Payouts in L.A. County's $4-billion sex abuse settlement delayed to two largest law firms
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Set us as preferred Two law firms behind the bulk of claims in L.A.County’s $4-billion sex abuse settlement have had their payouts delayed pending probes, leaving many clients who expected life-changing sums stuck in limbo.The first checks from the settlement — the largest of its kind in U.S.
history — were supposed to start going out this summer after a judge rejected Dist.Atty.
Nathan Hochman’s request to freeze the funds over fraud concerns.Many claims are thought to be legitimate and no plaintiffs in the settlement have been charged with wrongdoing.But Slater Slater Schulman, which represents roughly 3,700 people in the case, emailed clients two weeks ago that the firm has “temporarily paused” payments due to an unanticipated audit of their cases.Clifford Robert, outside counsel representing Slater, told The Times that the firm “is working with the county and the claims administrator to ensure the prompt payment of their clients’ claims.”“The scale of this litigation presents extraordinarily complex challenges for the victims, for the county, and for the attorneys on both sides,” he said in a statement.
Downtown LA Law Group, which represents more than 2,700 plaintiffs, has yet to receive money to dole out payments, according to county officials.The firm is currently under investigation by L.A.
County’s district attorney and the State Bar after The Times reported last fall that some of its clients said they’d been paid to sue, and, in some cases, fabricate their claims against the county.The firm, known as DTLA, has denied all wrongdoing.
A DTLA spokesperson said the firm believes its clients’ cases are on track to proceed, with a judge currently deciding how much each case is worth.“Nothing is more important to us than our clients.
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