Legal Update: Mediation Session and Insurance Meeting Postponed

The mediation scheduled for September 4, 2019 between The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC) (together with The Episcopal Church) with the group that broke away from the Church in 2012 has been rescheduled due to Hurricane Dorian's threat to the state of South Carolina. The parties are seeking mediation in regard to the ongoing dispute over enforcing the South Carolina Supreme Court’s 2017 decision on diocesan and parish properties, as well as this case on the Betterments Act.  All parties are currently working to agree on a new date.

Hurricane Dorian is currently a Category 3 storm that is expected to arrive near the coast of South Carolina between Wednesday, September 4 and Thursday, September 5. The current forecast track keeps the storm off the coastline of the state, but as a precaution, all coastal counties were evacuated by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster on Monday, September 2.

In other legal news, the meeting between TECSC attorneys and representatives for the Church Insurance Company of Vermont (CIC-VT) on September 5-6 in New York has also been postponed. The meeting was intended to focus on the claim filed in federal court by TECSC on June 11, 2019, that CIC-VT acted in bad faith and secretly funded TECSC’s disaffiliated adversaries in litigation against the Diocese. Additional motions were filed by TECSC on July 18, 2019, in response to counterclaims filed by CIC-VT. No timetable has been set yet for rescheduling this meeting.