By Canadian Press

Parties in lawsuits seeking damages for Maui fires reach $4B global settlement, court filings say

Aug 2, 2024 | 8:00 PM

HONOLULU (AP) — The parties in lawsuits seeking damages for last year’s Maui wildfires have reached a $4 billion global settlement, a court filing said Friday, nearly one year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

The term sheet with details of the settlement is not publicly available, but the liaison attorneys filed a motion Friday saying the global settlement seeks to resolve all Maui fire claims for $4.037 billion. The motion asks the judge to order that insurers can’t separately go after the defendants to recoup money paid to policyholders.

“We’re under no illusions that this is going to make Maui whole,” Jake Lowenthal, a Maui attorney selected as one of four liaisons for the coordination of the cases, told The Associated Press. “We know for a fact that it’s not going to make up for what they lost.”

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said in a statement that seven defendants will pay the $4.037 billion to compensate those who have already brought claims for the Aug. 8, 2023, fires that killed 102 people and destroyed the historic downtown area of Lahaina on Maui.

Green said the proposed settlement is an agreement in principle. He said it was subject to the resolution of insurance companies’ claims that have already been paid for property loss and other damages.

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Green said the settlement “will help our people heal.”

“My priority as governor was to expedite the agreement and to avoid protracted and painful lawsuits so as many resources as possible would go to those affected by the wildfires as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement.

He said it was unprecedented to settle lawsuits like this in only one year.

“It will be good that our people don’t have to wait to rebuild their lives as long as others have in many places that have suffered similar tragedies,” Green said.

Lowenthal noted there were “extenuating circumstances” that made lawyers worry the litigation would drag on for years.

Some lawyers involved have expressed concern about reaching a settlement before possible bankruptcy of Hawaiian Electric Company.

Now that a settlement has been reached, more work needs to be on next steps, like how to divvy up the amount.

“This is the first step to allowing the Maui fire victims to get compensation sooner than later,” Lowenthal said.

More than 600 lawsuits have been filed over the deaths and destruction caused by the fires, which burned thousands of homes and displaced 12,000 people. In the spring, a judge appointed mediators and ordered all parties to participate in settlement talks.

Audrey Mcavoy And Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, The Associated Press