MILWAUKEE — Claims, assets and insurance comprised the trinity when attorneys for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (the committee) met for a status conference in the court of Judge Susan V. Kelley of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Nov. 19.
Because attorneys for the committee did not receive the documents it had requested of the archdiocese until Nov. 18, Kelley adjourned the status conference until Nov. 25.
Regarding assets, the committee has argued that Fiduciary Income Investment Accounts (FIIA), approximately 35 restricted accounts which the archdiocese holds or manages, should be considered part of the estate.
“We have answered a lot of questions about FIIA accounts,” said Frank LoCoco, one of two attorneys present on behalf of the archdiocese. “We still don’t know which, if any, of the accounts the committee intends to challenge as restricted.”
After several minutes of exchanges between attorneys, Kelley told those for the committee to let the archdiocesan counsel know by Dec. 1 which accounts they wanted to see.
Attorneys for the committee also questioned the state of the archdiocese’s lease with the Milwaukee Bucks. When attorneys for the archdiocese noted that a new lease agreement had not been reached with the team, Kelley told the creditors’ attorneys that the archdiocese would provide one as soon as it was available.
On Feb. 10, attorneys will meet in Kelley’s court for a hearing on the approval of the archdiocese’s settlement with insurance companies. The archdiocese has reached agreement with Lloyd’s of London, and LoCoco told the court the agreement with Stonewall and OneBeacon was “good as gold on the monetary settlement” with Stonewall and OneBeacon.
