FAQs

Maui Fires means the Maui windstorm and fires of August 2023, including the fires in Lahaina, Kula, and Olinda. Afterwards, hundreds of fire victims filed lawsuits seeking relief for both tangible and intangible losses arising out of the Maui Fires.

Case Management Order No. 7 (Procedures for Initial Plaintiff Discovery), entered in the Maui Fire Cases litigation, required plaintiff registration, established certain discovery procedures, and appointed BrownGreer PLC to collect and manage Individual Plaintiff data in the Maui Wildfire Cases. The Portal is the official platform established for these processes.

After the parties reached a settlement, BrownGreer was appointed Claims Processor and will use this same secure online portal for the submission of electronic Claims Questionnaires, supporting documents, and other information. The Portal will store all claims data, including claimant demographic information, supporting documents, claim evaluation calculations, claim review outcomes, and notifications.

The Honorable Peter T. Cahill appointed the following to administer the Individual Settlement Agreement and Individual Settlement Plan:

• Keith W. Hunter | As founder, President and CEO of the Hawaiʻi-based Dispute Prevention & Resolution, Inc., Keith Hunter brings extensive knowledge of Hawaiʻi law and community, which will allow the Maui Fires Individual Settlement to implement a settlement program consistent with the expectations and values of the Maui community. His career in dispute resolution spans over 41 years, and he has successfully served as mediator in approximately 6,000 disputes, claims, and lawsuits. Read more.
  
  
• Hon. Daniel J. Buckley (Ret.) | Judge Buckley brings over 40 years of experience as a litigator in private practice and a judge, including as the Presiding Judge of Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. For over three years, he handled mass tort cases, including the Thomas Fire case and several other wildfire cases. Since leaving the bench, Judge Buckley has served as mediator or claims administrator in multiple mass tort cases, including clergy abuse cases, and he has served as special master in several Northern California fire cases, including Dixie, Kincade, and Zogg. Read more.
  
  
• Hon. Louis M. Meisinger (Ret.) | Judge Meisinger has served as a mediator and/or claims administrator in multiple class action and mass tort cases overseeing the settlement and disbursement of claims totaling billions of dollars to victims of catastrophic events ranging from wildfires, mass shootings, gas leaks and explosions, and childhood sexual abuse to contamination and injuries arising from the jettisoning of jet fuel, gold mining activities, sandblasting, and defective products. Read more.
  
  
• Cathy Yanni, Esq. | As a court-appointed special master and/or mediator in cases involving wildfires, multidistrict litigation, mass torts, and class actions, Cathy Yanni has settled tens of thousands of cases, facilitated distribution of billions of dollars to claimants, and designed dozens of claims processes. As Trustee of the PG&E Fire Victim Trust, Yanni oversaw the resolution of over 254,000 claims submitted by nearly 72,000 claimants damaged by the 2015 Butte, 2017 North Bay, and 2018 Camp Fires and paid over $13.66 billion to fire survivors. Read more.

Under Case Management Order No. 7, BrownGreer PLC was appointed in July 2024 to collect and manage Individual Plaintiff data in the Maui Wildfire Cases. After the parties reached a settlement, BrownGreer was appointed Claims Processor and is responsible for executing the claims review process from initial submission through final resolution.

On July 25, 2024, the Court entered Case Management Order No. 7 (Procedures for Initial Plaintiff Discovery) (“CMO 7”), requiring each plaintiff, or their attorney, if represented, to register their filed case within 30 days of the entry of CMO 7 (i.e., no later than August 26, 2024) or within 30 days of the filing of a Notice of Adoption, whichever is later. Plaintiffs with unfiled cases, or their attorneys, if represented, also may register.

The Plaintiff Fact Sheet and Damages Questionnaire processes contemplated under CMO 7 were paused in light of the Court’s August 2, 2024, litigation stay. However, registration remains open, and plaintiffs and law firms are encouraged to register all filed and unfiled cases.

Attorneys are encouraged to register plaintiffs with unfiled cases in the Portal. When doing this, the attorney must affirm under Hawaiʻi Rule of Civil Procedure 11 that they represent the plaintiff in question and that the information being submitted is true and correct to the best of the attorney’s knowledge.

