The Maui County Council’s Government Relations, Ethics & Transparency Committee signed off Tuesday on another $240,000 in wildfire legal fees, nudging the county’s tab for Los Angeles-based special counsel Meyers Nave up to $740,000. The unanimous vote sends the request to the full council and, county attorneys say, traces back to an insurance coverage gap that left portions of older invoices unpaid.
The move is laid out in Resolution 26-82, available through the Maui County legislative system, which lifts Meyers Nave’s compensation cap from $500,000 to $740,000 and directs certified copies of the resolution to the corporation counsel and the director of finance. The document shows the request was introduced April 20 at the mayor’s request and frames the funding as payment for closed, historical billings connected to wildfire defense work.
Corporation Counsel Victoria Takayesu told committee members the balance represents an outstanding amount that arose before the county formally tendered defense costs to excess insurer Safety National. Safety National had been billed roughly $854,000 for Meyers Nave’s fees but agreed to pay $521,000, and county negotiators secured another $93,000 reduction, leaving the county on the hook for about $240,000. “For example, one of their guidelines was you can’t have more than one attorney on a meeting call,” Takayesu said. She also confirmed Meyers Nave’s contract has since been terminated and that Safety National has paid roughly $3 million toward defense costs to date, the committee was told, as reported by Maui Now.
Coverage gaps, insurers and the larger settlement
The billing dispute is a small but consequential part of the broader legal fight over the multi-billion-dollar Maui wildfire settlement, where judges and special masters are now weighing how much of the fund should go to attorneys versus survivors. As reported by Civil Beat, judges may play a major role in allocating fees, and a Hawaii Supreme Court decision that limited insurers’ ability to intervene helped clear the way for payments, according to Hawaii News Now. Weeks of filings and hearings mean fee allocations remain unsettled even as some money begins to flow to victims.
What to watch next
Committee Chair Kauanoe Batangan emphasized the authorization covers only outstanding historical invoices and that current defense costs are now being handled by the insurer. The committee approved the measure 8-0, with Council Chair Alice Lee excused. The item now moves to the full Maui County Council for consideration, and if the council signs off the county will absorb the $240,000 shortfall rather than shifting the bill elsewhere. Residents and budget watchers will be watching for whether similar coverage gaps show up in other wildfire-related contracts as settlement payouts and insurer reimbursements continue to affect Maui’s recovery accounting, as reported by Maui Now.
