Jeff Anderson and Associates
Jeff Anderson & Associates PA is a law firm headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota that has represented thousands of survivors of childhood sexual abuse in cases against the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America, and other institutions.[1]
History[edit]
Jeff Anderson founded Jeff Anderson & Associates in November 1981.[2] At the time, Jeff Anderson & Associates focused on cases related to civil rights and poverty law.[3] In 1984, Jeff Anderson & Associates filed its first case on behalf of a survivor who had been the victim of childhood sex abuse by a priest. Jeff Anderson & Associates filed the lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the first case of childhood sexual abuse against a Catholic diocese in America.[3] Following the case, Jeff Anderson & Associates focused on pursuing claims on behalf of survivors of childhood sex abuse.
Offices[edit]
Jeff Anderson & Associates has its headquarters and home office in St. Paul and also has offices in California, New Jersey, and New York.[4][5] In 2011, the firm opened its first international office in London.
Notable cases[edit]
Since the 1980s, Jeff Anderson & Associates have filed thousands of cases on behalf of survivors of childhood sexual abuse. High-profile cases include:
- Gregory Riedle, et al. v. The Diocese of Winona, The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, St. Thomas Aquinas in St. Paul Park, and Thomas Adamson. Filed in 1984, the case was the first lawsuit of childhood sexual abuse against a Catholic diocese. Gregory Riedle was abused for approximately two years by Fr. Thomas Adamson while serving as an altar boy at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church of St. Paul Park. The case became public in 1987 and was eventually settled out of court.[6]
- Thomas Mrozka v. The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, et al. The case also involved childhood sexual abuse perpetrated by Fr. Thomas Adamson. A jury awarded the survivor, Thomas Mrozka, $855,000 in compensation and $2.7 million in punitive damages. A trial court later reduced the punitive damages.[7]
- Darryl Bassile v. Covenant House, et al. Darryl Bassile says he was sexually assaulted numerous times between 1973 and 1974 by Covenant House founder Fr. Bruce Ritter. The case was dismissed in 1993 because of the statute of limitations.[8]
- Tietge v. Western Province of the Servítes, Inc. In 1997, a California appeals court partially reversed a trial court ruling that dismissed Michael Tietge's sexual abuse claim by Br. Gregory Atherton because of the statute of limitations. Due to a change in law that extended the statute of limitations, Tietge had the opportunity to pursue a case against Atherton, but not the religious order.[9]
- John Doe 1-22 v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Fall River, Diocese of Crookston, Servants of the Paraclete, and James Porter. Filed in 1992, the case brought by 22 survivors who had been abused by Catholic priest Fr. James Porter. The plaintiffs were among hundreds of survivors who came forward. The case was settled in 2001 after nine years of litigation.[10]
- John Doe, a.k.a. James and John Howard v. Catholic Bishop of Stockton. In 1998, a jury awarded $24 million in punitive damages and $6 million in compensatory damages to John and James Howard, who were abused by Fr. Oliver O'Grady. A letter written by O'Grady in which he admitted to abusing children proved that the Los Angeles Cardinal Archbishop Roger Mahony and other Archdiocesan officials were aware of O’Grady‘s crimes. At the time, it was the largest verdict against the Catholic Church in California.[11]
- Bill Weis v. Diocese of Duluth. In November 2015, a Ramsey County jury awarded Bill Weis a $4.9 million verdict. Documents showed the Diocese of Duluth knew about childhood sexual abuse claims against Fr. J. Vincent Fitzgerald and allowed him to continue working with children. The Diocese of Duluth filed for bankruptcy after the verdict.[12]
- Laura Stearns v. The Children’s Theatre Company and Jason McLean. Laura Stearns filed a claim against the Children’s Theatre Company for sexual abuse she endured as a child by former teacher Jason McLean. McLean was accused of childhood sex abuse by Stearns and several other former theatre students. The jury found the Children’s Theatre Company negligent but not liable and decided it should be McLean who pays for the damage caused to Stearns.[13]
Boy Scouts' "Perversion Files"[edit]
