Who is really steering the ship - GB or Legal Dept.?

by sir82 14 Replies latest jw friends

  • sir82
    sir82

    Thinking on the recent news of WT settlements of numerous settlements in child abuse cases...

    I would imagine that the decsion to settle was reached by the Legal Dept. of the WTS. The question in my mind is, did they have to fight for "approval" from the GB to reach that decision to pay out (most likely) millions of dollars? Or are they really the ones in charge of the "ship of state", and they more or less told the GB that there really was no option?

    It seems to be quite a bit of a risk - of course there are gag orders for all involved, but with a little digging and some media exposure, news of payouts could have a shocking event on wavering JWs.

    I can picture in my mind an intense, closed-door boardroom fight with the more fanatical GB members on one side, railing about "Satanic courts", "bitter apostates", and "no weapon formed against you will succeed", while on the other side, lawyers are suppressing eye-rolls while patiently explaining that going to trial would be a no-win situation.

    Does anyone know how influential the Legal Dept. is these days? Anyone can of course speculate, but does anyone have more an insider's 'feel" for how much control they really exercise over decsions that are made?

  • TopHat
    TopHat

    ISN'T JEHOVAH steering the ship?

  • ninja
    ninja

    I don't know but I own the build-a-berg society...and could loan you one one to bring down the "satanic"...sorry titanic

  • truthsetsonefree
    truthsetsonefree

    I wouldn't be surprised if Legal has to make their case with the GB wishing that it were different. But when you come right down to it, its about money and that means Legal has the power.

    tsof

  • jaguarbass
    jaguarbass

    Why would somebody be a JW lawyer? Do they have their own practice and donate their services. To me being a dub lawyer does not compute in this day and age. How would somebody with so much education and practiced in the areas of debate ever fall for any religion let alone being a witness?

    Do the JW's have their own lawyers living at headquarters? They must be paying them lots of money?

  • Dagney
    Dagney
    ISN'T JEHOVAH steering the ship?

    LOL...in the chariot with those wheels and eyes???? The legal department. It's a corporation.

  • TopHat
    TopHat

    I think the legal department will become the new anointed "SOON NOW" VERY SOON

  • truthsetsonefree
    truthsetsonefree
    Do the JW's have their own lawyers living at headquarters? They must be paying them lots of money?

    Most of them either got their degrees at Bethel or went to law school like Glen How in Canada, to champion the dub cause. Just because one is an attorney does not mean that they are truly ethical. Whats the joke about the lawyer that falls off a boat and the sharks carry him back to the boat as a professional courtesy?

    tsof

  • OnTheWayOut
    OnTheWayOut

    Lawyers are taught "legal morality" that they call professional ethics.

    That means that there are always carefully crafted statements that are technically
    accurate, as far as their opinions go. The WTS does the same thing. I love when
    posters highlight their technical accuracy or legal CYA statements.

    The lawyers are doing all the steering. I think the GB is able to veto or take control
    back, but as lifelong JW's, they are so afraid to do so. They are so worried that
    their own decisions will cause an avalanche of lawsuits. They recognize that they
    need all the legal statements in all their tweaks of doctrine. I think they are allowing
    the lawyers to soften their doctrines, just to minimize future lawsuits.

    Tobacco is more profitable than ever. That's a fact. The industry paid off the lawsuits
    they had to pay off, they signed off on a slowly phasing-out anti-smoking education
    of Americans. They have learned to run the companies more efficiently through the
    hard times of the 90's, now they are back to profits. WTS lawyers are trying to do
    the same thing- pay off as necessary, change the policies and educate rank-and-file
    of the wonderful things they are now doing, run the printing company more streamlined
    so that they can afford the lawsuits, then start making profits after 10 years or so.
    They might succeed on the lawsuits, but they may have underestimated the victims
    willingness to break from loyalty.

  • Gerard
    Gerard

    Money.

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