A 2009 bankruptcy filing by the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington cost $15.8 million in lawyers' fees and other expenses.
The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2009 in the face of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by a former priest. It emerged in 2011 after paying $77 million into a trust fund for victims.
The News Journal in Wilmington reports that a final report this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court detailed the overall costs of the filing.
More than $12 million of the money went to lawyers' fees and expenses.
Wilmington attorney Tom Neuberger, who represented nearly 100 claimants, said the costs were outrageous and could have been avoided if the diocese had negotiated in good faith.
Wilmington is one of roughly a dozen dioceses nationally that filed for bankruptcy.
