Dumas & Vaughn, Attorneys at Law

04/01/2026

No April fooling! Dumas & Vaughn has been around for 12 years, as of today. We’re sending big thanks to all our clients, friends, and family who have been with us for these dozen years. We wish we could send you a doughnut!

01/21/2026

Friends and Supporters! Please read consider donating to an invaluable community resource in Portland, the Rocky Butte Farmers Market. Ashley is on the board of this wonderful organization, and it could use your help during a difficult time.

Truly, any donation, no matter how small, is appreciated.

The Rocky Butte Farmers Market is a non-profit focused on being more than just a farmers market that sells delicious food, but a community resource and gathering place. We encourage you to read more about it at the links below!

https://www.rockybuttemarket.com/

Fundraiser details in the comments! Thank you! 🍅

A community focused farmers market serving NE Portland residents, providing fresh local produce, kid's activities, live music, and education.

09/18/2025

The Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy promised "payment in full" to s*x abuse victims. But the plan never had enough money to pay in full, or anything close.

Now the BSA Settlment Trust has valued about 70% of the claims at over $12 billion. The plan only set aside $2.4 billion for s*x abuse victims. $12 billion with almost a third of the claims still to be valued! The idea of "payment in full" has never been true and never will be. Abuse survivors should be outraged.

As I told the WSJ this week, the new numbers from the Settlment Trust "prove[] once again that there was never enough money to pay s*x-abuse victims more than pennies on the dollar.”

Read the full story if you have WSJ access:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/boy-scouts-abuse-survivors-face-increasingly-dim-prospects-of-payment-9bcda82c?mod=bankruptcy_lead_pos1&tpl=br *xabuse

The total value of the claims billed to insurers so far exceeds more than $12 billion, while the bankruptcy plan estimated the amount to be up to $3.6 billion.

04/01/2025

It's the 11th anniversary of Dumas & Vaughn! We're sending our gratitude to all our clients, friends, family, and colleagues who have been with us along the way. Thank you!

01/31/2025

Big news! We've moved!

After seven years in our cozy space in the beloved Hollywood neighborhood, Dumas & Vaughn has moved to the bustling world of downtown Portland. We're on the 21st floor at 1000 SW Broadway, right across from the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Come say hello!

11/06/2024

I argued our appeal of the Boy Scout bankruptcy today at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. It was a loooonnnnnggggg hearing with three sharp judges. Now the case is in their hands. I think it went well, but it will be probably three to six months before we know the ruling.

06/27/2024

The Supreme Court’s ruling in Purdue Pharma is directly applicable to the Boy Scout bankruptcy. The Supreme Court vindicated the arguments of those s*x abuse victims in the Boy Scouts bankruptcy who have argued all along that nonconsensual third-party releases are unlawful.

Our clients, and the thousands of other victims of Scout abuse who opposed the plan, now have the law clearly on their side. It is now up to the Third Circuit to apply the Purdue decision to the BSA bankruptcy plan, which is based on the same kind of nonconsensual releases for third parties.

The Purdue decision shows that s*x abuse victims cannot be forced to give up – without their consent – claims against troop sponsors and Local Councils. Just as the non-bankrupt Sackler family cannot get a release from liability in Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy, non-bankrupt Local Councils and troop sponsors cannot get a release from liability in BSA’s bankruptcy.

The Purdue decision did not carve out the BSA plan. The Supreme Court in Purdue said it had no opinion about how its decision would apply to bankruptcy plans that provided full compensation or that were substantially consummated. That statement does not preclude overturning the BSA plan based on the ruling in Purdue. The BSA plan does not promise full payment to abuse victims. The plan does not fully compensate abuse victims who will receive only a tiny fraction (perhaps as little as 4 or 5%) of the average pre-bankruptcy settlement. The BSA plan has not been substantially consummated because the BSA Settlement Trust for victims has not been funded yet; only a tiny, tiny fraction of settlement money has been paid to abuse claimants; and the deadline for filing claims is still weeks away.

The Third Circuit must still rule on our appeal in the BSA bankruptcy. But at least now the law on non-consensual third-party releases is clear.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-blocks-purdue-pharma-opioid-settlement-rcna139066

*xualabuse

In a loss for the Sackler family, the justices ruled that a bankruptcy judge did not have the authority to let its members evade facing future lawsuits.

05/31/2024

Today was the deadline to file all s*x abuse claims in the Boy Scout bankruptcy. We've been hair-on-fire the last few weeks, getting the claims ready and filed for all my abuse survivor clients. We just got confirmation that the last one was successfully filed.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Now the big issue is what will happen with our appeal? Our firm is one of two law firms appealing the bankruptcy plan. The problem is that the BSA bankruptcy plan is based on the same kind of nonconsensual third-party releases that got the Saklers off the hook in the Purdue Pharma case. If the Supreme Court rules that nonbankrupt third parties can't piggyback on someone else's bankruptcy, then BSA's plan could blow up.

WHAT THEN?

I think that could be a good thing. Unlike the Saklers who actually paid 50% of their assets ($6 billion) to get released, the Local Councils of the Boy Scouts got releases for paying less than 20% of their assets. And the "Chartered Organizations" that sponsored troops -- the LDS Church, Catholic churches, civic organizations, etc. -- paid not a penny of their own money and will get a full release. No victim will be able to sue any Local Council or Chartered Organization, regardless of their own wrongful conduct and even though these entities are not bankrupt.

You might hear that BSA abuse victims will be "paid in full" so these releases for nonbankrupt third parties are fine. That is not true. There is not enough money in the Boy Scout Settlement Trust to pay all the claimants the full value of their claims. Victims might get only 10 or 20 cents on the dollar. That is nowhere near payment in full.

When you read in the news that victims might get up to $2.7 million, that is the highest “value” a claim could be assigned under the “Matrix” system the Settlement Trust will use to value claims. But with $2.4 billion in the Settlement Trust and as many as 82,000 claimants, there isn’t enough money to pay everyone the full value assigned to their claim. Either the Settlement Trust will have to artificially reduce the “value” of claims – squeeze down the “value” to fit the amount of money – or the Trust will have to reduce the payment of claims. We will see how the Trust handles this problem, but whatever it does, the victims will never see payment of full value.

In the meantime, now we wait to see what the Supreme Court rules in the Purdue Pharma case. Then it will be up to the Third Circuit to decide how to apply that ruling to the Boy Scout bankruptcy.

*xabuse

04/01/2024

It's our 10th anniversary here at Dumas & Vaughn -- no fooling! Thank you to our clients, colleagues, friends, and family who have been with us for the past decade.

09/09/2023

"Netflix's new documentary Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America reveals shocking corruption."

Sadly, nothing in this must-see documentary shocked us, having sued the Boy Scouts for the last 16 years for s*x abuse.

*xabuse

The Boy Scouts documentary had shocking moments.

07/12/2023

Order in the court! Order in the court!

We had our newest firm member stop in this morning to keep an eye on things. He was not impressed with the lack of toys, until we raided Gilion’s office and found the perfect one! He has lawyer parents and a lawyer grandpa, so he doesn’t mess around! 😆 ⚖️❤️