Chad A. Franks, Principal

TEL: 877.877.2423
FAX: 877.774.2953
franksllc@gmail.com

Chad Franks Mr. Franks is the Principal of Franks LLC.  Mr. Franks travels between offices in New York, Denver, and California.  Prior to founding Franks LLC, Mr. Franks was partner of Campbell & Franks and was assigned to an outside attorney/client who was involved in one of the largest childhood sexual abuse complex litigation cases in California history. Mr. Franks dedicated himself to that litigation from 2002 through 2007.  Total resolution figures reached nearly $1 billion dollars.  Motivated by a trauma that occurred to one of his family members, Mr. Franks has maintained his advocacy for childhood sexual abuse survivors through representing abuse clients, providing grants to groups like the New York Coalition to Protect Children, and speaking engagements with Survivors Network for those Abuse by Priests (SNAP).

Mr. Franks also maintains a general corporate, and transactional and litigation practice on behalf of personal clients. In addition to survivors of sexual abuse, Mr. Franks' personal clients range from those suffering damages from elder abuse, to those with creditor or debt issues. His business clients cover many various industries, including a mid-sized courier service in Denver and a large staffing company in California.

Mr. Franks also serves as an arbitrator for the Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which is located in New York and adjudicates disputes between financial firms and their employees and clients.  Mr. Franks has undergone extensive training for this appointment, and is proud to assist parties in that role when necessary.

Bar Admissions:

American Bar Association
California Bar Association
Colorado Bar Association
New York Bar Association
Pennsylvania Bar Association

Professional Activities:

Arbitrator, Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
Association of Corporate Counsel Member (Corporate and Litigation Committees)

Licensed Jurisdictions:

California*
Colorado
New York
Pennsylvania
*Registered In-House Counsel

Survivor Sexual Abuse Cases/Involvement:

-Representative clients -- in cases where Mr. Franks assisted -- have included survivors of childhood sexual abuse perpetrated by priests, pastors and ministers, medical doctors, foster parents, and coaches as well as target defendants that include those who perpetuated the abuse by turning a blind eye to it when it was committed by their employee, agent, or independent contractor (i.e., Catholic and Christian institutions, namely authoritarian figures in schools, congregations, and youth organizations; a medical group and Health Maintenance Organization, foster parents, and private and public institutions, including schools):

-Archdiocese of Los Angeles for $660 million on behalf of more than 120 of the 508 survivors.
-Dioceses of San Diego and San Bernardino in excess of $198 million on behalf of approximately 20 of the 144 survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
-Over $200 million in justice and compensation for clients of Kathy Freberg of Freberg & Associates, Stephen Rubino and Edward Ross of Ross & Rubino LLP, and Terry Giles.

The Hagenbach Case:
Of the 176 sexual abuse cases Chad Franks worked on in the Clergy I, Clergy II, and Clergy III matters in California, four include the Hagenbach Case.  Mr. Franks worked closely with 4 of the 14 victims involving serial pedophile priest Father Clinton Victor Hagenbach. This was the first of the 500 Clergy Cases set to go to trial on August 1, 2007 against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Approximately one month before trial, Mr. Franks and attorney Katherine Freberg located a key witness who eventually testified that he reported to the Catholic Church in the mid 1970s that Father Hagenbach had abused a boy. Despite that notification, the Church neither removed Father Hagenbach nor protected other boys from future abuse. Father Hagenbach went on, and continued to, abuse multiple boys through the 1970's and 1980's. When faced with this damning testimony, the Archdiocese sought to settle not only these 14 cases, but the other approximate 550 cases filed against them as well.
In the more than five years of working on the Hagenbach case, Mr. Franks handled all aspects of the litigation from the initial client interview, to uncovering secret documents, and identifying questionable transfers of Father Hagenbach from parish to parish.
In association with the Hagenbach case, Mr. Franks  worked closely with leading child sexual abuse expert, Dr. Gilbert Kliman, Medical Director of The Psychological Trauma Center in San Francisco in preparation for and his deposition, which took place on July 16, 2007 (the day the Clergy I Plaintiffs and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles tentatively first reached a settlement agreement).