Attorney representing some of the plaintiffs suing the Diocese explains impact of Chapter 11 filing

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) - The filing by the Catholic Diocese of El Paso not impacts the cases of current survivors who filed lawsuits for clergy abuse but also any survivors who in the future feel ready to come forward.

Levi Monagle, partner with the Law Firm of Huffman and Montele based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico is representing more than dozen plaintiffs in lawsuits against the Catholic Diocese of El Paso due to clergy abuse allegations, told ABC-7 that all of the litigation are cases of childhood sexual abuse involving clergy that were assigned to the El Paso Diocese.

Monagle said his clients were hoping to tell their stories to a jury, and they were not surprised by the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by the diocese today adding it has become a common action in other dioceses.

"The reason it doesn't surprise us is that the, the sort of retreat to the bankruptcy courts has become a much more common thing for Catholic dioceses and religious orders around the country who are facing extensive clergy abuse litigation," said Monagle.

He said the filing for bankruptcy protection in effect puts a "pause" on all state court litigation which prevents the trials from proceeding. This action also "forces the survivor who wants to bring a claim, whether they're personally feel ready to do so or not, to come forward in a very short span of time," explained Monagle.

If future lawsuits are not filed within the time span allowed by the bankruptcy filing, those survivors forfeit their legal claims.

Monagles reiterates his firm is well-equipped and ready to represent survivors in bankruptcy court.