Engineer, law firm agree to settlements in Surfside collapse lawsuit. Terms undisclosed.

Two of the major defendants in the lawsuit over the Surfside condominium collapse — an engineering company hired to repair structural problems and a law firm that represented the condo association — have agreed to tentative settlements in the tragedy that left 98 people dead.

Lawyers for the survivors and families of victims in the lawsuit announced the breakthrough at a Wednesday status hearing in the case. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman, who is overseeing the complicated suit against multiple defendants and deciding how to allot compensation for the surviving condo owners and relatives of those who died, applauded the deal though the terms were undisclosed.

“This is great news,” Hanzman said. “Looks like the lawyers did an excellent job. We’ve settled two.”

Morabito Consulting, the Maryland-based engineering company that performed a 2018 structural analysis of Champlain Towers South and was supervising its restoration plan, and Becker, the law firm that represented the condo association, have agreed to pay an undisclosed sum and avoid a trial on accusations of negligence in the June 24 disaster.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article258695718.html