Going to bat for hundreds of university sex scandal victims

MIKE ARIAS, ARNOLD WANG, Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos, LLP

JOHN C. MANLY, VINCE W. FINALDI, Manly Stewart & Finaldi

In the painful fallout from the sex abuse scandal involving a USC gynecologist and the hundreds of women he allegedly molested over decades, the victims’ lawyers who would strike a $853 million deal with the school deposed scores of the 710 clients they represented.

One woman described a recurring nightmare in which a menacing male figure pursues her in a darkened USC library. She tries to scream but finds she has no voice.

Veteran plaintiff attorneys John C. Manly of Manly, Stewart & Finaldi and Mickel M. “Mike” Arias of Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos, LLP—the co-liaison counsel who oversaw some 40 firms with clients who shared in the settlement—were determined to let the women speak.

“Most sexual assault settlements come with confidentiality agreements,” Arias said. “I’m proud that we established from the first that while our clients could maintain their anonymity, they also could say anything they wanted.” Many wished to know and understand what had happened and how it could have gone on undetected for years. Others wished to speak out.

Added Manly, whose firm represented over 230 of the clients, “This historic settlement came about through the bravery of hundreds of women and girls who had the courage to stand up and refuse to be silenced.”

When Arias and Manly coordinated support for AB 1510, a law to create a retroactive exception to the statute of limitations to ensure their clients could participate in the case, speaking out became even more important. “Many gave up their anonymity to go to Sacramento to testify for the sake of themselves and other women,” Arias said. “They definitely had a voice.”

The $852 million figure is the largest- known settlement in a sexual abuse case in U.S. history, as well as the largest known personal injury settlement against a university. The average payout will be $1.2 million for the plaintiffs in this case. Jane Doe 3 et al. v. University of Southern California et al., BC715163 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed July 30, 2018).

A separate federal class action settlement of $215 million on the same claims left USC on the hook for more than $1.1 billion. The class action, filed by different attorneys, paid class members much less than the clients Manly and Arias represent. “John and I opposed the class action settlement because it wasn’t fair and it was reached with no discovery,” Arias said. His clients opted out of the class to proceed with their individual claims. “I’m proud of advising the women to go with us, and I’m proud of them for having faith in us.”

The outcome led the Consumer Attorneys of California in 2021 to award Attorneys of the Year honors to Arias, Manly and six others on the plaintiff team: Vince W. Finaldi, Jane E. Reilley and Courtney P. Pendry of Manly’s firm along with Sharyl B. Garza of The Garza Firm and Alfredo Torrijos and Arnold C. Wang of Arias’ firm.

“Our success was based on the contributions of many,” Arias said. “We were prepared to try these cases individually and USC knew it, because they’ve dealt with us in the past.. We had bellwether trials set. They know we are trial lawyers.”

He said that the national notoriety attracted by the huge sum USC must pay had a wakeup-call effect on institutions facing similar risks in the #MeToo era. “It made many evaluate their procedures to try to avoid all this.”

--John Roemer