The parties in lawsuits seeking damages for last year’s Maui wildfires have reached a $4 billion global settlement, a court filing said Friday, nearly one year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.
The term sheet with details of the settlement is not publicly available, but the liaison attorneys filed a motion Friday saying the global settlement seeks to resolve all Maui fire claims for $4.037 billion. The motion asks the judge to order that insurers can’t separately go after the defendants to recoup money paid to policyholders.
Our team of professional litigators are ready to fight for you. We will understand your individual case and work to ensure your claim is filed for your maximum claim amount based on your case specifics.
The Keosian Team has years of experience working with Insurance Companies to understand how to file your claim.
Ensure your claim is filed accurately and timely to get your claim paid and you back on your feet.
It is the Insurance Companies job to find a way not to pay it is ours to make sure they can’t.
Bezdik Kassab, a Hawaii law-firm, is here to fight for you to help you recover from the damage of the Maui Wildfires.
“Our practice is ready to help the community through this tragedy.”
Raffi Kassabian is a Hawaii licensed attorney and principal of the Bezdik Kassab Law Group, with an office and presence in Honolulu, as well as Of Counsel to Keosian Law LLP, a California licensed law firm that helps individuals maximize their insurance recovery claims for property loss, including business interruption loss. As Of Counsel to Keosian Law LLP, Mr. Kassabian has a continuing, close and regular relationship with the firm, although he is neither partner nor shareholder of the firm.
What separates Bezdik Kassab from other firms is its organic growth within the Hawaii community. Prior to launching Bezdik Kassab, for many years, Raffi Kassabian worked with several of Honolulu’s largest premier law firms in his capacity as national counsel for major financial institutions. Since then, Mr. Kassabian has been licensed in Hawaii state and federal courts and has, over the years, serviced individuals and the business community in the State of Hawaii, including Hawaii coffee retailers and distributors and businesses in the construction and copy/print industries, as well as real estate. Mr. Kassabian’s love for the islands and the people of Hawaii has always been the impetus for growing his legal practice in the Aloha State.
Mico Melkonian is a California licensed attorney and the managing attorney and a partner at Keosian Law LLP, as well as Of Counsel to Bezdik Kassab Law Group. He has been involved with Keosian Law LLP since its inception in 2014, and was the administrative director of the Firm and one of its founders Keosian Law Group before becoming an attorney. Mr. Melkonian helped establish Keosian Law Group in 2009 with Mr. Harout Keosian, the firm’s principle attorney.
Prior to working in the legal industry, Mr. Melkonian was involved in the public sector, including working for the City of Los Angeles, managing City projects and handling constituent relations in the Second Council District; and working for the State of California, Department of Justice, as a contract analyst. In the private sector, Mr. Melkonian, worked as a land use consultant and handled residential and commercial property management and development
At Keosian Law LLP, Mr. Melkonian specializes in personal injury, real property matters, property damage, land use and tenancy matters. He aggressively protects his clients’ rights, and gives each matter and client the personal attention they deserve. As the managing attorney, Mr. Melkonian is also responsible for the day to day operations of the firm and administrative matters.
These links are designed to help the victims of the Maui Wild Fire
The Emerging Legal Case Against Hawaiian Electric Company
“The risk of a utility system causing a wildfire ignition is significant.” — Statement by HECO in a 2022 Regulatory Filing
On August 6, days before the fire started, the National Weather Service warned that “Combined w/ dry conditions, these winds pose a serious fire & damaging wind threat. Stay alert!”
On August 7, the National Weather Service again warned that damaging winds could blow down power lines and that any fires that developed could spread rapidly.
HECO has long known that its electric distribution infrastructure was aging and vulnerable to the risks of heavy winds, but failed to take the necessary steps to improve the safety of the system.
HECO has acknowledged that a power safety shut-off plan could be effective in preventing a wildfire when additional robust techniques are not yet in place, but failed to adopt this procedure as part of its fire mitigation plans.
In the days leading up to the fire, dozens of wooden utility poles were damaged – and even snapped in two.
Despite the the warnings from the National Weather Service, despite dozens of downed power lines, Hawaiian Electric kept its electric lines on Western Maui fully energized.
According to a February 12, 2023 article in the Washington Post, Michael Wara — a wildfire expert and the director of the Stanford University Climate and Energy Policy Program — and other experts point out that before the Maui wildfires, there were no lightning strikes, a frequent cause of random fires in other parts of the United States. Instead, the pattern of Hawaii’s fires suggests that a spate of small ignitions combined to form a bigger blaze, Wara said, and “the only real source of that is powerlines.”
Property damage means direct, distinct and demonstrable, physical injury to or destruction of tangible property. Most homeowner insurance policies provide coverage for sudden and accidental incidents that cause damage to property. For best results, contact the experienced property damage attorneys at (877) 554-2226 before initiating a first-party insurance claim.
Every insurance policy is different and it will be best to have one of our experienced property damage attorneys review your policy and explain the coverages you have. In general, most standard policies cover the following perils:
Every insurance policy is different and it will be best to have one of our experienced property damage attorneys review your policy and explain the coverages you have. Generally, there are four (4) main applicable coverages you may seek coverage under when a first-party claim for property damage is initiated. Those coverages are:
Before you speak to anyone, call the experienced property damage attorneys at Keosian Law LLP at (877) 554-2226. One of our attorneys will explain the entire claim process to you and help determine whether your insurance company should extend coverage for the incident. Keep in mind – What gets said and done in the first few days of your claim seriously impacts the outcome. Don’t jeopardize a successful outcome by trying to handle this process on your own.
What gets said and done in the first few days of your claim can seriously impact the outcome. Don’t jeopardize a successful outcome by trying to handle this process on your own. Almost daily, we meet people who’ve tried to settle a claim without our help. These people have usually become miserable, realizing they missed options in maximizing their recovery. Remember, insurance companies are in business to be profitable and limit claim payments by pointing to policy exclusions in order to deny your claim or limit their exposure.