Unrepresented plaintiffs also can register in the Portal.

The Plaintiff Fact Sheet and Damages Questionnaire processes contemplated under CMO 7 have been paused considering the August 2, 2024, discovery stay. However, registration remains open, and plaintiffs, or their attorneys, if represented, are encouraged to register all cases, both filed and unfiled.

You can find certain court documents in the Court Information section on the public website.  The full docket is available on the Hawai'i State Judiciary website.

If you need assistance, contact us at info@mauiwildfirecases.com or (888) 730-5022.

Click the Log In button in the top header of the Maui Wildfire Cases public website. Enter your login ID and password and click the Log In button. 

The first time you use the Portal, you will be required to review and agree to the Portal User Agreement. You will also need to update your temporary password. Follow the on-screen instructions or contact info@mauiwildfirecases.com if you need any assistance.

If you are a Pro Se Claimant (a Claimant that does not have an attorney) in the Settlement Program, you will need to contact the Claims Processor to request the creation of a Pro Se Portal for you to submit documents and communicate with the Settlement Program. You can contact the Claims Processor by calling 1-888-730-5022 or by emailing info@mauiwildfirecases.com. You will need to provide the Claims Processor with an active, unique email address to create the Pro Se Portal.

Attorneys whose law firm has not yet been granted access may request Portal access by clicking Request Access on the public website and providing the required information. The Claims Processor will contact you after creating a new Firm Portal for your law firm. If your firm already has Portal access, your firm’s Portal Administrator can grant you access by adding you as a new user through the Firm Administration – Manage Firm Users section of the Portal.

Each firm will have its own Portal. Both you and co-counsel will need to request access to the Portal. After you have both established access, email info@mauiwildfirecases.com identifying the plaintiffs that you represent with co-counsel. We will link these plaintiffs to both co-counsel Portals, and both firms will be able to see and edit all plaintiff documents, registration data, and other information related to these shared plaintiffs.

Your firms will only be able to view the shared plaintiffs that you specifically asked the Claims Processor to link to each of your Portals. Your co-counsel will not have access to any plaintiffs in your inventory that you do not represent together and have not specifically asked us to link to both firms.

Any authorized user that you add to your law firm’s Portal will have access to your entire plaintiff inventory. This means that if you have granted co-counsel access to your Portal as an authorized user, that firm will be able to see all documents, registration details, and other information related to your entire plaintiff inventory, including plaintiffs who you do not represent together.

If you would like for co-counsel to have access only to certain plaintiffs in your inventory that you represent together, we will establish separate Portals for your firms and then will link your shared clients to each Portal. To do this, email info@mauiwildfirecases.com identifying the plaintiffs that you represent with co-counsel and would like to link to multiple Portals.

Plaintiffs, or their representatives, must provide the following demographic information:

a. Name

b. Taxpayer Identification Number (“Tax ID Number”) or Foreign ID

c. Date of Birth (if the plaintiff is an individual)

d. Individual Plaintiff Type (e.g., Deceased, Incapacitated, or Minor, if relevant)

e. Date of Death (if an individual plaintiff is deceased)

f. Authorized Representative(s) (if the plaintiff is a deceased, minor, or incapacitated individual or a business, trust, or estate)

This data is critical for confirming a claimant exists and enabling the program to accurately identify and collaborate with firms to resolve duplicate plaintiff registrations – both within a firm’s client inventory and representation overlaps where a plaintiff has been registered by multiple law firms. We also use this information to confirm release submissions, and it is central to downstream claims administration, reporting, and payment processes, including coordination with the One ʻOhana Fund and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and with anonymization of minors’ data.

A Tax ID Number is a government-issued identification number. For individuals, this is a Social Security Number (“SSN”) or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (“ITIN”). Businesses, trusts, and estates must submit an Employer Identification Number (“EIN”).

Individuals who do not have an SSN or ITIN may provide a Foreign ID Number, which is a unique identifier assigned by their country of origin, such as a national insurance number or a passport number. Individuals submitting a Foreign ID must provide records corroborating the Foreign ID Number and confirming the issuing country.

In your Portal, open the Plaintiff Details screen for the plaintiff whose information you need to update and click the Edit Plaintiff button to add or update relevant information.

