HONOLULU About a year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century destroyed Lahaina in 2023, Hawaii Governor Josh Green announced a $4 billion settlement, highlighting the deal’s haste to avoid drawn-out and agonizing legal proceedings.
But five months later, as a court determines how to split the payout, a unique trial that begins Wednesday will explore challenging issues regarding survivors’ losses. While some victims will testify in person, others have provided pre-recorded statements detailing their agony, which has been heightened by the recent devastation in Los Angeles.
Fault will not be established by the trial. Large landowners, the state, and Hawaiian Electric, one of the defendants held responsible for the fire, have already consented to the settlement sum.
The amount of money that different plaintiff groups—some who brought individual lawsuits after losing loved ones, homes, or businesses, and other victims covered by class-action lawsuits, such as tourists who were forced to cancel their trips to Maui after the fire—may receive is in question.
Judge Peter Cahill was left to decide how to divide the $4 billion after the attorneys representing the two factions were unable to reach a consensus.
According to Damon Valverde, whose Lahaina sunglasses firm burned, a class action is when everyone suffers the same loss. Additionally, I endured a great deal more suffering than others, and others endured a great deal more suffering than I did.
Valverde stated that victims who lost family members should be the main focus and that he is not expected to testify.
Among them is Kevin Baclig, whose brother-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and wife were among the 102 known deceased.
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.
In addition to tourists whose travels were postponed or cancelled, the class action also includes some individuals who lost their homes and companies. Jacob Lowenthal, one of the lawyers for victims like Baclig who have brought their own lawsuits, known as the individual plaintiffs, stated that just a nominal amount of the compensation should be allocated to that group.
According to Lowenthal, the types of losses the class is claiming are simply incredibly small in comparison to our losses.
Associated Press messages were not answered by the class’s attorneys. They contested the notion that everyone with a claim worthy of being sued has 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 see the process first have all contributed to the delay in engaging lawyers.
The state Supreme Court is debating whether insurers can sue the defendants separately to recover the more than $2 billion they have already paid out due to the fire, or if their portion must come from the $4 billion settlement, which further complicates the situation.
The entire transaction will probably be ruined if the court rules that insurers can file separate lawsuits. Lawyers for the individual plaintiffs argue that a crucial settlement provision is to prevent insurance from pursuing the defendants, as doing so would deplete the funds available for fire victims and result in protracted litigation.