STATE COLLEGE —Jerry Sandusky is convicted and behind bars, but the victims who testified against him — and potentially many more — could now turn to the civil court system to seek justice.

Penn State is already facing three civil suits related to the Jerry Sandusky scandal, and is preparing for that number to grow. The price tag for legal representation, an internal investigation and crisis management has already reached $12 million, and that doesn’t include settling lawsuits.

If the recent priest abuse cases are an indication, resolving claims and lawsuits could cost the university tens of millions of dollars. The Philadelphia priest scandal has brought the diocese legal bills of more than $11 million. The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston made an $85 million settlement.

The university said it will be reaching out to victims and their attorneys, offering them an option of working directly with the university to resolve their claims.

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the Sept. 11 victims compensation fund, said Penn State’s goal will be to bring together as many claims as it can.

“The question is, are they going to provide a generous program that really does encourage people to (participate),” he said.

The alternative is seeing “who wants to go to court and drag this out in a public forum.”

A dispute resolution specialist best known for determining how much money the families of those killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would receive, Feinberg also administered the BP fund after the 2010 oil spill.

There has to be protocol defining who is eligible, he said.

“If you have a compensation program, you can always assume there will be more claims than you think,” Feinberg said.

The university isn’t saying how much money it plans to have in a compensation fund.

Philadelphia attorney Jonathan Hugg said one question that may come up is whether Penn State is a public institution and protected by sovereign or governmental immunity. While sovereign immunity limits liability for state agencies, Penn State is technically what’s known as a state-related university.

“If I were Penn State I would take a hard look at this,” Hugg said. “Under the Sovereign Immunity Act, liability is limited to certain types of negligence and a million-dollar per incident cap.”

There are exceptions to that — willful misconduct, for example.

“There is an argument, based on justice, fairness and human rights that these claims ought to be settled expeditiously,” Hugg said. “On the other hand, I think there are defenses.” Hugg said he wouldn’t be shocked to see the estate of Joe Paterno become the subject of suits as well.

PSU President Rodney Erickson said the university won’t use state funding or tuition to pay for the scandal. Instead, the university says its insurance policies will cover the costs.