Parties to lawsuits seeking damages for last year’s losses Maui Wildfires have reached a $4 billion global settlement, according to a court filing Friday, nearly a year after after the deadliest wildfire in the United States for over a century.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green’s office confirmed the $4.037 billion settlement, saying in a news release that it was reached after more than four months of mediation. His office said it “resolves approximately 450 lawsuits filed by individuals, businesses and insurance companies in state and federal courts related to the Lahaina and Upcountry Maui wildfires.”
The seven co-defendants involved in the settlement include the State of Hawaii, the County of Maui, Hawaiian Electric, Kamehameha Schools, West Maui Land Co., Hawaiian Telcom and Spectrum/Charter Communications.
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Green said in a statement that the settlement “will help our people heal,” noting that he sought to “expedite the settlement and avoid lengthy and painful litigation so that as many resources as possible can flow to those affected by the wildfires as quickly as possible.”
Hawaiian Electric said in a news release that its share of the settlement is $1.99 billion, or just under half of the total.
“Having so many involved parties work with such commitment and focus to reach a resolution in a particularly complex case is a powerful demonstration of how Hawaii comes together in times of crisis,” Shelee Kimura, Hawaiian Electric president and CEO, said in a statement.
The term sheet containing details of the settlement was not publicly available, but the liaison attorneys filed a motion Friday saying the global settlement seeks to resolve all claims related to the Maui fires for $4.037 billion.
The motion asks the judge to order that the insurers cannot separately sue the defendants to recover money paid to policyholders.
“We have no illusions that this is going to restore Maui’s integrity,” said Jake Lowenthal, a Maui attorney who was chosen as one of the liaisons to coordinate the cases. “We know full well that this is not going to make up for what they’ve lost.”
He stressed that there were “mitigating circumstances” that made lawyers fear the litigation could drag on for years.
Some lawyers involved have expressed concern about the possibility of reaching an agreement before a possible bankruptcy of Hawaiian Electric Company.
Now that an agreement has been reached, there is still work to be done on next steps, such as distributing the amount.
“This is the first step in getting Maui wildfire victims compensation as soon as possible,” Lowenthal said.
The August 8, 2023 wildfire killed 101 people and destroyed the historic downtown lahaina in Maui, one of many disasters that struck the island. It burned thousands of homes and displaced 12,000 people.
In the spring, a judge appointed mediators and ordered all parties to the hundreds of lawsuits filed to enter into settlement negotiations.
In a June survey by the Hawaii State Rural Health Association, 71 percent of Maui County respondents who were directly affected near the fires said they have since had to cut back on food and grocery spending to personal financial reasonsThe survey found that most Maui residents were more worried than optimistic about the future.
