Maui survivors’ attorney: ‘Best deal that’s possible, as quickly as possible’
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - One of the attorneys representing Maui fire survivors in a $4 billion settlement says the deal is the fastest he’s seen in his 35 years of doing wildfire-related litigation.
“To get one of these settlements done in a complex wildfire case inside of a year is very unusual,” said Mikal Watts of Watts Law Firm, one of the lawyers who worked on the Maui deal.
He has negotiated several utility-caused wildfire settlements, including the $13.5 billion deal that covered California’s deadly Camp Fire in 2018.
“These mass fire settlements are distributed in the following way. And that is that the funds will be placed into a trust. When we settled with PG&E in California for $13.5 billion, the money was placed in what’s called the fire victims trust,” Watts said.
“So something along those lines will be the vehicle into which all the money is going to be placed, it will then be allocated by a special master or a trustee. This is usually a former judge or an expert in mass tort distribution procedures. And then they’ll have in effect trust rules, where businesses with losses can submit their tax returns showing their losses. Individuals who were killed can submit their information or their families can with respect to the relationships that were lost, then, of course, all of the property owners that lost their homes, the businesses that lost their business structures, everybody will be able to submit into this trust, and the trust will begin making distributions very quickly, in accordance with the trust rules.”
While the Maui deal was reached in record time, getting money into survivors’ hands is a different story.
“We’ve already communicated to people who are interested in serving as the trustee that speed is of critical importance here because obviously, we have an entire town that cannot start rebuilding without these resources,” Watts said, adding that the settlement helps HECO avoid filing for bankruptcy and eases concerns about lengthy legal battles.
Survivors “wanted their case settled as quickly as possible for the most money that was possible. And unfortunately, one of the parties that caused this fire Hawaiian Electric is not a $40 billion corporation like PG&E is.”
“It’s got a much smaller rate base. It already has the highest rates in the United States. And so resources are scarce, and that’s where the governor came in and he put together a group of parties, including Kamehameha Schools, including the state itself, the county of Maui, everybody had to take a haircut, if you will, to try to put this deal together,” he added.
A deal, Watts says, that’s the best possible and fastest possible -- and hopefully a wake up call for HECO and other utility companies to secure and update their infrastructure and prevent future disasters.
“It requires investment, it requires resources, and it requires leadership,” he said.
The Governor’s Office said in a news release that: “The agreement is conditional on the resolution of the insurance companies’ claims that have already been paid for property loss and other damages, with no additional payments from the defendants. Once a final settlement agreement is signed, it will take effect following judicial review and approval. The contribution to the settlement from the state of Hawaii must be approved by the Hawaii State Legislature. The payments would begin after such approval and are expected to start by mid-2025.”
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