Attorney Jeff Anderson, left, points to a chart of sexual abuse perpetrators as sexual abuse victims Birdie Farrell, center, and Joseph Caramanno watch during a news conference in New York on Wednesday. Photo: Richard Drew/AP

More than 400 lawsuits were filed across New York state against the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts and other institutions Wednesday to mark the first day of a one-year window to file historic claims of child sex abuse—and plaintiffs attorneys said many more cases are in the pipeline.

Some 169 cases had been filed under the Child Victims Act in the five counties of New York City as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to a search of the New York State Court Electronic Filings system, a court records database. The Archdiocese of New York and other Catholic institutions were the defendants in the vast majority of them. Most suits were filed by a single plaintiff, but in some instances, more than a dozen victims sued together.

Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the state’s Office of Court Administration, said another 258 cases were filed outside of New York City. Erie County, home to Buffalo, saw 107 cases filed, more than even Manhattan. Albany recorded at least 32 cases, Onondaga County—where Syracuse is—at least 11, and Nassau County on Long Island another 30, the NYSCEF search showed.

Jeff Anderson, whose Minnesota firm Jeff Anderson & Associates represents victims of child sex abuse, said he had filed 262 lawsuits against Catholic entities across the state Wednesday that named some 60 never-before-named perpetrators of abuse. Anderson is working on the cases with lawyers including Robins Kaplan in New York, Steve Boyd in Buffalo and Cynthia LaFave of LaFave, Wein & Frament in Albany.

“The Child Victims Act opened up so many opportunities for so many survivors,” Anderson said. “As experienced as we are, we need some major firepower working with us.”

The cases filed Wednesday may be just the tip of the iceberg, according to Michael London of Douglas & London, a plaintiffs firm in Manhattan, who said his firm is investigating hundreds of potential cases against Catholic institutions and public and private schools across New York. There’s no reason “to rush to file today simply because they said go,” he said.

“It’s going to be a long process,” he said. “These are difficult cases. The evidence spans many years, decades. Memories can fade. … Our job is to corroborate as much as possible before we file.”

Jeff Herman of Herman Law sounded a similar note. He said his firm filed 20 to 25 cases under the Child Victims Act against various defendants Wednesday but said hundreds more were in the pipeline.

“I’m intentionally not filing a huge group of cases at once because I think it’s really important for victims to have a voice, and I don’t want those voices to be muffled,” he said.

John Bonina of Bonina & Bonina said some clients are eager to see justice served, however. He represents a group of seven plaintiffs whose suit against the Archdiocese of New York and other defendants appears to have been the first suit filed in Manhattan; he said it was filed at 12:03 a.m.

Other firms representing large numbers of victims in cases filed Wednesday include the Marsh Law Firm in White Plains, which has partnered with a Washington state firm to bring what they have pegged at 500 cases.

State court officials, for their part, have been preparing for the rush of Child Victims Act cases, training judges about the new law and assigning five judges to oversee pretrial proceedings in the cases.

Read More:

Wave of Abuse Lawsuits Under New Child Victims Act Is Expected to Crest in NY

NY State Courts Prepared for Flood of Lawsuits Under New Child Victims Act, Officials Say

Rockefeller University Sues Insurers for Coverage of Past Child Sex Abuse Claims

NY Archdiocese Sues Insurers After Coverage Denied for Child Sex Abuse Claims

Cuomo Signs Bill to Open Window for Lawsuits Over Child Sex Abuse