Crimson Red Sports

  A lawyer in State College, Pa., tells Jessica Bennett and Jacob Bernstein his clients are preparing a case against the university.

Alleged victims of former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky are working with at least two legal teams to prepare civil lawsuits against the university—seeking damages from the university over administrators' failure to take action.

Multiple legal teams are hustling to sue the crap out of Penn State and others. Could be federal. Could be state. Could be the litigation gets joined into a mega-suit: "'This may be the most high-profile sexual abuse case ever,' says Benjamin Andreozzi, a Harrisburg, Pa., lawyer who is representing at least one of the victims listed in grand jury filings."

 Adreozzi noted that once other potential victims see that they're "not alone," perhaps they'll come forward, too.

A second lawyer who requested anonymity told The Daily Beast he was representing another alleged victim.

Eight victims of alleged sexual predator Sandusky, the 67-year-old former Penn State assistant football coach, have been listed in a grand jury filing that was released last week—and at least one more is believed to have come forward since then. A source inside the state police told The Daily Beast last week that phone lines set up for victims and tips have been flooded with calls.

"Who's this guy Sandusky?"

-JoPa

Google the legal principle Sovereign Immunity. It may not apply in Penn--depends on how state govt. is set up.

“It’s a huge uphill battle to collect from the state,” said Saul Levmore, a professor and former dean at the University of Chicago Law School. “Plaintiff lawyers love to jump up and down about $100 million settlements, but there are a lot of hurdles in the way to that.”

Doriane Coleman, a professor at the Duke University School of Law, said that unlike the Catholic Church, which was the target of previous child abuse lawsuits, Penn State is a state institution and thereby should be protected by a doctrine known as sovereign immunity, which in essence protects state entities — and possibly state employees acting in the normal course of their jobs — from tort claims.

“I see this as very difficult to overcome,” Coleman said.


On the issue of sovereign immunity for Penn State and its employees, Gerald McHugh Jr., a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, said that because the Pennsylvania university system is structured differently than those in most other states, Penn State is categorized as a state-sponsored institution and would not be afforded the immunity defense.

Deliberations in the Pennsylvania law community have already begun on whether university officials were legally required to report the allegations and eyewitness testimony about Sandusky to law enforcement authorities since Penn State is not an institution that supervises children.