Victim speaks out following Diocese of Rochester sexual abuse settlement

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — With a settlement reached involving the Diocese of Rochester, decades of sexual abuse claims, and several years of litigation, one victim and her attorney are speaking out.

In 2019, the Diocese of Rochester filed for bankruptcy. It was the first in New York State to do so. Now, it will pay out $55 million to the survivors. News 8 spoke with one of them, who has served as a committee voice for more than 400 individual claims.

For years, Carol DuPre of Spencerport has spoken out about her claims of sexual abuse within the Diocese of Rochester.

In the mid 60s, DuPre says she was molested by a priest in Marion. At the time, she was around 16-years-old.

Over the years, DuPre has served as a voice for the hundreds of other victims.

“There’s a lot of hurt out there. I’m glad they’re taking the responsibility, which I hope will be taking the blame. But, I’m also hoping the other victims will find a way to find peace because I guarantee money won’t do that,” said DuPre.

Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based attorney, has represented nearly 100 victims in this case, including DuPre. He calls the settlement

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November 7, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Kahrig enters guilty plea to bankruptcy fraud charge

EAST ST. LOUIS — A former Edwardsville resident has pleaded guilty to making false statements during his 2018 bankruptcy case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

Kevin Kahrig, 49, a former area building contractor, concealed assets from his creditors by transferring those assets to his girlfriend-turned-spouse, Catharine Kahrig, prior to filing bankruptcy, according to court documents.

All told, Kahrig concealed hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets from his creditors, according to United States Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. He could receive up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at his Feb. 2, 2023 sentencing hearing in East St. Louis.

“Individuals who hide assets and make false statements on bankruptcy pleadings not only defraud their creditors, but they use the federal courts as a part of their fraud,” said Crowe.

“That is an intolerable abuse of the bankruptcy system which demands transparency and forthrightness by those seeking to have their debts discharged or restructured,” she said. “Those who engage in such behavior will be held accountable by this office.”

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter T. Reed.

As part of his Oct. 28 plea, Kevin Kahrig admitted

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November 6, 2022 by ATTORNEY

California Bar Details 205 Complaints Against Tom Girardi

California Bar Details 205 Complaints Against Tom Girardi
California Bar Details 205 Complaints Against Tom Girardi

Tom Girardi speaks to the press in 2014 as a lawyer for Bryan Stow, a San Francisco Giants fan who was severely beaten during a 2011 Dodgers game.

The California State Bar announced Thursday that it has received 205 complaints about prominent lawyer Tom Girardi in the last 40 years, acknowledging in a letter to the public that the agency’s handling of them “brought to light serious failures in the State Bar’s attorney discipline system.”

“There is no excuse being offered here; Girardi caused irreparable harm to hundreds of his clients, and the State Bar could have done more to protect the public. We can never allow something like this to happen again,” wrote Ruben Duran, chair of the bar’s Board of Trustees.

The letter includes a summary of each complaint and its disposition, with 136 complaints received between Aug. 10, 1982, and Dec. 17, 2020. Another 69 were received after a petition was filed on Dec. 18, 2020, to force Girardi’s law firm Girardi Keese into bankruptcy.

Of the 205 complaints, 120 alleged violations involving client trust accounts. Those accounts are where lawyers keep client money, and they’re subject to strict regulations that the court-appointed trustee for

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November 5, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Chemical maker TPC Group reaches $30 million bankruptcy settlement

(Reuters) – Bankrupt Texas petrochemical producer TPC Group on Thursday announced a $30 million settlement with junior creditors, including people with injury and property damage claims related to a 2019 fire explosion and fire at a Port Neches, Texas, refinery.

The Houston-based firm filed a prepackaged Chapter 11 case in June after reaching an agreement with bondholders to eliminate $950 million of $1.3 billion in secured debt and shed liabilities from an explosion and fire at its plant in Port Neches, Texas. A bankruptcy plan based on that agreement would have left just $5 million for junior creditors and litigation claimants.

Thursday’s settlement increases junior creditors‘ recovery to $30 million and ensures that a higher percentage of those funds will go to litigation claimants. Bondholders, who will not be fully repaid in TPC’s restructuring, agreed not to collect any money from the $30 million fund.

TPC’s attorneys said during a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, that the company will amend its Chapter 11 plan to reflect the settlement and reach out to creditors eligible

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October 31, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Software sales trainer Prehired loses bid to keep bankruptcy in N.Y.

(Reuters) – A New York bankruptcy judge on Tuesday transferred the bankruptcy of Prehired LLC to Delaware, ruling that the software sales training company did not have sufficient business ties to New York to file for bankruptcy in the state.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Philip Bentley granted the transfer at the request of Delaware’s attorney general, one of several state AGs investigating Prehired for its attempts to collect on payment agreements that allowed students to defer fees for career training.

Prehired filed for Chapter 11 protection in New York in September, citing students’ failure to pay for sales training and state attorney general investigations into its attempt to collect money from former students. Prehired requires its students to pay $30,000 in $500 monthly installments after they land a job in the field of software sales.

Delaware Deputy Attorney General Katherine Devanney argued that Prehired’s bankruptcy case should be heard in Delaware, where the company is incorporated and where it sued 289 former students who did not make payments after completing Prehired’s training.

Prehired’s attorney Christopher Warren argued that the bankruptcy case should remain in New York because its principal assets are contracts based on New York law. The assets are mostly

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October 30, 2022 by ATTORNEY
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