$1.2 Billion Settlement for 98 Victims of the Champlain Towers South Collapse in Surfside, Florida

At 1:22 a.m. on June 24, 2021, the twelve-story Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida gave way without warning. A large section of the 136-unit building pancaked downward in seconds. Ninety-eight people died, most of them inside their apartments while asleep.

A 2018 engineering inspection had documented extensive concrete deterioration and 'major structural damage' to the pool deck and support columns below the building. A letter from the condo association's president, sent to residents in the months before the collapse, acknowledged the damage had 'gotten significantly worse' and that repairs would cost millions. Those repairs had not been completed when the building fell.

Robert Mongeluzzi, a senior attorney at Saltz Mongeluzzi and Bendesky, traveled to South Florida within days of the collapse to meet with families of victims and survivors. The firm, which has handled roughly 1,000 construction-accident cases over its history, joined a larger plaintiffs' team that included several Florida-based firms. Jeffrey Goodman also worked on the case for the firm. Together, the lawyers pursued claims against multiple defendants, including the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association, engineering consultant Morabito Consultants, and other parties who had roles in designing, inspecting, or maintaining the structure.

Because scores of families were simultaneously in mourning and in active litigation, the consolidated case moved with unusual speed for its scale. By May 2022, the parties had reached $997 million in agreed settlements across all major defendants. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman gave final approval on June 23, 2022 -- one day before the first anniversary of the collapse. With proceeds from the sale of the property and a final agreement added in, the total recovery climbed to $1.2 billion.

The $1.2 billion figure is the largest settlement ever recorded in a U.S. construction-disaster case. Individual payments to families and survivors were distributed through a court-supervised allocation process. The resolution came roughly twelve months after the collapse, allowing families to avoid years of additional litigation.