CLERGY ABUSE LITIGATION TEAM NAMED AS FINALIST FOR TRIAL LAWYER OF THE YEAR AWARD WASHINGTON – A team of attorneys who won $1.2 billion in settlements with the Catholic Church for more than 700 sexual abuse survivors has been chosen as a finalist for the 2008 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award by Public Justice Foundation, the national organization of public interest lawyers and advocates, headquartered in Washington, D.C. The historic settlement achieved by Raymond P. Boucher and Anthony M. DeMarco of Beverly Hills, Calif.; Katherine Freberg of Irvine, Calif.; Steven Rubino of Morgate, N.J.; Terry Giles of Houston, Tex.; Irwin Zalkin of San Diego, Calif; Timothy Hale of Santa Barbara, Calif.; Laurence Drivon of Stockton, Calif.; and Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., also required the release of long-secret documents that gave evidence to the Church’s cover-up of the abuse. Ordinarily, most of the claims would have been time-barred, but Boucher’s team took advantage of the California Legislature’s decision to suspend the statute of limitations for one year to accommodate claims against those who facilitated the sexual abuse of children. Boucher, DeMarco, Freberg, Rubino, Giles, Zalkin, Hale, Drivon and Anderson are among 22 lawyers in three cases named as finalists for their extraordinary legal work in the public interest. Twenty cases were nominated for this year’s award, involving a range of issues, from fraudulent pricing practices by a major pharmaceutical and gender bias on Wall Street, to access for the disabled and the rights of Hurricane Katrina victims. Detailed summaries of the Los Angeles case, Los Angeles Archdiocese and San Diego Diocese Catholic Abuse Litigation, and the other finalist cases are accessible on the Public Justice website at http://www.publicjustice.net/2008_Awards.htm . The winner of the nationally prestigious award will be announced on July 15 at the Public Justice Foundation Annual Gala and Awards Dinner in Philadelphia.