Category: Institutional Abuse & Neglect

BG Files New Lawsuits on Behalf of 193 Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse in the Cook County, IL Juvenile Court System

Bailey Glasser and co-counsel have filed another round of new complaints on behalf of 193 survivors of sexual violence and abuse against the State of Illinois; the Office of the Chief Judge for Cook County, Illinois; the Illinois Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice employees, alleging these entities failed to protect children from rampant sexual abuse perpetrated by adult employees at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (formally known as the Arthur J. Audy Home).

As alleged in the complaint filed on July 22, 2024, between 1995 and 2022, hundreds of youths were victimized at JTDC. This filing comes on the heels of two other lawsuits filed on May 6 and June 3 of this year arising from state-operated Illinois Youth Centers, now raising the total number of plaintiffs to nearly 400.

Partner D. Todd Mathews, lead counsel on the Bailey Glasser litigation team, stated at yesterday’s press conference: “This abuse has been going on since 1995 and it is still going on to this day. It must stop… We will continue to have press conferences and file lawsuits until the folks in Springfield and Cook County hear us and do something.”

The Bailey Glasser team also includes founding partner Brian A. Glasser; partner and Mass Tort Practice Group Leader David Selby; and lawyer Samira Bode. Levy Konigsberg serves as co-counsel for the plaintiffs.

MEDIA REQUESTS: To schedule an interview with counsel or for other media inquiries, please contact Joe Carey at joe@careystrategiccommunications.com.

To read more about the lawsuit please visit here.

To learn more about how we fight on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse across the country, please visit here.

#SexualAbuse #Survivors #CookCounty #BaileyGlasser

National Cancer Survivor Month – Partner Sharon Iskra’s Survivor Story

Authored by Sharon F. Iskra, Partner and Institutional Abuse & Neglect Team Leader:

A cancer diagnosis is a devastating shock to anyone. Not to be dramatic, but a second cancer diagnosis (despite you doing everything “right” the first time) makes you feel like you are marked for certain and impending death. I was helped through both of these by family, friends, and faith. I was also uniquely strengthened by a stranger who took the time to tell me, boldly and honestly, all the real details of her own cancer story. I will never forget how comforting it was to speak with one who had been there, lived that, and who just sitting across the table from me was living proof that one can thrive during and on the other side of cancer treatments. That’s the person I want to be for anyone facing a cancer diagnosis today.

I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. I had surgery and several rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. All my hair fell out and my white blood cell count dropped to levels that provoked serious concern among my doctors – but we thought, if it’s killing everything else, the treatment has got to be working. I ate right, rested/isolated/sanitized, exercised, etc. Despite all that, and while still on my meds, two years later I found another lump. It looked so uncharacteristic of cancer that my surgeon took it out under local anesthesia. I remember her reassuring me even as I was lying on the op table that it didn’t look like anything. We were both surprised when that proved wrong.

More treatment. More tough choices and a series of complications. In all, a total of six surgeries. Sitting on the couch saying, “I just want my normal back. I want to go somewhere where this isn’t my life.” I had vivid dreams of running through open fields and down desert roads to a horizon where this wasn’t my reality, even just for a weekend.

Lessons learned about obstacles like these: you can’t get around them, you can only go through them. Each of us is given a container with our numbered days, but no one knows the size of his/her container. Your only choice is how you respond to the obstacle and live out the given days. But you’re also far more capable and resilient than you imagined, and you’re not alone: the path you’re on has been trod by fellow survivors like me, who have long celebrated our return of abundant hair. Better yet, I’ve returned to thriving in my niche law practice, in fitness, and community service. I no longer desperately seek an elusive horizon; the cancer lives quietly now in my rearview where I only glance at it when I choose.

May it be so for you. I’ll sit across the table from you if you need me. And I hope you will be someone’s inspiring stranger and burden bearer one day.
————–
Partner Sharon Iskra is the leader of the Bailey Glasser’s Institutional Abuse & Neglect team and is a nationally recognized advocate and voice for the vulnerable. She litigates cases for children, individuals with special needs, and others who have been abused, neglected, or exploited in institutions such as group homes, rehabilitation centers, universities, hotels, foster care facilities, and other settings. In addition to her professional advocacy, Sharon’s personal passion for serving is also unique: in 2004, she paused her successful legal career for nine years to direct children’s and urban ministries at a local church. In addition to her caseload and CASA work, Sharon has served on missions to orphanages in Haiti and Africa in 2014, 2016, and 2019. She plans to continue her lifestyle of personal and professional missions effecting positive change at home and abroad for many years to come.

Learn more about Sharon’s advocacy here.

