Attorneys who worked to secure settlements topping $1 billion in the collapse of a beachfront Florida condominium building in which 98 people died are requesting about $100 million in fees and costs, according to a new court filing.
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Attorneys who worked to secure settlements topping $1 billion in the collapse of a beachfront Florida condominium building in which 98 people died are requesting about $100 million in fees and costs. |
“The court will determine what an
appropriate fee is, likely after holding a hearing and after
the individual victims receive their individual awards,”
attorneys Harley Tropin and Rachel Furst said in an email.
They co-chaired the plaintiff committee in the case, which
ultimately involved 30 settling parties.
And the legal work is not yet done. Each person who files a
claim for a share of the settlements is entitled to an
individual hearing on their amount, if they choose, which
could last into August. It's not immediately clear if
additional fees would be charged out of the settlements for
lawyers in those hearings.
The goal is to begin distributing money to victims by
September.
The money comes from several sources, including insurance
companies, engineering firms and a luxury condominium that
had recently been built next door. None of the parties
admitted wrongdoing. A billionaire developer from Dubai is
purchasing the 1.8-acre (1-hectare) beachside site for $120
million, contributing to the settlement.
Only three survivors were found despite around-the-clock
efforts by rescuers who dug through a 40-foot-high
(12-meter-high) pile of rubble for two weeks. Another three
dozen people were able to escape from the portion of the
building that remained standing. All 136 units were
ultimately demolished.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is
investigating the cause of the collapse, a process expected
to take years. Champlain South had a long history of
maintenance problems and questions have been raised about
the quality of its original construction and inspections in
the early 1980s.
Florida will require statewide recertification of
condominiums more than three stories tall under new
legislation Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law
last month in response to the disaster.