Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the US District Court for the Northern District of California signed off on a $47.75 million settlement for Hawaiian Electric Industries investors on October 23, but she did not let the lawyers off the hook. The ruling in Bhangal v. Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. approved the payout while slashing the legal teams' requested fees by nearly $4.8 million. It’s a rare public rebuke of billing practices in a class action.
The dispute stemmed from allegations that Hawaiian Electric misled shareholders about wildfire risks leading up to the August 2023 disaster in Lahaina, Maui. The lawsuit covered securities traded between February 28, 2019, and September 4, 2023. Hawaiian Electric denied wrongdoing, noting the settlement does not admit liability. The parties struck the deal while a second motion to dismiss was pending, avoiding years of further litigation.
The fee cut was the story’s sharpest edge. Class counsel wanted 30% of the pot—$14.325 million. Judge Corley awarded only 20%, or $9.55 million. She cited a lack of justification for exceeding the Ninth Circuit’s 25% benchmark and flagged potential duplication between firms. The court estimated reasonable, non-duplicative work was worth closer to $2.5 million, not the $4.6 million claimed.
Distributions will go to 24,306 eligible claimants out of 67,472 submissions, representing about 75% of the damaged shares estimated by plaintiffs' experts. Verita, the settlement administrator, rejected 43,166 claims, mostly due to missing documentation or ineligible trading dates. Only 20 investors opted out, and one objection was overruled.
The court ordered parties to submit a proposed judgment by November 6, 2026. No specific payment date has been announced yet, but funds will be distributed proportionally based on each claimant’s recognized loss. The deadline for new claims passed on June 25, 2026, closing the window for latecomers.