Lawyers for Maui wildfire survivors cannot take more than a fixed slice of the $4.037 billion global settlement, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled on September 30, upholding fee caps that a Maui judge had set. The opinion, written by Justice Todd Eddins, affirmed the order “as modified,” and the opinion says the Maui circuit court “did not abuse its discretion.”

What the caps are

The order, issued by Maui Circuit Judge Peter Cahill, sets scheduled contingency fees that need no hearing. The opinion lists up to 3 percent for clients who hired lawyers on or after August 19, 2024, up to 8.33 percent for clients who hired earlier, up to 10 percent for cases already set for trial and up to 1 percent for lawyers whose clients went through the state’s One ‘Ohana Fund. Class counsel gets 5 percent, with any further request capped at 7.25 percent of the $135 million class settlement. Lawyers who want more must file a motion, present evidence and win a hearing, with ceilings of 3.5 percent, 10 percent and 12.5 percent depending on the tier.

The court also left in place a $222 million common benefit fund, about 5.5 percent of the recovery, which is set aside before money reaches claimants to pay lawyers for shared work.

What the court changed

The modification was narrow. The justices vacated three provisions that were meant to discourage appeals: a declaration that fund awards are “FINAL AND CANNOT BE APPEALED,” a clause saying any appeal would “void the award,” and a freeze on an appealing lawyer’s future fee payments for above-cap awards. “We vacate the three provisions and leave the rest of the Order intact,” the opinion says. The appeal was brought by claimant Michael Bates and attorneys Anthony Ranken, Alex Edrenkin and John Thickstun, and the court dismissed a related writ petition as moot.

The people affected are the 21,750 claimants, who now know the largest share of each award that lawyers can take, and the question each is left with is when the first payments arrive.

The first Maui distribution of a little over $1.1 billion is the number that moves next, and the $4.037 billion settlement is paid in four equal annual installments.

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When the money is expected

No official payment date has been announced as of October 7. Cynthia Wong, liaison counsel for the plaintiffs, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on October 1 that payments should begin “within the next two months,” and told Hawaii News Now on October 6 that she expects money awards “within the next month or so,” as reported by Settlement Insight, which cautions that earlier forecasts slipped. A little over $1.1 billion sits in a trust account for the first distribution, according to the Star-Advertiser.

The payors in the installment plan are Hawaiian Electric, the State of Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools, Spectrum Oceanic, Hawaiian Telcom and affiliates of West Maui Land Co. Total claims against the settlement run between $12 billion and $15 billion, per liaison counsel’s court statement, so awards are set well below what claimants say they lost.

What the caps mean in dollars

Settlement Insight estimates that the scheduled fees come to about $200 million, roughly 5 percent of the settlement, and notes that Hawaii law would have allowed up to 25 percent. The common benefit fund adds the $222 million on top. Those are the tracker’s estimates, not figures from the court, which set percentages and not a dollar total.

According to Settlement Insight, a board chaired by retired Associate Justice James Duffy divides the common benefit fund, those fees come out in years two through four, and anything the board does not award goes back to claimants in proportion to their net recovery.

Getting an award statement before the first payment

The ruling needs no new claim form, according to Settlement Insight. Claimants who have a lawyer keep their contact and bank details current with that lawyer. Claimants who filed directly can update them with BrownGreer, the claims administrator.

The fee tier depends on the date a lawyer was hired, so a claimant can ask the lawyer for a written statement showing the gross award, the fee percentage and any other deductions before signing anything. A client who hired a lawyer on or after August 19, 2024 is under the 3 percent scheduled cap, while an earlier client is under 8.33 percent, unless the lawyer won a hearing for more.

The tracker also warns about anyone charging a fee to release or speed up a payment, asking for bank logins or offering cash for part of an award. A call to the lawyer at a number already on file settles whether a message is real, and suspected fraud can be reported to the Hawaii Attorney General’s office or at ic3.gov.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.