Law firm fights judge’s ruling on attorney fees in Maui wildfire settlement

MAUI (HawaiiNewsNow) – A law firm is appealing a Maui judge’s ruling over how attorneys will be paid from the multibillion-dollar wildfire settlement.

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Marina Starleaf Riker, a Kula fire survivor, said the process has been frustrating.

“I wish that everyone involved would stop making promises they can’t keep,” Riker said.

Riker and her husband were forced to evacuate their Kula home and flee the fast-moving fire on Aug. 8, 2023.

Nearly three years later, she said the settlement process has been retraumatizing.

“Promise after promise after promise that survivors are going to see payments when we don’t actually know when we’re going to see them,” said Riker.

Judge’s ruling on attorney fees

Hawaii law allowed attorneys to receive up to 25% of the awards.

But last month, Maui Judge Peter Cahill set an 8% limit on attorney fees for cases filed before the settlement was announced and a 3% limit for clients who came in after the settlement was announced.

In the “unprecedented ruling,” Cahill also ordered that $222 million be set aside for attorneys who did the most work on the cases.

Law firm’s appeal

Law firms Ranken & Shnider, PacLaw Group, Montegna & Thickstun are appealing the ruling, arguing the process is unfair.

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The firm said attorneys should be paid based on their contracts their clients agreed to.

“If we prevail, the $222 million carve-out from settlement funds created by Judge Cahill that he intends to give to a small group of lawyers of his choosing and in amounts he chooses, and who our clients don’t know, never met, and never hired to represent them, will be eliminated,” Samuel P. Shnider of Ranken & Shnider wrote in an email to Hawaii News Now.

If Shnider wins his argument, attorneys would also go back to receiving the percentage listed in their contracts with their clients – up to 25% of the awards.

“… as they have in every case in Hawaiʻi’s history,” Shnider wrote in his email.

“Every attorney’s fee in Hawaiʻi must be reasonable under the Rules of Professional Conduct, any client can challenge any fee, and the disciplinary system polices lawyers who overreach,” he wrote.

Judge calls for apology

Attorneys who filed the appeal were not present at Wednesday’s hearing, where Cahill said survivors deserve an apology.

“It would be nice between now and next Saturday for someone to come forward and just say in a public proceeding … we made mistakes and we caused a tremendous amount of harm,” Cahill said. “I don’t understand why that’s so difficult. Just say it. I think it might relieve some people. I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

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The matter is now before the Hawaii State Supreme Court.