Californian Franciscan Friars Strike $20 Million Bankruptcy Deal

The bankrupt Franciscan Friars of California Inc., several non-bankrupt affiliates, and a committee representing clergy sex abuse claimants reached a $20 million global settlement.

The parties have started working on a joint bankruptcy exit plan and are working to determine language for a ballot process, including a settlement opt-out provision, friars counsel Robert G. Harris of Binder Malter Harris & Rome-Banks LLP said during a Wednesday status conference.

“The debtor gets to keep its assets, it gets to exit Chapter 11 with sufficient funding to survive,” Harris told Judge William J. Lafferty III of the US Bankruptcy Court for the ...