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During the legislative fight over Rhode Island’s revival-window law, the Diocese of Providence publicly argued that opening the Church to previously time-barred childhood sexual abuse lawsuits could force it into bankruptcy as similar laws have done to dioceses in other states. That is a stated position, not a filing. As of this writing, no bankruptcy has occurred. But for attorneys evaluating claims under the revival window, the possibility changes how the next two years should be planned. Here is what diocesan Chapter 11 has actually meant elsewhere, and how it would interact with Rhode Island’s deadlines. Key takeaways A diocesan Chapter 11 has generally not erased survivors’ claims. In the cases resolved to date, claims moved into a court-supervised process and were paid through a settlement trust funded by diocesan assets, affiliated entities, and insurance. The serious risk in other dioceses has been the bar date which is a single court-set deadline for filing a proof of claim. Survivors who missed it were generally barred from any recovery, including some who had previously sued, reported, or settled. Rhode Island claimants are currently on one clock; the June 30, 2028 filing deadline for qualifying revived claims. A Chapter 11 filing would...

Rhode Island has done what only a handful of states have done: reopened civil claims for childhood sexual abuse that had already expired — including claims against the institutions that employed and supervised the individuals accused. The revival window created by the 2026 amendments to R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-51 (P.L. 2026, ch. 081) opened July 1, 2026 and closes June 30, 2028. If you advise survivors, institutions, or insurers — or if you are an attorney anywhere in the country with a client who spent part of their childhood in Rhode Island — the next two years are the period in which previously foreclosed claims can be brought. Here is what the window does, where it came from, and what evaluating a claim under it actually involves. Key takeaways Qualifying childhood sexual abuse claims that were previously time-barred must be commenced no later than the June 30, 2028 deadline. Filing means filing: a complaint on the docket, not a demand letter or an investigation in progress. The window reaches institutional defendants — the entities alleged to have negligently supervised, retained, failed to report, or concealed — which a 2023 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision had placed beyond the 2019...

July 1, 2026 As of today, July 1, 2026, Rhode Island survivors of childhood clergy sexual abuse have a legal right that many did not have yesterday: the ability to bring a civil claim that had previously expired under the statute of limitations. Rhode Island’s clergy abuse revival window is now open — and it will not stay open indefinitely. This post explains what changed today, who it affects, and why the timing matters. Marin & Murphy Law Firm is a complex-litigation firm representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Rhode Island under this new law. What opened today Rhode Island enacted a law — Public Law 2026, chapter 081 — that revives previously time-barred childhood sexual abuse claims for a limited period. The revival provision takes effect today, July 1, 2026. Under it, a claim that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations shall be revived and shall be commenced by no later than June 30, 2028. In plain terms: if you are a survivor whose claim had “expired” because too much time had passed, the law gives you a two-year window — from today until June 30, 2028 — to bring that claim in civil court....