#Cancersurvivormonth #breastcancer #survivorstory

BG Files Lawsuit Against the State of Illinois on Behalf of Survivors of Sexual Assault & Abuse


Bailey Glasser has filed a complaint on behalf of 95 survivors of sexual abuse against the State of Illinois, alleging that the Illinois Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice failed to protect children from rampant sexual abuse perpetrated by adult employees at Illinois Youth Centers. As alleged in the complaint filed on May 6, 2024, between 1996 and 2017, hundreds of youths were victimized in Illinois Youth Centers.
Bailey Glasser is on the forefront of lawsuits seeking justice on behalf of childhood sexual abuse survivors and has brought hundreds of similar lawsuits in the State of Maryland on behalf of survivors of abuse in its juvenile hall detention facilities.

Partner D. Todd Mathews, lead counsel on the Bailey Glasser litigation team, stated: “The abuse suffered by our clients, then minors entrusted to the care of the State of Illinois, created great suffering, and has reverberated across their lives. We salute their strength and we’re honored to fight for these survivors in court.”

The Bailey Glasser team in this case includes D. Todd Mathews; founding partner Brian A. Glasser; partner and Mass Tort Practice Group Leader David Selby; and lawyer Samira Bode.

MEDIA REQUESTS: To schedule an interview with counsel or for other media inquiries, please contact Joe Carey at joe@careystrategiccommunications.com.

To read more about the lawsuit please visit: https://www.baileyglasser.com/news-BG-Files-Lawsuit-Against-State-of-Illinois-on-Behalf-of-Survivors-of-Sexual-Abuse

To learn more about how we fight on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse across the country, please visit: https://www.baileyglasser.com/services-sexual-abuse#Overview

Sharon Iskra Argues Case Before Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia

On April 17, BG partner and Institutional Abuse and Neglect team leader Sharon Iskra argued before the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in support of a $3.5 million jury verdict rendered against a residential care facility on behalf of two developmentally disabled individuals who had been abused as children.

As April is Child Abuse Prevention Month as well as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Sharon was proud to argue on behalf of her clients before the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

To learn more about Sharon and her work, visit this link.

To learn more about the work of Bailey Glasser on behalf of the survivors of sexual abuse, visit here.

Brian Glasser Named a Top 200 Lawyer in America by Forbes

Bailey Glasser founding partner Brian Glasser has been named one of “America’s Top 200 Lawyers” by Forbes in its first-ever elite lawyer list.

Forbes described its criteria as follows: “[t]he elite lawyers on this list were selected through a rigorous, multi-stage process of researching, evaluating and rating thousands of candidates, conducted by an editorial team with broad experience in law practice and the legal marketplace. The result is a collection of top lawyers involved in the most consequential cases, deals or legal trends in recent years . . . . they all share reputations for integrity, records of excellence—and Forbes’ recognition as the best in the business. What follows is a power list of lawyers whose skill, passion and purpose set them apart—for when you or your business need it most.”

In the last two years alone, Brian won a $5 million award against MyPillow CEO and election conspiracist Michael Lindell; helped lead the challenge to Johnson & Johnson’s “Texas Two Step” bankruptcy maneuver on behalf of people injured by J&J’s asbestos-riddled talc products; helped win dismissal of the bankruptcy of 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies by a federal judge which thereafter resulted in the $6 billion settlement of more than 260,000 lawsuits brought by veterans and U.S. service members alleging that 3M military earplugs caused their hearing loss; and has won tens of millions of dollars for his clients in other lawsuits. He has also led the filing of hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of people abused as minors by the State of Maryland’s juvenile hall facilities via a new law passed in October 2023 that permitted previously time-barred claims by abuse survivors.

Read more here.

Op-Ed: “Without Funding, Student Discipline Bill Will Hurt the Kids Who Need the Most Help”

“This bill gives just half the solution: it relieves the teacher and protects the other kids, but in the majority of counties, steers the disruptive child out of the classroom and into a void where much-needed help simply does not exist.”

In their second op-ed, Sharon Iskra, BG’s Institutional Abuse & Neglect team leader, and Kellie Caseman, Executive Director of Think Kids in West Virginia, provide a persuasive analysis of a new West Virginia discipline bill they say will hurt the kids who need the most help.

The op-ed published in News From The States, points out that to many, Senate Bill 614 seems to be a balanced solution, allowing elementary teachers to remove disruptive students ages 5-12 from the classroom, however, it “puts nothing in place to help them,” they argue.

The article details important underlying facts to consider: only 13 of the state’s 55 counties have an elementary alternative discipline program, and many of the schools lack the proper program resources, which requires significant funding. Other factors such as law enforcement involvement and childhood poverty rates have considerable implications for the children subjected to these disciplinary actions and must also be addressed, they contend.

Read the full op-ed here.

