Home / Personal Injury/ Sexual Abuse Lawsuits
For decades, survivors were silenced by fear, by shame, and by filing deadlines that expired before anyone was ready to come forward. That era is ending. Revival windows and Child Victims Acts now let survivors sue the institutions that enabled the abuse — counties, prison systems, churches, school districts and hospital networks — even when it happened decades ago.
A lawsuit is never the urgent step. You are. The RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is free, confidential and staffed 24 hours a day at 1-800-656-4673, with online chat at hotline.rainn.org. If you are in crisis, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available by calling or texting 988.
If a child is being abused now, report to the NCMEC CyberTipline at 1-800-843-5678 or your local child protective services. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Where you safely can, keep letters, records, names and dates — but your safety and your health come first, always.
L.A. County juvenile & foster
care settlement (2025)
When Rhode Island’s revival
window closes
Patients notified in the
Northwell camera case
Upfront cost — no fee
unless you recover
— Why now
Revival windows, Child Victims Acts and laws like California’s AB 218 now allow survivors to sue their abusers and the institutions that enabled them, often decades after the fact. The results have been historic: a $4 billion Los Angeles County settlement for juvenile hall and foster care survivors, hundreds of millions from Catholic dioceses, confidential resolutions of more than 100 LDS Church cases in California, and brand-new litigation over hidden cameras at Northwell’s Sleep Disorders Center and abuse at the California Institution for Women.
Our role is narrow and we would rather be plain about it: we listen confidentially, check whether your situation matches what participating firms are reviewing, and connect you with a firm that handles your exact litigation. We are not a law firm and we do not give legal advice. You pay nothing unless your case recovers.
— Latest news
More than 30 clergy abuse lawsuits were filed against the Diocese of Providence on day one. The window runs through June 30, 2028.
Ten former detainees allege staff sexual abuse at San Bernardino Juvenile Hall, adding to county claims dating back to the 1970s.
A former employee pleaded guilty to hiding cameras in bathrooms at its Long Island sleep and rehab centers. More than 13,000 patients were notified.
Formerly incarcerated women sue the CIW correctionsal and CDCR over abusive, medically unnecessary exams, alleging officials ignored repeated warnings.
The Church agreed in principle to resolve more than 100 California childhood abuse lawsuits. 91 related cases are coordinated in Los Angeles.
A historic settlement covering 6,800+ juvenile facility and foster care abuse claims — a benchmark San Diego and San Bernardino litigation is now measured against.
Abuse of incarcerated women at CIW in Chino
ACTIVE
AB 218 claims against districts and private schools
Staff-on-youth abuse in juvenile halls, camps & reform schools
ACTIVE
Bishops, youth leaders and the internal helpline
Hidden bathroom cameras — 13,000+ patients notified
Revival window open through June 30, 2028
ACTIVE
County juvenile halls, camps and the Polinsky Center
Implanted port-catheter device alleged to fracture or migrate, causing injury.
— Case value
No honest lawyer promises a number in advance. What civil claims routinely recover is therapy and future mental-health treatment, medical costs, lost income, and pain and suffering — plus punitive damages against institutions whose conduct was egregious. These are the factors that actually move the analysis.
The nature of the abuse, how long it continued, and documented diagnoses such as PTSD, depression or anxiety.
Ignored complaints, skipped background checks and cover-ups change these cases fundamentally. Juries respond to concealment.
Abuse of younger children and of captive populations — detained youth, incarcerated women, sedated patients — supports higher damages.
Some states cap claims against public entities; private defendants often face no caps at all. Where and when you file changes the analysis.
Your testimony can be enough. Facility records, prior complaints and other survivors’ accounts make it stronger.
Mass settlements use allocation tiers. Individually litigated cases with strong facts are valued differently.
Preliminary screening only. Listing a case here does not mean you have a valid claim. Eligibility depends on your facts, your state, and filing deadlines, and a participating law firm makes the final decision.
— What happens next
Nothing happens that you do not agree to, and you decide what to share and when.
Which situation, roughly when, and your state. Not what happened. Two minutes, free, no obligation.
Our specialists compare your situation against what participating firms are actively reviewing, at no cost to you.
A vetted firm handling your exact litigation calls you privately, usually within a day. You decide whether to go further.
They investigate, obtain records through discovery, file under a pseudonym where the court allows, and you pay nothing unless you recover.
That is completely reasonable, and it is what most people say first. A free, confidential conversation gives you information and commits you to nothing.
