The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - A plaintiff in the set of lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Louisville alleging sexual abuse by priests hopes to challenge the possible fee for the lead attorney in the $25.7 million settlement.

Dr. William Handelman filed a motion asking to appear in court later this month to object to the settlement and to the fees William McMurry stands to gain. McMurry, who negotiated the settlement, also faces challenges by other lawyers over his request for some of their fees. McMurry said Handelman agreed to the fee percentage when he signed up with McMurry last year.

Handelman, a Florida cardiologist and Louisville native who said he was abused by retired priest Louis Miller in the 1960s, filed a motion this week asking to testify before Jefferson County Circuit Judge James M. Shake at a hearing July 28. Shake has the final say on attorneys' fees. He also must approve the settlement and will consider it at the hearing.

Handelman said Thursday that he believed McMurry and Ann Oldfather, an attorney on McMurry's legal team, told him plaintiffs would have the final say on any settlement. Instead, he said, McMurry and Oldfather presented the $25.7 million settlement to plaintiffs as a done deal.

Handelman acknowledged that he signed an agreement with McMurry stating that the lawyer would receive 40 percent of any payout. McMurry said he never gave the impression the 40 percent fee was negotiable.