MGM willing to pay up to $800M to settle Las Vegas massacre lawsuits
The settlement would resolve lawsuits filed over the 2017 mass shooting at MGM's Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas.
MGM Resorts International agreed to pay up to $800 million to settle lawsuits filed for victims of the 2017 mass shooting at its Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, plaintiffs lawyers announced last Thursday.
The total settlement is valued at $735 million to $800 million depending on the number of participants, according to a release by Las Vegas law firm Eglet Adams, which represents 2,500 victims and their families.
The agreement “marks a milestone in the recovery process for the victims of the horrifying events,” Robert Eglet, name partner at Eglet Adams, and one of the lead plaintiffs attorneys, wrote in a statement. “While nothing will be able to bring back the lives lost or undo the horrors so many suffered on that day, this settlement will provide fair compensation for thousands of victims and their families.”
He said MGM Resorts’ offer “represents good corporate citizenship on their part. We believe that the terms of this settlement represent the best outcome for our clients and will provide the greatest good for those impacted by these events.”
On Oct. 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock was a guest on the 32nd floor of the MGM’s Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino hotel, where he stockpiled an arsenal of weapons used to fire at concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. He killed 58 people and injured hundreds.
Lawsuits filed over the shooting are mostly in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, but MGM filed nine lawsuits in federal courts against 1,977 victims who either sued or threatened to sue the company for failing to provide security that would have prevented the shooting. The suits sought declaratory relief that MGM was not liable for injuries or deaths.
The settlement would resolve those declaratory relief actions, according to Eglet Adams.
The value of the settlement is in line with MGM’s estimate filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year. At the time, MGM notified investors it had $751 million of insurance coverage available.
Two other lead plaintiffs attorneys, Mark Robinson of Robinson Calcagnie in Newport Beach, California, and Kevin Boyle of Los Angeles-based Panish Shea & Boyle, served as lead plaintiffs attorneys in the deal. The law firms involved in the settlement represent “substantially all plaintiffs in litigation,” according to Eglet Adams.
In court records, MGM estimated as many as 22,000 victims could sue over the shooting.
An MGM spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. In its SEC filing, MGM stated it was not “legally responsible for the perpetrator’s criminal acts” but was considering settlement “in the interest of avoiding protracted litigation.”
Brad Brian of Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles represented MGM.
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