Lawyer gets more time for sexual-abuse cases

By Peter Smith
The Courier-Journal

The lead attorney in the sex-abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville was granted a threemonth extension yesterday for providing answers to the church's inquiries into his allegations.

But Jefferson Circuit Court Judge James M. Shake also told church officials they don't have to respond to further requests for information until attorney William McMurry completes his own tasks.

Shake granted McMurry's request for an extension from Oct. 24 until Feb. 1 for him to provide answers to the archdiocese's requests for detailed information and documents from his more than 160 clients. In all, 196 plaintiffs have alleged sexual abuse by 31 priests and others connected with the church.

McMurry, who had turned over information on 42 plaintiffs by the deadline, sought the extension because the process was ''extremely time-consuming.''

The archdiocese said McMurry had acted in ''extraordinary bad faith'' by asking for an extension to the deadline only after the archdiocese had turned over all the documents McMurry had requested and had made several witnesses available for depositions. The archdiocese wanted Shake to give McMurry a Dec. 1 deadline.

While Shake granted the Feb. 1 deadline, he told the archdiocese it did not have to make any more documents or witnesses available to McMurry until he turned in his own replies. Shake said the ruling does not apply to other lawyers representing sexabuse plaintiffs.

''I'm disappointed that the extension was given all the way to February,'' said Brian Reynolds, chancellor and chief administrative officer for the archdiocese. ''However, we appreciate the judge's ruling that we would not have to participate in further discovery including depositions until then.''

McMurry said he was ''delighted'' with the ruling and said he expected to get all of his responses completed by the end of this year. ''Feb. 1 was a worst-case scenario date,'' he said. ''We don't believe that this is in any way going to affect our ability to prove our cases.''