Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is working with a consortium of Hawaiʻi lawyers, including Terry Revere & Associates, Kyle Smith, and Richard Wilson, in litigation on behalf of Maui residents and businesses who suffered losses in the recent Maui Fires.

Lieff Cabraser has deep experience representing fire victims, including against PG&E for the 2017 North Bay and 2018 Camp Fires, and against Southern California Edison for the Thomas Fire and mudslides in late 2017 and early 2018, and the Woolsey Fire in late 2018. Lieff Cabraser Partner, Lexi Hazam serves as Court-appointed Co-Lead Counsel for Individual Plaintiffs in the Thomas Fire (JCCP No. 4965) and Woolsey Fire (JCCP No. 5000) litigations on behalf of thousands of Plaintiffs whose homes, businesses, and lives were devastated by the fires and mudslides.

Those cases entered into settlement protocol shortly before a trial, and most of them have now resolved, with Edison paying well over $1 billion. Along with Lieff Cabraser Partner, Elizabeth Cabraser, Ms. Hazam also served as Co-Chair of the Class Action Committee and on the Individual Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the 2017 North Bay Fires (JCCP No. 4955) litigation against PG&E. Ms. Cabraser also currently serves as a member of the Court-appointed Trust Oversight Committee, which oversees the Fire Victim Trust fund established as part of a $13.5 billion bankruptcy settlement with PG&E.

A devastating fire ripped through Lāhainā on August 8, 2023, leaving the Hawaiian Kingdom’s former capital in ruins. The Lāhainā Fire is already the deadliest and most devastating fire in Hawaiʻi’s recorded history. The fire consumed thousands of acres and destroyed over 2,200 structures, most of them residential.

Investigations indicate that the Lāhainā Fire was ignited by equipment owned by Hawaiian Electric Company (“HECO”), with reports of contact between at least one power line and vegetation during high winds. In recent decades, many wildfires have been caused by out of date or poorly maintained and operated equipment owned by utility companies. HECO also lacked a power safety shut-off program and failed to de-energize its lines despite the Red Flag conditions.