SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A Salem lawyer for 15 men who said in lawsuits that a Catholic priest at an Oregon reform school sexually abused them in the 1970s faces a state bar association ethics complaint that he misled his clients about how the suits were settled.
The state paid about $1 million to settle the lawsuits dating to 2003-04, and the Portland Archdiocese paid about $600,000.
The Salem Statesman Journal (http://stjr.nl/xuBAeT ) reports the action was initiated by an inmate, Earl New, who said he asked lawyer Dan Gatti for details of the settlements and didn’t get them.
The bar association complaint backs New. A hearing is scheduled this summer.
Gatti says there is no allegation that anybody was damaged, and he asking for the complaint to be dismissed.
