Attorney Timothy Hale has built a civil litigation practice focused on personal injury and childhood sexual abuse matters. His experience includes jury trials, binding arbitrations, and appellate proceedings involving survivors and institutions. Since beginning his work on childhood sexual abuse cases in 2000, Hale has handled litigation involving religious organizations, youth-serving groups, schools, and residential treatment programs.
His practice has also included cases involving access to institutional records connected to abuse allegations. Today, attorney Timothy Hale serves as Partner at Nye, Stirling, Hale, Miller & Sweet LLP, where his practice areas are Personal Injury and Sexual Abuse.
Representing Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors
Hale began representing childhood sexual abuse victims in 2000 as part of a team involved in a Catholic clergy-abuse matter. For one client, the team obtained what is believed to be the first million-dollar pre-trial settlement in the history of the Catholic clergy-abuse scandal.
Since then, Hale has represented numerous victims, with abuse settlements to date totaling in excess of $40 million. His work has involved the Catholic Church, LDS Church, and Presbyterian Church, along with the Boy Scouts of America, private and public schools, and residential treatment centers and programs serving at-risk youth and young people with developmental disorders.
Pursuing Release of Franciscan Personnel Files
A significant matter involved efforts to make Franciscan priest-perpetrator personnel files public. In June 2007 and March 2009, Hale obtained two rulings in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of 25 clergy abuse victims seeking their publication.
The rulings established that the perpetrators’ privacy rights were outweighed by the compelling state interest in preventing future sexual abuse of children. After the Franciscans and perpetrators appealed, Hale served as lead appellate counsel through proceedings before the California Supreme Court. The appeals were rejected, and the personnel files were released to the public in 2012.
The litigation produced the published appellate opinion In re The Clergy Cases I (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 1224. According to his profile, the decision became a basis for subsequent similar releases of perpetrator personnel files, including records involving the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Father Matthew Kelly.
Litigation Involving the Boy Scouts
Another major matter involved the Boy Scouts of America. In January 2012, Hale became the first attorney to obtain a California trial court ruling ordering the organization to turn over its secret Ineligible Volunteer “Perversion” Files from 1971 through 2011.
The Boy Scouts appealed, and Hale served as lead appellate counsel until the California Supreme Court rejected the appeal. The matter proceeded to trial in January 2015 in Santa Barbara Superior Court, where he served as lead trial counsel. The Boy Scouts settled after the second week of testimony and documentary evidence.
Separately, Hale served as lead counsel in a February 2014 childhood sexual abuse jury trial against the Boy Scouts in Santa Barbara Superior Court.
Trial and Appellate Background
Hale earned his B.A. from Cal State Sacramento in 1992 and his J.D. from the University of Utah College of Law in 1996, where he was a member of the Law Review. He was admitted to practice in California in 1996 and has focused on civil litigation.
His first jury trial to verdict took place in 1998. He has since served as lead counsel in jury trials and binding arbitrations, building experience across different stages of civil litigation.
Recognition and Academic Engagement
In 2008, Hale was part of a team of clergy abuse lawyers named finalists for the Public Justice Foundation’s Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. The recognition followed work that resulted in the 2007 Los Angeles and San Diego clergy abuse global settlements, which totaled more than $858 million.
He is recognized as an expert on childhood sexual abuse in institutional settings and has been invited to lecture on the subject at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara.
Continuing Work in Civil Litigation
Attorney Timothy Hale’s career reflects a long-term focus on complex civil litigation involving individuals and institutions. His work has included matters that progressed from trial courts to appellate proceedings, as well as cases involving the disclosure of information held by organizations.
His continued involvement in personal injury and sexual abuse matters builds on a litigation background that spans more than two decades, with work extending from individual client representation to broader disputes involving institutional conduct.
