MILWAUKEE – Judge Susan V. Kelley, presiding judge in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, will continue to hear a motion June 6 presented by the committee of unsecured creditors that she appoint a case mediator in the Chapter 11 reorganization of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The motion, filed April 27, was heard May 2.
According to a court document, “The parties shall engage in meaningful settlement negotiations before this time and shall apprise the court of the progress of the negotiations at this status conference.”
Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki, said that the archbishop had tried to have a settlement mediated in 2010, but that the archdiocese’s offer of $4.6 million was rejected by victim/survivors attorneys.
“The most important next step,” Topczewski said, “is to determine which claims are eligible.”
The question of eligibility was the reason the archdiocese filed objections to seven claims last month. The objections were made because the claims were against someone who was not a priest or employee of the archdiocese, the claimant had received a legal settlement from the archdiocese, or the claim fell outside the statute of limitations.