To learn more about Sharon, follow this link.
To learn more about the firm’s Institutional Abuse & Neglect practice, visit here.

Op-Ed: “What Are We Waiting For? Legislators, Our Child Welfare System Needs Immediate Action.”

“We can’t just plug holes. We need to fix the foundation. Everyone says children are our priority, so what’s the plan?” Sharon Iskra, BG’s Institutional Abuse & Neglect team leader, co-authors this insightful and powerful op-ed about the state of West Virginia’s child welfare system with Kellie Caseman, Executive Director of Think Kids in West Virginia.

Some data: “In 2023 alone, the Bureau of Social Services’ Centralized Intake hotline received roughly 40,000 referrals. Our state now has the highest ratio of child victims in the country: 17 per 1,000 children, which is twice the national average. And, despite the pediatric population decreasing by 10,000 between 2017-2021, more kids entered West Virginia’s foster care system in 2021 than in the five years prior.”

To read this article, visit here.

To learn more about Sharon, follow this link.
To learn more about the firm’s Institutional Abuse & Neglect practice, visit here.

Bailey & Glasser, LLP Fighting for Maryland Sex Abuse Survivors

This has been a significant week for survivors of sex abuse in the state of Maryland. On Sunday, the new Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023 went into effect, eliminating the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases. On the same day, Bailey Glasser and a consortium of 3 other law firms filed six lawsuits against the State of Maryland on behalf of over 50 survivors abused while in Maryland’s juvenile justice system.

We are grateful for the all the public interest in the fight for justice for these survivors. If you’d like to learn more about these lawsuits or our team of attorneys, you can read our press release and other media coverage here.

The Bailey Glasser team includes Sharon F. Iskra leader of the Institutional Abuse & Neglect team, founding partner Brian A. Glasser, Mass Torts Practice Group leader David L. Selby II, and mass torts partner D. Todd Mathews. The other law firms representing the survivors include Walsh Law PLLC; Rhine Law Firm; and DiCello Levitt.

#survivorsrights #ChildVictimsAct #BaileyGlasser

BG Lawsuits Covered in Washington Post Article: “Lawsuits Allege Dozens Were Sexually Abused in Md. Juvenile Facilities”

BREAKING NEWS: “It’s a tragedy, but it’s also a tremendous opportunity to do the right thing,” said Sharon Iskra, Bailey & Glasser, LLP’s Institutional Abuse & Neglect practice team leader in the Washington Post article, “Lawsuits allege dozens were sexually abused in Md. Juvenile facilities.”

The article discusses the Maryland Child Victims Act, which took effect Sunday and eliminates the civil statute of limitations, and spotlights the six lawsuits filed on the same day by Bailey Glasser along with three other law firms on behalf of hundreds who survived systemic abuse as children while in the Maryland juvenile justice system.

Sharon, one of the lead attorneys for the survivors, discusses the need for a trauma-focused approach to her legal representation, saying, “On every level, it’s our effort, it’s our hope, our desire — and we’re doing everything we can — to make this a trauma-informed intake process.”

Other members of the Bailey Glasser team include firm founder Brian Glasser, partner Mass Tort Practice Group leader David Selby II, and mass tort partner D. Todd Mathews. Co-counsel include Alexandra Walsh and Kim Channick of Walsh Law; Joel Rhine and Martin Ramey of Rhine Law Firm; and Nick Horattas of DiCello Levitt.

Read the full article here.

#survivorsrights #sexualabuse #childvictimsact #baileyglasser

Lawsuit Filed Against State of Maryland on Behalf of Juvenile Hall Sexual Abuse Survivors

Bailey Glasser and three other law firms filed suit against the State of Maryland yesterday on behalf of over 50 male and female survivors of horrendous sexual abuse suffered while minors in the custody of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.

The Bailey Glasser team is comprised of partner and Institutional Abuse & Neglect team leader Sharon Iskra, founding partner Brian Glasser, Mass Torts Practice Group Leader David Selby II, mass torts partner Todd Mathews, and Cary Joshi. Our co-counsel firms include Walsh Law PLLC; Rhine Law Firm; and DiCello Levitt.

As alleged in our lawsuits, previous administrations of the State of Maryland systemically allowed the rape, sodomy, threats, retaliation, and egregious abuse (physical, mental, and emotional) of hundreds of youths in its juvenile detention centers over decades. The State failed to monitor and, more importantly, failed to fix its system despite numerous external investigations documenting serious abuse dating back to 1967, prior class action lawsuits alleging civil rights and Constitutional violations, and explicit complaints from the children themselves.

We look forward to working with the current Maryland state administration in pursuing justice and closure for these survivors and an improved system that protects today’s children.

For more, please visit here.

#justice #baileyglasser #protectchildren #survivorsrights

%d bloggers like this: