The sexual abuse scandal engulfing the Roman Catholic Church, far from being over, .
lawyers are donating large sums of money to .
victims advocacy groups. For instance, the largest national group, SNAP (Survivors .
Network of those Abused by Priests) receives large sums of money from plaintiff attorney Laurence E. Drivon. Drivon is one of the most active victims" attorneys in the nation with estimated donations of $20,000 last year alone. Michael S. Morey is another victims"attorney known for his generous donations to victims" advocacy group, Linkup. .
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William Donahue, president of the New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights believe victims" lawyers are exploiting victims" advocacy groups. He also believes if such a scandal were to occur in Corporate America , everyone would view it as another Enron scam. However, it involves the Catholic Church and those hostile towards the Church will find it difficult to criticize SNAP and Linkup. .
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Furthermore, Catholic Church attorneys are now being lectured for defending their clients .
in an aggressive manner. How are Catholics dealing with the effects of such a scandal? Most Catholics continue to be critical and suspicious of the institutional Church, even as they mourn over some of their parish churches and schools. Meanwhile, the archdiocease is trying.
simultaneously to fulfill its mission and prepare to meet the cost of future lawsuits. .
Ethical Dilemma.
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1) This article focuses on legal ethics guidelines practiced by plaintiff lawyers in the .
Catholic Church sex scandal. Is giving large sums of money to advocacy groups a sort of solicitation and does it violate legal ethics guidelines? .
2) Although Laurence Drivon has donated large sums of money to SNAP he believes he is within legal ethical guidelines because he has never gotten a case from SNAP. However, it has been reported that SNAP urged California legislators to pass a bill that Drivon helped draft.
