Federal judge sets March 1 as target for trial

U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Gergel has set March 1, 2019 as the target date for a trial in the federal false-advertising and trademark infringement lawsuit against a breakaway group that left The Episcopal Church.
 
In an Amended Scheduling Order issued Thursday, the judge set a timetable for filing motions, identifying witnesses, and other legal steps aiming toward the March 1 date for a trial in the case, known as vonRosenberg v. Lawrence.
 
Prior to the order, the case had been set for trial in September. The new schedule comes after Judge Gergel allowed the expansion of the lawsuit in April, adding as defendants to the case the diocesan organization and trustees who are operating under Bishop Mark Lawrence, and the 54 parishes that followed him after the 2012 split. Those groups have been operating under the name "Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina," and the confusion created by that is one facet of the trademark and false-advertising claims. 
 
The lawsuit was filed in March 2013 by Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, who at that time was the only bishop recognized by The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina. By continuing to represent himself as bishop of the diocese, Mark Lawrence is engaging in false advertising, the lawsuit says. Bishop vonRosenberg retired in 2016, and his successor, Bishop Gladstone B. Adams III, was added as a plaintiff in the case. The Episcopal Church and its local diocese, The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC), also joined the case as plaintiffs, alleging that the group affiliated with Bishop Lawrence is holding itself out in ways that cause similar confusion.
 
The federal case is key to resolving trademark issues raised by the split. In a separate case, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in August 2017 that property of the diocese and 29 parishes must be returned to The Episcopal Church and TECSC. That decision resulted from a state lawsuit filed by the breakaway group in 2013 against The Episcopal Church and TECSC.