Participating firms take these cases on contingency. The fee is a percentage of any recovery. If there is no recovery, no attorney fee is owed.
No retainer. No hourly billing. No invoice arriving while you are already paying for therapy. Cost should never be the reason a survivor never finds out what their options were.
Fee arrangements are set by the law firm you sign with, not by Direct2Attorney, and vary between firms and states. Settlements on behalf of a minor generally require court approval and may be placed in a protected account until the child reaches adulthood. Read the agreement and ask questions before signing anything.
Our intake team is trauma-informed. You share only what you choose to share, and nobody pushes you past that.
⚖️
We connect you with firms handling your exact case type, not a general referral list.
Survivors routinely proceed under a pseudonym. Your information is encrypted and handled under our Privacy Policy.
Free review, contingency representation, and no attorney fee owed if there is no recovery.
A legal marketing and referral service. We check whether your situation matches what participating law firms are looking for, and connect you with one of them if it does.
What Direct2Attorney is not
We are not a law firm, a counseling service or a reporting agency. For support, the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is free and confidential 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673. In an emergency, call 911.
You do not need a police report. You do not need a conviction. You do not need documents, and you will not be asked to describe anything on this page. One private conversation is all it takes to find out what your options are — free, confidential, and yours to end whenever you choose.
— Filing deadlines
Deadlines for sexual abuse claims are not the same as ordinary injury deadlines, and they have changed enormously. Many states have lengthened or removed them entirely, and several have opened revival windows that let previously expired claims be filed for a limited period. Three matter most right now: California AB 2777 closes December 31, 2026; Rhode Island’s revival window closes June 30, 2028; and California AB 218 runs on your age and your discovery date.
Select your state
Several states have temporarily reopened claims that were previously too late. These windows open and close on fixed dates, so a claim barred last year may not be barred now — and may be barred again later.
Legislatures wrote these longer deadlines precisely because survivors come forward years later. Waiting is normal and is not treated as a weakness in your claim.
Because these rules have moved so much in recent years, the answer people assume is almost always wrong — and it is wrong in both directions. It costs nothing to have someone check the state where it happened.
This is general information, not legal advice, and it is not a calculation of your deadline. Filing deadlines are set by state law, differ by claim type and defendant, change when legislatures amend them, and can be shortened or extended by facts specific to your situation. Nothing on this page tells you whether your claim is timely. Only an attorney licensed in your state can determine the deadline that applies to you. If a deadline passes, a claim is usually barred permanently regardless of its merits, so the safer course is always to ask early.
Deadlines depend on your state, the case type, the defendant and your age at the time. A free review answers the question definitively, and filing sooner protects both your evidence and your position in any group resolution.
Yes. The revival window opened July 1, 2026 and closes June 30, 2028. It revives previously expired childhood abuse claims against institutions, and more than 30 lawsuits were filed against the Diocese of Providence on the first day alone. If you were ever told your Rhode Island claim was too late, that answer has changed.
Yes. Sexual contact between staff, including medical providers, and an incarcerated person is illegal, and the power imbalance makes consent legally impossible. Both currently and formerly incarcerated survivors qualify, and CIW-related claims can also name CDCR and officials alleged to have ignored warnings.
Keep the letter. It is evidence you were identified as potentially affected. Roughly 250 lawsuits are already proceeding, and you may qualify to join them even if you never saw a camera or a recording. A free review confirms your position and your deadline.
Yes. Civil cases are independent of criminal cases and use a lower standard of proof. Many successful abuse claims, including claims against churches and county juvenile facilities, involve people who were never criminally charged.
In most jurisdictions, sexual abuse survivors can file under a pseudonym such as John Doe, Jane Doe or Roe, and consultations are always confidential. Whether a pseudonym is permitted is decided case by case, so ask the law firm directly how it would work for you.
Start anyway. Your account is evidence, and courts understand abuse rarely leaves a paper trail. Attorneys obtain facility records, personnel files, prior complaints and expert evaluations through discovery, and survivors of the same abuser often corroborate one another.
Nothing upfront. These cases are handled on contingency, meaning the firm advances costs and is paid only out of a successful settlement or verdict. If there is no recovery, no attorney fee is owed.
Yes. You control the conversation and share only what you choose. Our intake team is trauma-informed and there is never any obligation to proceed. If you need support right now, the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is free and confidential 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673.
Ask on the call, or by email first if that feels easier. There is no obligation either way.
