Attorney Richard Serbin represents 13 former students at Bishop McCort High School, and attorney Mitchell Garabedian represents 33. The students said they were abused by Brother Stephen Baker, who worked at the school in Johnstown, 100 kilometres east of Pittsburgh, from 1992 to 2001.
Baker, 62, committed suicide at his monastery in by stabbing himself in the heart in January 2013. That occurred nine days after the Youngstown, Ohio, diocese disclosed abuse settlements with 11 former students who said they were abused by him at John F Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio, from 1986 to 1990.
Serbin has been pursuing clergy abuse claims for nearly 30 years but said, "What's unique here is the sheer number of students that were abused."
"I've filed claims against child predators who have had multiple victims, but this certainly was a predator that was prolific, and the position he was given as an athletic trainer allowed him to have such easy access to young people," Serbin said.
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Garabedian said the victims settled for amounts between USD 60,000 and slightly more than USD 120,000 each, depending on the duration of abuse, its impact on their lives and other factors, including whether their claims would have been barred by the statute of limitations.
A spokesman for Bishop McCort did not immediately return calls and emails seeking comment yesterday.
The school was owned and operated by the diocese of Altoona when the abuse occurred, but it is now run by an independent board. The school's principal, who served when Baker was on the staff, resigned in June 2013 as the abuse allegations surfaced.