During a conference on Jehovah’s Witnesses and child sex abuse, hosted by Reveal News in London on April 26, 2017, attorney Irwin Zalkin, a leading litigator against the Watchtower Corporation for their mishandling of child sex abuse cases, gave a presentation about his firm’s work. It was reported that he indicated that his firm would soon be suing the members of the religion’s governing body, collectively and as individuals, for drafting the policies that have facilitated so many cases of abuse in the religion.
However, today I had a phone conversation with Mr. Zalkin personally, and he clarified this statement a bit for me. Suing the governing body members, both individually and collectively as a group, is a legal maneuver that they are considering and working on diligently; however, as of yet, no lawsuits have actually been filed and no paperwork has been drawn up for these suits in particular.
Before you dejectedly pop those balloons you just inflated and put away the champagne, keep in mind two things:
- Legal maneuvers take time, planning, and careful forethought. Precedents need to be researched, reams of paperwork need to be read and studied, and arguments need to be carefully crafted. In many cases, you only get one chance to present that argument before the court; once your claim is rejected or you lose a lawsuit, you can’t always re-file and ask the court for a “do-over.” This is why it’s so vital to take the time needed to get things right the first time.
- We could not be in better hands than those of Irwin Zalkin and his firm. They have been nothing short of dedicated and passionate about getting justice for the victims of the Watchtower Society. That fact that he actually called me back after I left a brief message with his receptionist… me, a lowly blogger, not a paying client or national reporter of merit… shows how dedicated he is to helping anyone and everyone involved in these cases.
Attorney Irwin Zalkin (left) and activist Marc Latham, at the Reveal conference in London, April 26, 2017.
How to Help
One question I absolutely wanted to put to Mr. Zalkin was how to help get more lawsuits filed against the Watchtower and help more victims get some measure of justice for the abuses they’ve suffered. His response was to just encourage victims to keep coming forward and talking to attorneys about their cases; his firm has offices and contacts nationwide, so they can take calls from anyone in the U.S. and discuss the potential for a lawsuit. Talking about the religion as we do is also helpful, letting the world know what’s going on behind closed doors.
I thanked Mr. Zalkin profusely for his help and would like to do so again, and also say thank you to all the attorneys and their staff working so hard to get that small measure of justice for victims, as well as organizations like the Australian Royal Commission and the UK Charity Commission; despite the falsified stories circulating about their work, the Charity Commission is still moving forward with their investigations against the Watchtower and were represented at the Reveal conference. Many thanks again to Lara Kaput from Australia for sending pics and info from the event, to Reveal News for putting it all together, to all the participants, and of course to the victims who continue to speak up against the Watchtower Corporation.
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Visit the Zalkin firm website at ZalkinLaw.com.
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I THINK THAT THE CULTTOWER IS GOING TO FALL. With all these cases coming on and more to follow how in the world can they get out of this? Thank god people are coming forward and letting the world know about this EVIL CULT TOWER.
Thank you for sharing that information. As a former JW, i saw first hand the corruption and covering up child molestation.
I was a police officer when i was part of an investigation where the abuse was trying to kept secret and when i exposed it, i was disfelowshipped as they say for fighting against Jehovahs Organization.
Nothing has changed over the years from what you have printed since 1980 when i was involved with them
Keep up the honest exposure of this cult.
Great news. At last I can see some light. Its been a nightmare and it still is. Circle the wagons around this wicked evil book publishing company posing as a religion. What a joke. Down with this EVIL CULT.
So many people are working at spreading the things that go on inside WT that WT never tells! It is clearly seen in the flood of members leaving WT! I really hope the head of the snake is cut off for good! The time is coming!
This is really exciting news! Thanks for posting this Alexandra!
Well reported Alexandra. Thanks for clarifying matters. I too hope that many more victims come forward, and that the infamous database can be revealed. At present we see a tip of the iceberg. The complete database IS the iceberg!
Thank you, and much respect to the Zalkin firm for their work. You could tell how dedicated Mr. Zalkin was in getting ultimate justice for those victims, but so approachable and sincerely caring. It was a lovely conversation with him!
Great news. It’s amazing to know that people strive to bring this cult to justice. You too are doing an amazing job of spreading the news. Your org. is muched loved and respected throughout the activists world.
Thank you Simon, we all do what we can. Much respect to Mr. Zalkin for his work and talking to me today, so greatly appreciated that I could clarify their plans. Important we get accurate info out there.