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The Press
August 8, 2003
St John of God pays legal bill
by Yvonne Martin
A
public spat between a Catholic order at the centre of a sex-abuse scandal and a
lawyer over an unpaid $70,000 legal bill has been resolved.
Grant Cameron, who represents nine of 56 complainants paid $4 million
compensation by St John of God, began legal action this week to force the order
into paying a legal bill of $70,000. His clients were told they may be liable
for the bill.
Brother Peter Burke, the Australasian head of the order, said it was outrageous
that vulnerable clients had been rattled into thinking they could be saddled
with the bill.
By the time Mr Cameron's law firm had filed proceedings, the money had already
been dispatched from the order's
Brother Burke confirmed that the matter was over. The compensation was paid to
men claiming they were sexually abused as boys at the order's former
The order also agreed to pay "reasonable" legal fees for the men who
hired lawyers.
Police have laid 32 sex charges against a former
They are pursuing action against four Sydney-based brothers and a former
brother, based in northern