Maui Council panel OKs $240K in additional legal fees for wildfire litigation

The Maui County Council’s Government Relations, Ethics and Transparency Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize an additional $240,000 in legal fees for Los Angeles-based special counsel Meyers Nave, bringing the firm’s total authorized compensation to $740,000 for work tied to litigation arising from the August 2023 Lahaina wildfires.

Resolution 26-82 passed 8-0, with Council Chair Alice Lee excused. The item now moves to the full Council for consideration.

Corporation Counsel Victoria Takayesu told committee members the $240,000 represents an outstanding balance resulting from a coverage gap between when the county retained Meyers Nave and when it formally tendered its defense costs to excess insurance carrier Safety National.

Safety National had originally been billed $854,000 for the firm’s fees but agreed to pay $521,000. The county negotiated an additional $93,000 reduction, leaving the $240,000 remainder for the county to absorb.

Takayesu said the coverage dispute centered on Safety National’s internal litigation guidelines, which limit the number of attorneys who can participate in a single meeting call — a restriction the county inadvertently ran afoul of during the litigation.

“For example, one of their guidelines was you can’t have more than one attorney on a meeting call,” she told the committee. “We were having weekly meetings, and there was more than one attorney, just because we were dealing with a multitude of claims and plaintiffs and the AG investigation.”

Council Member Tom Cook observed that the restriction was “probably some really small print.” Takayesu agreed. “It was very small print,” she said.

Meyers Nave and Honolulu-based McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP handled the county’s defense, while attorney John Fisk of Baron & Budd served as special counsel on the plaintiff side — because the county was simultaneously suing Hawaiian Electric Co.

“We decided as part of our litigation strategy that we were going to pursue a lawsuit against HECO because we believe that we suffered damages and that they were primarily responsible,” Takayesu said.

Council Member Gabe Johnson asked whether the County would need to return for additional funds. Takayesu said this is the end of the county’s out-of-pocket legal costs. She confirmed that Safety National has taken over all current defense costs and has paid approximately $3 million to date, and that Meyers Nave’s contract has been terminated.

Committee Vice Chair Nohelani Uhu-Hodgins confirmed that the county’s combined share — $500,000 to Meyers Nave and $444,000 to McCorriston — would remain within the newly authorized $740,000 ceiling, with all further defense costs covered by Safety National.

Committee Chair Kauanoe Batangan noted that despite the resolution’s language referring to “current and anticipated legal actions,” all billings have been closed and the authorization covers only outstanding historical invoices.

Batangan closed the meeting by noting that Tuesday’s vote addressed all litigation funding requests made by Corporation Counsel. “We don’t have any outstanding litigation coming down the docket,” he said.