Lawyers awarded $70M+ fees in deadly Florida condo collapse

By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press

Lawyers who secured a $1.1 billion settlement in the deadly collapse last year of a beachfront Florida condominium building have been awarded more than $70 million in fees. The total awarded by a judge Monday was less than the roughly $100 million attorneys with the 17 law firms had requested. But there were never any guarantees they would be paid after the Champlain Towers South building fell, killing 98 people. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said surviving family members and people who only lost units and property got far more in compensation than is typical in such large class-action cases — and it was settled in only a year’s time.