Inside a room at the Miami-Dade Children's Courthouse on Wednesday, the judge handling the Surfside collapse litigation said he was at a loss for words when he heard the details of a proposed settlement for the wrongful death claimants. He called it 鈥渂eyond extraordinary."
Attorneys representing the victims announced that after working with a mediator, they reached a tentative deal of $997 million for people whose family members died in the collapse of the Champlain Towers South building on June 24, 2021. That sum is expected is to get up to $1.1 billion with some additional funds.
鈥淚鈥檝e never been more proud to be a lawyer or a judge than I am today,鈥� Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzan said. 鈥淚t is by far to me the finest moment of my judicial career.鈥�
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Hanzman still needs to officially approve it 鈥� a process he expects will happen in June 鈥� and he expects families to receive their share of the money by October. How much each family would receive has not been determined yet.
鈥淭here is no amount of money in the world that can possibly compensate for some of the loss that we've heard about in this case over the last ten months," Hanzman said. "But the bar rose to the occasion and we have taken a tragic black swan event, which I hope we will never see again, and we have done the best we can in a judicial form to try to resolve it for these victims."
The court-appointed receiver, Michael Goldberg, who said this case brought him to tears on several occasions, turned the praise onto Hanzman.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e shown wisdom from the bench. Seemed like you had a vision for this case, and hopefully the lawyers ... delivered on that vision," Goldberg said. "Quite honestly you set the gold standard for how these cases should be administered 鈥� to take the victims first and put the victims' rights first."
Hanzman appointed Rachel Furst, a partner at Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, as co-chair lead counsel. Outside the courthouse after the hearing, she told 港澳天下彩she worked hard because the judge expected it and because of her clients.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been an honor to work on this case on behalf of the victims of this tragedy,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been nearly a year of very hard work to get to this point.鈥�
Judd Rosen of Goldberg & Rosen was also part of the lead counsel for the victims. He said that the hardest part was not putting in the long hours for months 鈥� because pressure is something he鈥檚 used to in his work. What鈥檚 not easy is listening to harrowing stories of death.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e dealing with these types of situations where a mom loses a child, a boy loses a mom, you can鈥檛 differentiate that type of loss. It鈥檚 all horrible,鈥� Rosen said.
Reached by phone in New York City, Lisa Shrem said the proposed settlement was a big relief to the family of Estelle Hedaya, the 98th victim to be identified. Hedaya was Shrem's best friend.
鈥淲e always felt like we were left as last,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n the beginning it was like, 鈥極K, they died. We can鈥檛 worry about them, we have to worry about the living,' " Shrem said. "So I guess in that respect it鈥檚 nice to know that finally they鈥檙e remembering those who died.鈥�
Money will come from insurance companies and defendants, including the developer of Eighty Seven Park, a condo building that was built right next door.
On May 24, the beachfront property will be sold in an auction. The initial bid has been set for $120 million. Whether it sells for that price or more, some money from that sale will go to the homeowners who survived and another amount will go to the wrongful death claimants.
On Thursday, the town of Surfside presented a long black banner that has been hung along the block of Collins Avenue where the Champlain Towers South once stood. In gold letters, it read: 鈥�98 souls lost their lives on June 24, 2021.鈥� The names of the victims are listed beneath.
Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger told reporters he felt determined to get this temporary banner up after walking past it on a video call with his teenage daughter in Israel. She saw the site behind him and got emotional.
鈥淲hile I was speaking with her, I realized that I didn鈥檛 even notice the site,鈥� Danzinger said. 鈥淚 had spent three weeks over here on ground zero but I didn鈥檛 even recognize what it had become.鈥�
He decided if he鈥檇 win the mayoral election, he鈥檇 get this banner up to make sure everyone remembers.
Now, some of the victims' family members and local officials are pushing state lawmakers to pass a bill that would require routine inspections and the allocation of funds in reserves for upkeep of aging buildings.
The state legislature finished its regular session in March without agreement between the House and Senate on such a bill to avoid another disaster. Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he will not demand that they come up with a bill, saying instead he would support one and that it鈥檚 on them to come up with the measure.
Pablo Langesfeld鈥檚 daughter, Nicole, died in the collapse along with her husband, Luis Sadovnic. He said the onus is on the legislature to make it happen.
鈥淣ew regulations and strict inspections must be put in place,鈥� he said. 鈥淣o one needs to go through this unbearable, emotional, physical and psychological pain.鈥�
The town of Surfside will host an event to mark one year since the collapse next month.