You can change plaintiff demographic information any time before we begin to verify it. After we begin the verification process, you must contact the Claims Processor to request any corrections to a plaintiff’s demographic information.

Register minors using their full name and information. The Portal is a secure, closed system, in which it is safe to provide those details. When registering minors, identify the Individual Plaintiff Type as Minor and provide the minor plaintiff’s taxpayer ID number and date of birth. You also must identify an Authorized Representative for each minor before completing the release process.

If the deceased plaintiff has a probated estate, register the estate using its legal name as an estate plaintiff, i.e., Estate of John Doe. If there is no probated estate, register the decedent in their individual name.

When registering an estate, provide the estate’s taxpayer ID number. When registering a decedent, provide the decedent’s taxpayer ID number, date of birth, and date of death. You also must identify an Authorized Representative for each estate or deceased plaintiff before completing the release process.

You must identify an Authorized Representative for each plaintiff who is a deceased, minor, or incapacitated individual or that is a business, trust, or estate. You can identify Authorized Representatives during registration or later in the Plaintiff Details screen in your Portal.

In the Plaintiff Details screen, click the Edit Plaintiff button and add or update the Authorized Representative information. You will need to submit supporting documentation for any identified Authorized Representative(s). You can submit this documentation during registration. It will be required to complete the release process.

No. You do not need a lawyer to register in the Maui Wildfire Cases Portal. If you are represented by a lawyer and have questions about your registration, please direct any questions to your law firm.

No. A plaintiff can be represented only by an actively licensed lawyer in good standing. Claims preparation firms, legal advocates, advisors, claims adjusters, or other persons or entities may not represent plaintiffs in the Maui Fire Cases.

Overlapping Plaintiff means a single plaintiff who has been registered in the Portal by multiple law firms. The MWF 2004 Potential Overlapping Representation Report, available in the Reporting tab of each law firm’s Portal, identifies that firm’s potential Overlapping Plaintiffs by pinpointing (1) plaintiffs with the same reported Tax ID Number and (2) individual plaintiffs with the same first name, last name, and date of birth.

Each law firm is responsible for regularly reviewing this report, conferring with any other identified law firms, and jointly notifying the Claims Processor of any resolution of the overlapping representation. Ultimately, the representative decision rests with the client; however, the lawyers are responsible for communicating the decision to the Claims Processor.

After the law firms that registered an Overlapping Plaintiff agree on which law firm will continue representing the plaintiff, they must jointly inform the Claims Processor which Plaintiff ID should remain active for the plaintiff and which law firm will represent the plaintiff. Firms must email a completed Duplicate Plaintiff & Overlapping Plaintiff Resolution Template to info@mauiwildfirecases.com.

Duplicate Plaintiff means a single plaintiff that a law firm has registered more than once in their own Portal. The MWF 2003 Potential Duplicates Report, available in the Reporting tab of each law firm’s Portal, identifies that firm’s potential Duplicate Plaintiffs by pinpointing (1) plaintiffs with the same reported Tax ID Number and (2) individual plaintiffs with the same first name, last name, and date of birth.

Each law firm is responsible for regularly reviewing this report and notifying the Claims Processor of their desired resolution for the duplicate registration.

To resolve Duplicate Plaintiff registrations, a law firm must confirm or update the plaintiff demographic information they submitted during registration then verify that: (1) the potential Duplicate Plaintiffs are two different people or entities with the same or similar demographic information or (2) the potential Duplicate Plaintiffs are the same person or entity and the Plaintiff IDs should be merged. Firms must email a completed Duplicate Plaintiff & Overlapping Plaintiff Resolution Template to info@mauiwildfirecases.com.

To participate in the Settlement Program, each Individual Plaintiff, or their Authorized Representative, must timely and validly sign and submit a completed Release by the Return Date. The Court has not set the Return Date yet, but the Claims Processor began accepting signed Releases on May 30, 2025.

The Release must be signed by or on behalf of the Individual Plaintiff. If the Individual Plaintiff is an individual who has legal capacity, the Individual Plaintiff must sign the Release. The Settlement Program will not accept Releases signed by a power of attorney or other agent acting for an individual with legal capacity. In all other instances, the Authorized Representative must sign on behalf of the Individual Plaintiff and must submit appropriate proof of representative capacity.

