I think the legal advise has been good so far, but the tide is changing. Juries/judges/people are fet up with legal loopholes and are making decisions accordingly. The WTS Legal NEVER expected the Conti case to go against them siince the perp was not and Elder or MS or Pioneer. HOW could they hold the Organization responsible. Everyone is tired of the legal manipulating regarding child abuse. AND, enough people have been affected, either directly or via a loved one, and thus there is the inclination to "set matters straight". The Conti decision was a real WAKE UP CALL for the WTS. Unfortunately for them, there are 100s more waiting in the wings.
JMHO
Doc
I hope it was a wake up call, but to be honest I think the Conti verdict is going to get overturned on appeal and she is going to walk away with nothing, or at least nothing from the WTS. They didn't expect the case to go against them because this kind of case never gets decided against the religious organization. If as a lawyer, you give your client advice to try the case instead of settling (and as I understand it, Conti didn't want to settle anyway, so really the lawyers had no choice but to go to trial) because there is a 99% chance of winning and a 1% chance of losing, and you are the 1% that loses, it doesn't mean you gave you client bad advice. The real cost is the bad publicity, not the $28 Mil, since I don't think they are going to end up paying it, and even if they do it's a drop in the bucket compared to all the real estate they're liquidating.