In 2012, Jeff Anderson & Associates uncovered a trove of the Boy Scouts' "perversion files." A lawsuit that year had prompted the Boy Scouts to release the confidential files of over 1,200 known or suspected child abusers.[14]
The Perversion Files dated back to 1944 and also contained the names of 12,254 survivors of childhood sex abuse and identified nearly 8,000 perpetrators believed to have sexually abused children.[15] Jeff Anderson & Associates learned about the additional files while Janet Warren, a professor at the University of Virginia's medical school, was testifying for an unrelated case.[16] Warren had worked for five years with the Scouts to review the “perversion files” and evaluate how the Boy Scouts had handled the issue of child sexual abuse within the organization from 1944 to 2016.[14]
Jeff Anderson & Associates attempted to make the files public, but were forced to return the copies they obtained of the files after a court sided with the Boy Scouts of America in 2019.[17]
Notable attorneys[edit]
Jeff Anderson is the founder of Jeff Anderson & Associates. Since 1983, he has filed thousands of cases against the Catholic church on behalf of survivors of childhood sex abuse.[1] He was described as “One of the foremost attorneys in this area…” by Matt Carroll of the Boston Globe’s Spotlight reporting team.[18]
Mike Finnegan is an attorney at Jeff Anderson & Associates who has spent over 15 years working with survivors of childhood sex abuse. Mike led a federal lawsuit that forced the Vatican to produce documents in a child sex abuse case for the first time.[5]
Honors and awards[edit]
- Best Lawyers in America, Who's Who in America, National Register
- Advocacy Award, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, 1996–Present
- "Attorney of the Year," by Minnesota Lawyer, 2003–Present
- Leading Attorneys in Minnesota, 1995–Present
- "Super Lawyer," 2000–Present
- "Minnesota Trendsetters," 2001–Present
- Million Dollar Advocates Round Table
- Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- Advocacy Award by National Organization of Women
- Martindale Hubbell Peer Review Rated A+
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Jeff Anderson, jousting with the Vatican from a small law office in St. Paul". 2010-04-19. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "Jeff Anderson & Associates PA - Company Profile and News - Bloomberg Markets". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 "One lawyer behind many allegations of Catholic Church abuse - CNN.com". cnn.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "Contact Us". andersonadvocates.com. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Firm Overview". Jeff Anderson and Associates. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "Don't Tell Anybody, part 3, by Bob Ehlert, Star Tribune (12/13/88) [Thomas Adamson]". bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "Mrozka v. Archdiocese of St. Paul & Mpls". Justia Law. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "BASSILE v. COVENANT HOUSE | 191 A.D.2d 188 (1993) | ad2d1881332 | Leagle.com". Leagle. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "Tietge v. Western Province of the Servites, Inc. (1997)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "DOE 1-22 v. ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP | 509 N.W.2d 598 | Minn. Ct. App. | Judgment | Law | CaseMine". casemine.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "Bishop Accountability". bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ May 11th 2016 - 6pm, Tom Olsen |. "Priest in Duluth Diocese trial faced decades of sexual misconduct allegations". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "Children's Theatre found not liable for teen's assault". MPR News. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Lawyer demands secrets from the Boy Scouts' 'perversion files'". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "Boy Scouts 'perversion files' covers thousands of alleged offenders, attorney says". Washington Examiner. 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ Gearty, Robert (2019-04-23). "Boy Scouts 'perversion files' list 7,800 suspected pedophiles: attorney". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "Minnesota attorney turns over 'perversion files' to Boy Scouts after court ruling". KSTP. 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ↑ "True Believer St. Paul Attorney Jeff Anderson Has Already Made Millions "Suing the Shit" out of the Catholic Church. Now All He Wants Is Another Reformation and a Little Credit for Time Served". bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
External links[edit]
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