Court ruling clears way for payouts in $4B Maui wildfire settlement

News admin October 6, 2026 0 Comments

Court ruling clears way for payouts in $4B Maui wildfire settlement

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Maui fire survivor Kathy Sicard now lives on Hawaii Island, taking it one day at a time.

“I would love to move back, but I don’t know of a place available. That’s number one. Number two, I have my personal needs. My car is needing major repair. I have other health issues that I need to address, all of which require financial help,” Sicard said. “It’s a struggle. Every day is a struggle.”

Sicard, and nearly 22,000 claimants, are still waiting for their share of the $4 billion settlement, which has been delayed by a fight over attorneys fees.

Some lawyers, like Samuel P. Shnider of Ranken & Shnider, challenged Judge Peter Cahill’s decision to cap most legal fees between 3% and 10%, instead of the 25% typical under state law saying the ruling was unfair.

“If a court can retroactively overturn the fee terms of a settlement agreement and void all the fee agreements between attorneys and their clients three years into the process, one year after the same court approved the fee terms, and after all the attorneys have done most of the work and taken all of the risk, then lawyers are going to have to change the way they do business in order to stay in business,” Shnider said.

The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that Maui Circuit Court Judge Cahill did have the authority.

It’s also a victory for longtime Maui attorney Cynthia Wong.

“I am not here as liaison council. I am here as a Maui resident, as a Maui attorney, and as somebody who has been fighting for the rights of the victims of the Maui fires for the last three years,” Wong said at the state Supreme Court hearing last month.

After numerous delays, Wong says paychecks are coming to fire survivors soon.

“I understand that it’s been a very slow process and we apologize. We’ve been trying our best to get money to people as quickly as possible,” Wong said. “I do anticipate that they will issue money awards within the next month or so.”

Sicard and other survivors are begging the claims administrators to get payments out before the holidays.