HONOLULU — Parties in lawsuits seeking damages for last year’s wildfires on Maui have reached a settlement Global settlement of $4 billion, That’s according to a court document filed Friday, nearly a year after the deadliest wildfire in the US in more than a century.
The term sheet detailing 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 rule that insurers cannot individually go after the defendants to recover money paid to policyholders.
“We have no illusions that this is going to make Maui whole again,” said Jake Lowenthal, a Maui attorney who has been selected as one of the liaisons to coordinate the cases. “We know for sure that it doesn’t make up for what they’ve lost.”
He noted that there were “extenuating circumstances” that left attorneys concerned the trial could drag on for years.
Some attorneys involved have expressed concerns about reaching a settlement before a possible bankruptcy of Hawaiian Electric Company.
Now that a settlement has been reached, work must continue on the next steps, such as how the amount should be divided.
“This is the first step in getting compensation to the victims of the Maui fire as quickly as possible,” Lowenthal said.
The August 8, 2023 wildfire killed 102 people and destroyed historic downtown Lahaina, Maui. Thousands of homes were burned and 12,000 people were displaced.
More than 600 lawsuits have been filed over the deaths and destruction caused by the fires. In the spring, a judge appointed mediators and ordered all parties to participate in settlement discussions.