The Tablet Staff

Mitchell Garabedian has become a well-known lawyer because of the high-profile lawsuits he has filed against the Catholic Church for clergy sex abuse.

Garabedian first became widely known in the early 2000s, when he filed lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Boston for clergy sex abuse, following reports by the Boston Globe in 2002 that revealed abuse by clergy and a subsequent cover-up. The Globe’s reporting was the subject of “Spotlight,” a movie that won an Academy Award for Best Picture in 2016. Actor Stanley Tucci portrayed Garabedian in the movie.

The suits against the Archdiocese of Boston led to criminal prosecutions of five priests and prompted more abuse suits against the church nationwide. The revelations also spurred the church to establish protocols, known as the Dallas Charter, to police itself.

The website of Garabedian’s law firm says that the attorney has personally represented “more than 1000” victims and survivors of clergy sex abuse and that his legal work has encouraged more to come forward. The lawyer,  68, grew up in Massachusetts and received his law degree from the New England School of Law in Boston.

Last November, he told the Associated Press that he planned to sue the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., for abuse by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio and a now-deceased priest that allegedly occurred when the two were parish priests in Jersey City, N.J. Bishop DiMarzio denies the allegation, and Garabedian hadn’t filed a suit as of Feb. 4.