Detroit, Michigan – Three leading law firms in Michigan, Sommers Schwartz, Grewal Law, and Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni Rivers, have joined forces to launch the Clergy Abuse Coalition, a collaboration aimed at providing survivors of clergy sexual abuse with legal representation and support.

The coalition comes at a time when an increasing number of survivors are coming forward with allegations of sexual abuse they suffered when they were children or young adults at the hands of church clergy. While it has been a long road to exposing these many sexual predators, survivors are now finally believed, and the church leadership and institutions that enabled them are now being held accountable.

The coalition is dedicated to ending clergy sexual abuse and bringing its offenders to justice. Survivors of sexual abuse often have questions about how the civil justice system can be used to help them obtain justice and accountability. The coalition understands it can be difficult to come forward and share your stories, but they are there to listen, believe, and answer all of your questions. They offer a free, 100% confidential, no-obligation consultation to survivors seeking help.

A civil lawsuit against individual clergy members and the church can give survivors the opportunity to investigate and shine a light on church practices that fostered clergy abuse. The trauma from clergy sexual abuse can impact every aspect of survivors’ lives, including their relationships with friends and family, ability to form interpersonal relationships, and ability to obtain and maintain employment. A civil action may help prevent clergy abuse in the future and provide financial support for survivors to try to make up for the harm they have suffered and to allow them the financial opportunity to obtain the help and services that may aid them in healing.

The Clergy Abuse Coalition also wants to raise awareness about statutes of limitations and the new legislation that was introduced in Michigan in April 2023 that would expand the ability of sexual abuse survivors to bring lawsuits against their abusers and the institutions that enabled them. The new legislation would allow survivors of criminal sexual conduct to bring a civil action for damages at any time before 10 years after the time the claim accrues, before the age 52, or seven years after the injury and connection of the criminal sexual conduct is discovered or should have been discovered. The legislation would also allow for a 2-year window to file a lawsuit in situations where sexual assaults that were previously too old to bring could be brought in the civil courts (revival window). Finally, the legislation would eliminate governmental immunity for governmental agencies if the agency knew or should have known that the individual who committed the criminal sexual conduct had committed a prior act of criminal sexual conduct and they did nothing to address it and the abuses continued.

If you were sexually abused by a clergy member, let the Clergy Abuse Coalition be your voice. Contact them today to schedule a free, 100% confidential, no-obligation consultation.

For more information, visit the coalition’s website at https://michiganclergysexualabuse.com/.