Mitchell "Mitch" Garabedian (born July 17, 1951) is a lawyer known for representing sexual abuse victims in the Boston area during the Catholic priest sexual abuse scandal, including the cases against

Paul Shanley Paul Richard Shanley (January 25, 1931 – October 28, 2020) was an American Roman Catholic priest who became the center of a massive sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts. Beginning in 1967, the archdiocese covered u ...

, John Geoghan, and the Archdiocese of Boston. He also represented one of the people who accused Jerry Sandusky of sexual misconduct, and the man who accused Bryon Hefner, the husband of former

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

President Stan Rosenberg, of sexual assault, leading to Rosenberg's resignation.

Early life

Garabedian was the second of three children born to

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

parents Mesroob and Juyard Garabedian and grew up on a 375-acre farm in

Methuen, Massachusetts Methuen () is a 23-square-mile (60 km2) city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 53,059 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Methuen lies along the northwestern edge of Essex County, just east of Midd ...

. The first member of his family to attend college, he attended

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

( CGS, 1971 and CAS, 1973). He continued his education by getting a master's degree in political science from

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

and a J.D. degree from the New England School of Law. He was admitted to the bar in 1979.

Career

Garabedian has worked on numerous sexual abuse cases. In August 2016, he represented seven of the 21 victims who settled sex abuse cases against 10 Irish Christian Brothers from

Bergen Catholic High School Bergen Catholic High School is an all-male Roman Catholic high school in Oradell, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade. Bergen Catholic operates under the supervision of the Roman ...

in Oradell, New Jersey, for $1.9 million. He was also with Heather Unruh during the November 2017 press conference when she alleged that

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...

molested her son. In the Geoghan case, Garabedian was able to reach a financial settlement with the Boston Archdiocese on behalf of 86 people. At the time they reached the settlement, the Church would pay more than $30 million and plaintiffs would not be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Eventually, the Church pulled out of the $30 million settlement and settled for $10 million.

Popular culture

Ted Danson Edward Bridge Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993), for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe A ...

portrayed Garabedian in the 2005 made-for-television film ''Our Fathers''. Stanley Tucci portrayed him in the 2015 film ''Spotlight''.

References

External links

Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian
American people of Armenian descent Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Northeastern University alumni New England Law Boston alumni People from Methuen, Massachusetts 1951 births Living people Lawyers from Boston Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American journalists {{US-law-bio-stub