As survivors scattered from Lahaina, seeking all eligible claimants remains a challenge

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Despite the $4 billion settlement of the Maui Wildfire lawsuits, some are unsure it is enough money to help all the survivors, business and property owners.

There’s also a good chance many people don’t even know they could be eligible. However, there are some lawsuits designed to find them.

With more than 600 lawsuits filed you might expect nearly every person or family with a claim would have a lawyer by now, but attorneys say there are potentially thousands of people who don’t realize they have a right to compensation.

Attorney Sam King recently filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of people who were scattered or displaced from Lahaina and haven’t filed claims.

“Unless most of these people are part of a class and can be identified, actually sought out and identified, they’re not going to know what to do or file anything,” King said.

The fire not only destroyed Lahaina -- it emptied the town of as many as 12,000 residents -- most of them renters, some with deep ties to the island, others with few connections.

“And there’s no lawsuit except ours is specifically naming the displaced residents of Lahaina. We think they need a separate voice to be heard,” King said.

Among the many lawsuits - five are class actions - for yet unidentified groups of people who were displaced, injured or who lost property. If approved by the federal judge the class action attorneys can actively seek clients.

“If we get class certified, then it makes it much easier to try and find all these people,” King said.

King is the only one of the class attorneys who has so far resisted being part of the $4 billion Global settlement...which he thinks was rushed and is not generous enough.

“I’m not sure it’s going to be enough for everybody,” he said. “The insurance companies say they paid out two billion and expect another billion. The lawyers, who knows how much they’re going to take?”

At a hearing this week lawyers for insurance companies asked the same question, and Judge Peter Cahill sparred with victims’ attorney Jesse Creed who was defending the deal.

“This is the maximum amount that can be recovered,” Creed said, and Cahill interrupted. “The maximum amount that can be recovered in the settlement – it’s not the maximum amount that can be recovered.”

“Well, it’s the best deal possible at this time,” Creed said, and Cahill responded, “And I get it, that’s why these cases settled.”

It’s also unclear how many people are eligible. King told the judge thousands of displaced people could be eligible for his class action alone, and there is still a year to file new cases.

“My concern is it’s a never ending process. We are never going to reach resolution when you have thousands of claims,” Cahill said.

Experts say the task of deciding who gets how much will fall on the victims’ lawyers and hired experts, with hopes to issue the first checks sometime next year.

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