Each Individual Plaintiff, or their Authorized Representative, must timely and validly sign and submit a completed Release by the Return Date. The Court has not set the Return Date yet, but the Claims Processor began accepting signed Releases on May 30, 2025.

A Minor Claimant means a Claimant who is under the age of 18 years and has not been emancipated.

An Authorized Representative or Next Friend must sign the Release on behalf of a Minor Claimant. If a Conservator has been appointed for the Minor Claimant, that person will be their Authorized Representative and must submit a copy of a court order or letters of conservatorship identifying the Authorized Representative as Conservator for the Minor Claimant.

If no Conservator has been appointed, the Court will appoint a parent or legal guardian as Next Friend authorizing them to sign a Release on behalf of a Minor Claimant. 

No. The Court will appoint parents and legal guardians as Next Friend for the sole purpose of signing a Release on behalf of a Minor Claimant. If the Settlement Program determines the Minor Claimant’s Claims are compensable, a Conservator will be required to act as Authorized Representative for purposes of approving the determination and method of payment (e.g., funding a structured settlement or other appropriate mechanism protecting the Minor Claimant’s interests). The Conservator can be the same as the Next Friend but must still provide a copy of the court order or letters of conservatorship identifying the Next Friend as Conservator for the Minor Claimant.

An Incapacitated Claimant is a Claimant who a court has determined (a) is, for reasons other than being a minor, unable to receive and evaluate information or make or communicate decisions to such an extent that the individual lacks the ability to meet essential requirements for physical health, safety, or self-care, even with appropriate and reasonably available technological assistance; or (b) has property that will be wasted or dissipated unless management is provided or money is needed for the support, care, education, health, and welfare of the individual or of individuals who are entitled to the individual's support and that protection is necessary or desirable to obtain or provide money.

An Authorized Representative must sign the Release on behalf of an Incapacitated Claimant. To establish Authorized Representative authority, the Conservator must submit a copy of the order appointing them as such and proof of acceptance of the appointment.

A Deceased Claimant is a Claimant who is deceased by any cause. An Estate Claimant is a Claimant that is the probate estate of a Deceased Claimant.

An Authorized Representative, generally the personal representative (e.g., executor, administrator, or special administrator), must sign the Release on behalf of a Deceased/Estate Claimant. To establish Authorized Representative authority, the personal representative must submit a court order, letters testamentary, letters of administration, or other document issued by a court or other appropriate official and appointing the Authorized Representative as personal representative to act on behalf of the decedent’s estate.

A Trust Claimant is a Claimant that is a legal trust of any kind that holds ownership interest in a Claim.

An Authorized Representative must sign the Release on behalf of a Trust Claimant. To establish Authorized Representative authority, the trustee must submit a signed trust document or certification of trust reflecting that they are trustee and that the Claims are property of the trust

A Business Claimant is a Claimant that is a corporation, company, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, association, or other entity that holds ownership interest in a Claim. This does not include Estate Claimants or Trust Claimants.

An Authorized Representative must sign the Release on behalf of a Business Claimant. To establish Authorized Representative authority, the business owner or other duly authorized agent must submit documents supporting their authority to settle and release claims on behalf of the Business Claimant. These documents may vary depending on the Authorized Representative’s relationship to the business and may include the following:

(a) Articles of Incorporation;

(b) Articles of Organization;

(c) Certificate of Organization;

(d) Bylaws;

(e) Operating Agreements;

(f) Corporate Resolutions;

(g) Partnership Agreements;

(h) An EIN Assignment Letter issued by the IRS and addressed to a “responsible party,” as defined by the IRS; or

(i) Other documents establishing legal ownership.

Releases are available to sign and submit on the Portal. Claimants must sign their Releases through the Portal, which will include a detailed walkthrough explaining how to sign and submit their Releases.

In cases where multiple Authorized Representatives have equal authority to sign the Release on behalf of a Claimant, any one of those Representatives may sign the Release.

No. To participate in the Settlement Program, each Individual Plaintiff, or their Authorized Representative, must timely and validly sign and submit a completed Release by the Return Date. The Court has not set the Return Date yet, but the Claims Processor began accepting signed Releases on May 30, 2025.