LA County sex abuse settlement in limbo, judge won't issue order requested by plaintiffs

A Los Angeles judge has denied a motion to appoint a claims administrator, claims processor and qualified settlement fund trustee to establish a common benefit fund for the county's $4 billion settlement of sex abuse claims in April.

Judge Lawrence P. Riff pointed out at a hearing Friday that the settlement agreement had those terms and asked the parties why they needed his court order. An individual in the courtroom who is intimately familiar with the proceedings, said Riff was told that they have always done it this way.

Riff replied that he was not inclined to sign their proposed order if nobody could tell him why they needed it. He reportedly said that he did not know if the settlement was in the public interest, but he was not taking a position on that.

Riff's action Friday morning puts the settlement in limbo, according to a plaintiffs' attorney who knows the proceedings inside and out.

The plaintiffs moved for the order in September.

The court hearing came a day after the Los Angeles Times reported that the county settled some 6,800 cases related to its now shuttered MacLaren Hall home for foster youth without taking a single deposition, and plaintiffs' fact sheets were not completed.