Originally published by Goldberg Noone Abraham on March 8, 2022.
First reported by CNN
The families of victims and the survivors of a Surfside Florida condo collapse have agreed on a tentative settlement of more than $55 million with three defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit, according to court documents filed on Tuesday.
In the middle of the night on June 24th, 2021, the Champlain Towers Condominiums experienced a partial building collapse. This led to the deaths of 98 people, ranging in age from one to 92 years old.
Insurers representing the engineering firm responsible for inspecting and certifying the building’s structural integrity, Morabito Consultants, and the firm representing the condo association, Becker & Poliakoff P.A., have agreed to settle for $16 million and $31 million, respectively, according to a joint motion to stay all claims against the defendants. Another defendant, DeSimone Consulting Engineers, has agreed to settle for $8.55 million, according to the filing.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzmann has preliminarily approved the settlement.
The tentative settlement does not include any admission of wrongdoing from the companies.
An attorney representing some families of the victims, Stuart Grossman, told CNN Tuesday: “My clients, four separate families, are quite pleased with the amounts of these settlements and the fact that they came early as opposed to much later in costly litigation.”
The settlement still must receive final approval.