A $1.02 Billion Settlement for the Families of the Surfside Condo Collapse

At roughly 1:20 a.m. on June 24, 2021, most of the 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, came down while its residents slept. A large section of the oceanfront tower collapsed in a matter of seconds. The search through the debris stretched on for weeks, and a remaining portion of the structure was later demolished. In all, 98 people were confirmed dead, one of the deadliest non-storm building failures in United States history.

The dead ranged from young children to retirees, and several families lost more than one member in the same unit. Survivors escaped with little more than what they were wearing. The owners of the building's 136 condos lost the property itself, since the site could no longer be rebuilt and was eventually sold. The claims that followed fell into two groups: families with wrongful death and personal injury claims, and unit owners with economic losses.

Judge Michael Hanzman of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County consolidated the cases and assembled a court-appointed team of lawyers to run the litigation. On July 16, 2021, he named Curtis Miner of Colson Hicks Eidson as liaison counsel for the subclass of plaintiffs pursuing wrongful death and personal injury claims. Miner and the other leadership attorneys agreed to serve on a pro bono basis, with no right to collect attorney's fees for that work.

The case moved at an unusual pace. Instead of spending years sorting out fault among the condo association, engineers, contractors, a neighboring developer, and dozens of insurers, the leadership team pressed every defendant and carrier at once and steered the recovery toward the victims. The team also pushed the sale of the land beneath the destroyed building. A Dubai-based developer bought the site for $120 million, and that money was folded into the recovery.

The parties reached a settlement of roughly $1.02 billion in May 2022. On June 23, 2022, one day before the first anniversary of the collapse, Judge Hanzman approved it. About $96 million was set aside for the unit owners and close to $100 million for legal fees, with the large remainder directed to the families of those who died. The judge called the result "remarkable" and "extraordinary," while adding that "it will never be enough to compensate them for the tragic loss."

The approved fund of roughly $1.02 billion was not reduced or remitted on appeal, and distributions to the families and unit owners followed.