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News

Oct. 17, 2025

LA County reaches $828M abuse settlement for juveniles

Los Angeles County reached a tentative $828 million settlement in over 400 AB 218 childhood sexual abuse cases, adding to a prior $4 billion agreement over county facility abuse.

LA County reaches $828M abuse settlement for juveniles
County Counsel Dawyn Harrison

Los Angeles County has reached a tentative $828 million settlement of over 400 additional childhood sexual abuse cases filed under California's AB 218 law. This marks the second major agreement involving decades-old abuse allegations in county-run facilities, following a $4 billion settlement approved in April 2025. The latest settlement involves lawsuits over abuse of juvenile offenders who were housed in county probation facilities.

Manly, Stewart & Finaldi partner Courtney M. Thom is liaison counsel for the lawsuits stemming from Camp Joseph Scott and other facilities. Those cases are assigned to Judge Lawrence P. Riff. The lead case was scheduled to go to trial before the end of this year. That date appears to have been removed from the docket. Jane BP1-B Doe, et al. vs Doe 1, et al.; 22STCV25961 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Aug. 11, 2022).

Name partner John C. Manly said he did not want to comment until the county approves the settlement. Manly in August called for a federal criminal investigation of the sex abuse allegations in L.A. county's juvenile facilities going back decades.

Other firms involved in the settlement are Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Team LLP; and Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, whose attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.

Lawsuits in the $4 billion settlement that county supervisors approved stemming from abuses at the MacLaren Hall foster care facility are assigned to Judge Elaine Lu. Jane Doe 1 et al. v. County of Los Angeles, 21STCV20949 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed June 3, 2021).

Lawsuits stemming from alleged abuses in private foster homes are assigned to Judge Laura A. Seigle. T. H. v. Doe 1, et al., 21STCV22707 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed June 17, 2021).

If approved by the County Claims Board and Board of Supervisors, an independent allocator will oversee distribution of the newly announced funds to survivors, with individual awards based on the severity and credibility of each claim, the county announced Friday.

The alleged abuse in the majority of the cases took place in the 2000s, but some cases stretched back to the 1950s, according to Senior Assistant County Counsel Jason Gonzalez.

The sheer number of lawsuits, which threatened to overwhelm the court's resources, coupled with the record keeping statutes that mandate the destruction of juvenile records after a period of time, put the county in a procedural bind, Gonzalez said.

"The court didn't want discovery, and we recognized the reality of the situation, so we didn't say we wanted discovery," said Gonzalez, who was joined in a Daily Journal interview on Thursday by County Counsel Dawyn Harrison.

"The majority [of cases] are older than the time period that we are required to destroy," Gonzalez said. "We therefore don't have our own internal documents that would help us assess those claims."

To protect against fraudulent claims, Harrison said the county is enforcing stringent anti-fraud protocols throughout the vetting and allocation process. All plaintiffs are required to submit detailed, sworn written statements outlining the abuse they experienced and the resulting harm. Claims will be reviewed by a panel of retired judges acting as independent allocators, and any claim deemed fraudulent will be denied payment and excluded from the settlement.

Notably, claims submitted by DTLA Law Group will face an additional layer of scrutiny, due to allegations reported by the Los Angeles Times that some clients were offered cash incentives to file false claims. Although the firm has denied wrongdoing, DTLA-represented plaintiffs will be subject to enhanced review procedures, including possible interviews and requests for further documentation to substantiate their allegations, the county announced.

The Consumer Attorneys of California have since called for an investigation into DTLA Law Group. The organization also backed Senate Bill 37, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Oct. 11, allowing consumers to sue over unlawful attorney solicitations and legal advertising. In addition, the group supported an independent audit of the plaintiffs in the $4 billion lawsuit the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently agreed to settle.

DTLA Law Group has not responded to repeated requests for comment.

Over 14,000 claims have been filed under AB 218, a 2020 law that extended the statute of limitations for some sex abuse liabilities. More claims are expected, the county said.

The sheer scale of the litigation has fueled worries about the county's finances. In the past two years, five of California's 12 Roman Catholic dioceses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to settlements stemming from AB 218. School districts facing similar claims are worried that the county's agreement could increase the cost of their own future settlements.

The county's acting chief executive officer, Joe Nicchitta, said in the county's statement that AB 218 costs will require cutbacks in critical programs and services to residents.

"L.A. County and other local governments must balance their obligations to past victims with the need to avoid ruinous financial impacts that would undermine the very social safety net services that our young people, families and communities depend on today," Nicchitta said in the county's statement.

County officials emphasized that while victims deserve justice and compensation, protecting public funds from exploitation is also critical. County Counsel Harrison said attorneys who are found to have engaged in misconduct may be referred to the State Bar for disciplinary action. Simultaneously, L.A. County is continuing to call for legislative reforms to address the financial and legal challenges created by AB 218, while expanding its internal safeguards to prevent future abuse.

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Antoine Abou-Diwan

Daily Journal Staff Writer
antoine_abou-diwan@dailyjournal.com

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