By Associated Press’s Jennifer Sinco Kelleher
HONOLULU Attorneys for survivors of a fatal wildfire in Hawaii came to an agreement at the last minute to avoid a trial over how to divide a $4 billion settlement that was slated to start on Wednesday.
According to the deal, victims and survivors will not be required to testify in court about the devastating Lahaina fire that claimed over 100 lives, damaged thousands of properties, and caused damage estimated at $5.5 billion.
Judge Peter Cahill, who later declared that an agreement had been reached, met privately with attorneys prior to the trial’s start time on Wednesday morning. In a week, attorneys who came to the arrangement late Tuesday are anticipated to submit court paperwork outlining the terms of the accord.
While some victims prepared to testify, others provided pre-recorded statements detailing their agony, which was heightened by the recent devastation in Los Angeles.
Jacob Lowenthal, one of the lawyers defending individual plaintiffs, stated on Wednesday that some people will undoubtedly be unhappy because, in their minds, this was their chance to tell their tale. Other people will be relieved that they are not required to testify in person.
Kevin Baclig, whose wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law were among the 102 individuals known to have passed away, is one of the individual plaintiffs.
In a declaration, Baclig stated that if asked to testify, he would explain how he looked for them for three grueling days, going from hotel to hotel and shelter to shelter. I held onto the shaky hope that they might have left the island and were safe, he added.
After a month and a half, the sobering truth dawned. In order to get DNA samples from his wife’s close relatives in the Philippines, he traveled there. Remains discovered in the fire matched the samples. Eventually, he returned to the Philippines with urns containing their bodies.
He claimed that the loss had left him in excruciating, never-ending suffering. The weight I bear every day and the emptiness I experience are beyond words.
About a year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century destroyed Lahaina in 2023, Hawaii Governor Josh Green announced the $4 billion settlement reached by the state, power company Hawaiian Electric, major landowners, and others. He praised the deal’s haste at the time in order to prevent drawn-out and agonizing legal proceedings.
A percentage split between two groups of plaintiffs—some who filed individual lawsuits after losing their homes, businesses, or family members—and other victims covered by class-action lawsuits—such as tourists who had to postpone their trips to Maui due to the fire—was to be decided during the trial.
Lowenthal previously stated that tourists whose excursions were canceled or delayed should only receive a minimal share of the settlement.
FILE: Damage from a wildfire at Lahaina, Hawaii, August 10, 2023. (File: Rick Bowmer/AP Photo)AP
He stated that our losses are so much greater than the kinds of damages the class is claiming.
An email from The Associated Press asking for comment on the avoided trial has not received a response from the class’s attorneys.
They contested the notion that everyone with a claim worthy of being sued had already done so in their trial brief. The brief stated that the disruption of life caused by the fire, mistrust of extensive lawyer advertising, and a desire to observe the process first all contributed to the deterrence of hiring lawyers.
In a separate case, the state Supreme Court is debating whether insurers can sue the defendants to recover the more than $2 billion they have already paid out on fire claims or if they have to rely on the $4 billion settlement to cover their portion. In that case, oral arguments are set for February 6.
According to Lowenthal, that is the final significant decision that must be made before the global settlement can proceed.
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