HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Hawaii Supreme Court is now thrust into the legal tangle over whether Maui fire victims will receive a $4B settlement or not.
Earlier this month, the global settlement was agreed upon among victims and seven defendants. But insurance companies were not part of the deal.
The defendants include the State of Hawaii, Maui County, Hawaiian Electric, Kamehameha Schools, West Maui Land Company, Hawaiian Telcom and Spectrum/Charter Communications.
They agreed to pay just over $4B to thousands of fire victims.
SPECIAL SECTION: MAUI WILDFIRES
Insurance companies are saying they deserve a piece of that money too because they already paid their clients, so they want that money back.
They also believe Maui Judge Peter Cahill doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear the issues.
So now, the Hawaii Supreme Court will decide if that’s true or not, or not to take up the issue at all.
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“If they don’t take it, then obviously we’re back at square one, there’s no settlement on the table, and we have to prepare the cases for trial and potentially HECO goes bankrupt,” said Jesse Creed, attorney for the plaintiffs.
“They can go settle the case if they want, God bless them, they can settle for any dollar figure they want, but what they can’t do is release our claims,” said insurance company attorney Adam Romney.
“Mr. Romney, as you heard in court today, is from California. He is not licensed to practice law in the state of Hawaii. He is practicing here under somebody else’s license,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Cynthia Wong. “Our Supreme Court has decided these issues previously. There’s nothing that’s going on that is against Hawaii law.”
Vincent Raboteau, an attorney for an insurance company said, “While we wait to see if the Hawaii Supreme Court will take this matter up, we will continue to work towards a fair settlement through mediation for all parties concerned.”
Creed said it the Hawaii Supreme Court will make a decision on whether to take up the decision or not in about 30 days.
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Clinton Mora is a reporter for Trending Insurance News. He has previously worked for the Forbes. As a contributor to Trending Insurance News, Clinton covers emerging a wide range of property and casualty insurance related stories.