full force of the legal system. We are a trial firm that takes New Jersey cases, working with local counsel where required. We do not claim an office in New Jersey. We do not pretend to be something we are not. What we are is a firm with 27+ years of trial experience, a former insurance-defense insider who knows the other side’s playbook, and a commitment to building every case as if it is going to trial — because that is how you get the strongest settlement, and that is how you earn the trust of a survivor who has already been betrayed once. If we are not the right fit for your case, we will tell you. And we will help you find someone who is. The consultation is free. The call is confidential. And you do not pay us a single dollar unless we win your case. 1-888-ATTY-911. Any hour. Any day. Hablamos Español.

Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. This page is legal information, not legal advice. Contacting the firm is free and confidential.

Share this article:

Need Legal Help?

Free consultation. No fee unless we win your case.

Call 1-888-ATTY-911

Ready to Fight for Your Rights?

Free consultation. No upfront costs. We don't get paid unless we win your case.

Call 1-888-ATTY-911