California Sex Abuse Attorneys

We represent abuse survivors, not the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, or any other organization that enabled child abuse.  When a child survives abuse by someone in a position of trust and authority, the resulting harm and damage can last a lifetime.  We are attorneys who can help survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and we understand that many child abuse survivors do not realize they are suffering until much later in life.

The lawyers featured on this website have a wide-range of experience helping abuse survivors, including some who have represented hundreds of abuse survivors with claims against the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, the Mormon church, schools, and other youth-serving organizations that failed to protect their clients from sexual predators.  Some of the lawyers are licensed in California, with offices in California, while others are licensed in other states but are willing to jointly represent abuse survivors in California given their experience helping people in other states.

If you are an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse, you may just now be in the process of starting to understand how the abuse has affected your life.  You may have also recently learned that someone you trusted failed to protect you and allowed the abuse to occur.  Sadly, you are not alone, but we are here to help you understand whether you have legal options to seek redress for the harm you suffered.  Please contact us today for a free, confidential consultation.

BSA PLAN REJECTED!!  The BSA’s proposed plan has likely been rejected!!!  The BSA claimed it needed 75% of survivors to vote in favor of its proposed bankruptcy plan.  We believe it needed closer to 90% of the vote, but it failed to even reach 75%.

We recommended our clients reject the BSA’s proposed plan because of how much individual survivors were estimated to receive for the abuse they suffered.  While the BSA and its supporters touted a “historic” settlement, it was historic only because it would have been one of the worst results in the history of child sexual abuse bankruptcies.  You can read more about how much individual survivors were estimated to receive by clicking here.

BOY SCOUT BANKRUPTCY PLAN — OUR RECOMMENDATION TO OUR CLIENTS IS TO VOTE “NO”:  We will recommend that our clients vote “NO” on BSA’s proposed bankruptcy plan.  At the last possible minute, the BSA finally disclosed estimates of how much individual abuse survivors might actually receive under its proposed bankruptcy plan and the current proposed global settlement fund.  You can read more about these estimates, and calculate an estimate for your own claim, by clicking here.

If you filed a claim in the Boy Scout bankruptcy, and if you are represented by an attorney, please ask the attorney if they support this proposal, and if so, why they support it.  If your attorney has questions, please ask them to contact us.

Boy Scout Claim Numbers in California:  On March 11, 2021, the “Tort Claimants Committee,” which is a committee of abuse survivors appointed by the bankruptcy court to represent the interests of all abuse survivors, published a report that details the approximate number of claims filed in each state, the number of claims filed against each local council, and the number of claims filed against each chartering organization.  Please click here to read more about the TCC’s report, including the almost 10,000 claims that have been filed as a result of alleged Boy Scout abuse in California.

We have represented Boy Scout abuse survivors for more than 20 years and we are actively involved in the Boy Scout bankruptcy.  You can read more about the bankruptcy by clicking here.

Boy Scout Abuse Survivors — Protect Your Legal Rights as to Local Councils and Sponsoring Orgs:  Many abuse survivors in California remain unaware that they likely have a claim against the local council and/or chartering organization that was responsible for their Scouting unit.  More importantly, many abuse survivors also do not realize that they may need to take steps to protect their legal rights against those entities — filing a claim in the bankruptcy court did not protect those rights.  If you need more information about these issues please contact us to make sure you know your legal options, and be aware that some lawyers are not advising their clients of these claims or the need to take steps to protect them.

Historic Day!!  We filed some of the first lawsuits against the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, and other organizations under California’s new law for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.  Under the new law, all survivors of childhood sexual abuse, regardless of their current age, are provided a three year “window” to file a civil lawsuit for the abuse they suffered.  This “window” could be significantly shortened if a defendant files for bankruptcy, so please contact us right away for a free, confidential consultation to learn your options under this new law!!

Stories on the New Law:  Some of our clients have decided to share their stories and what the new law means to them.  Many of our lawyers have also been quoted in a number of news articles.  You can read their stories by clicking on these links:

“Law gives child sex assault victims more time to file suits” (Associated Press), featuring our client Rich Clayton and our attorney Michael T. Pfau

“California sex abuse law likely to spur thousands of claims” (Associated Press), featuring our attorney Spencer Lucas

“New California law allowing childhood sexual assault victims more time to report draws widespread praise” (OC Register), featuring our client John E. Hanson and our attorney Jason P. Amala

Why Contact Us?

The California lawyers featured on this website want to help abuse survivors understand their options, including whether they may be able to bring a claim against those who allowed or enabled their abuse to happen.  In order to help in that effort, they have teamed-up with lawyers from other states who have significant experience helping abuse survivors, including claims against the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, the Mormon Church, and other youth-serving organizations.