Survivors' Rights

We represent former students in a sexual abuse class action lawsuit against The Hotchkiss School. The suit alleges that, during their time at Hotchkiss, the former students were subjected to grooming, inappropriate touching, assault, and rape by English teacher and athletic trainer Roy Smith, who was known to the School as a pedophile who had abused numerous other male students at the School.

The suit is brought as a class action, meaning class representative Mark Moe (a pseudonym) is bringing the suit on behalf of himself and all others who were exposed to abuse by Smith. The suit seeks to certify the issues of Hotchkiss’s duty and breach of that duty on a classwide basis, so others coming forward will not have to prove those elements again from scratch each time. This will make it easier for other Smith victims to hold Hotchkiss accountable for what it allowed to happen to them at Smith’s hands.

Lieff Cabraser has been successful in prior litigation against Hotchkiss concerning Roy Smith. On March 8, 2019, U.S. District Judge Victor Bolden (D. Conn.) ruled that a former student’s sexual abuse lawsuit against Hotchkiss could move forward to trial on counts of breach of fiduciary duty, recklessness, negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. That case subsequently resolved. And on July 8, 2019, the same Court ruled that another former student’s sexual abuse lawsuit against Hotchkiss concerning Smith could proceed past the pleading stage; that case also subsequently resolved. A third case resolved pre-litigation.

Lieff Cabraser represents survivors across the U.S. who have been victimized by sexual violence and sexual abuse. We treat every client with care, respect, and compassion as we bring our comprehensive legal skills forward on each case. We have a dedicated team of lawyers, nurse consultants, and paralegals experienced in working with and listening to survivors who work individually with every client in every case to see that justice is won.

If a school, church, sports team, hospital, or another institution failed to protect you from abuse, we may be able to help you hold that institution accountable, and possibly seek compensation and practice changes to prevent that failure from happening again to you or others. We urge you to contact a survivor’s rights lawyer at Lieff Cabraser today about your potential case and recovery.

If you were the victim of abuse unrelated to a larger institution, representation by our firm may not be the best option for your situation. We encourage you to consider representation by other attorneys, as well as support from resources like RAINN.org, WomensLaw.org, MaleSurvivor.org, 1in6.org (another resource for male survivors), iSurvive.org, and AfterSilence.org.