Archdiocese Reorganization Team Recognized as 2018 Minnesota Lawyer Attorneys of the Year

The firm is pleased to announce that the firm’s Archdiocese Reorganization Team has been recognized by Minnesota Lawyer as 2018 Attorneys of the Year. The team is comprised of attorneys Lauren Lonergan, Charlie Rogers, Rich Anderson, Aaron Thomas and Ben Gurstelle.

This is the 19th year Minnesota Lawyer has recognized the best achievements in the Minnesota legal profession with the Attorneys of the Year awards. Attorneys are chosen based on their leadership, involvement in major cases or other newsworthy events, excellence in corporate or transactional services, and public service.

The team successfully represented the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in the nationally-followed clergy sexual abuse crisis and reorganization. The team negotiated historic settlements of more than $150 million with 13 Archdiocesan insurance carriers and achieved confirmation in September 2018 of a $210 million plan of reorganization that was approved by 99.5% of sexual abuse survivors. Bankruptcy court approval of this plan created the largest reported diocesan bankruptcy settlement fund in U.S. history. This achievement also made it possible for the Archdiocese and more than 200 Catholic entities to continue to serve over 850,000 Catholics in the Twin Cities, educate children and provide critical social services to Minnesota’s most vulnerable residents. Equally important is the crucial work the team provided to the Archdiocese, along with others, in developing and implementing state-of-the-art child protection policies and protocols that now serve as the national “gold standard.”

The team will be profiled in Attorneys of the Year magazine and will be honored at an awards program on Feb. 13.

Read the Minnesota Lawyer interview.

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