Lauricella added, "You've got to be mindful of the old Reagan adage, 'trust but verify.'"
So far, there have been at least four lawsuits filed, but that number is far from an indicator of the possible docket numbers with Penn State University listed as the defendant.
To disclose or not to disclose
In addition to the highly-scrutinized issue of zeros before the decimal point, confidentiality would also be a likely topic of discussion between the plaintiffs attorneys, university counsel, and Feinberg and Rozen.
The plaintiffs attorneys interviewed said they were in favor of transparency with the notion of holding the university accountable in mind. But, in the end, compensating their clients reigned paramount.
For Kline, there may be room for compromise.
"That's an interesting question," he said of the confidentiality issue. "I think there will be, at the end of the day, pressure for Penn State to acknowledge overall amounts that have been paid."
But he added that "there may be valid reasons why individual settlements may end up confidential."
Like the settlement numbers, Casey said confidentiality would have to come on a case-by-case basis.
"As a general proposition, more information is better than less and the public has a right to know what's happening with these cases," Casey said.
But he added: "We have several clients and it's hard to speak collectively as to how each of them may feel about that."
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Jeff Spangler
How about a down payment of a few million to every claimant with some other form of ADR (alternative dispute resolution) to follow on the final figure? I hope at least one plaintiff refuses to accept either confidentiality or settlement and forces the case to a public trial by jury. That's the only way to achieve closure for the victims and render justice to the men at Penn State who allowed this savagery to recur.
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LulaineRDLegalFunding
This is probably going to be the toughest issue Mr. Feinberg is going to have to deal with. Sexual abuse isn't quantifiable like the BP claims or even the 9/11 attacks. There was some monetary value at least you can start from. Sexual abuse cause physical, mental and emotional abuse and there is no number that can fix that. This is going to be a long and hard settlement for both parties.
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