Four years ago, the Hard Rock Hotel collapsed. This week, the settlement talks begin.

Coming nearly four years after the Canal Street building's collapse, the two-day mediation talks are set to take place behind closed doors on Wednesday and Thursday as part of a process aimed at settling the scores of lawsuits filed in response to the disaster.

According to attorneys involved in the process, this week's meetings represent the first face-to-face settlement talks between the two sides since the 18-story structure crumbled in October 2019, killing Anthony Magrette, Quinnyon Wimberly and Jose Ponce Arreola.

In the years since the collapse, roughly 135 lawsuits have been filed by or on behalf of 400 or so family members of deceased victims, injured construction workers, bystanders and nearby business owners. The collapse damaged property and shut down a major intersection in downtown New Orleans for more than a year.

Named in the suits are the project's developers, 1031 Canal Development, LLC and Kailas Companies, LLC, both of which are owned and run by Mohan Kailas and his son, Praveen Kailas. General contractor Citadel Builders, Harry Baker Smith Architects and Heaslip Engineering also are named in the suits.

This week's mediation was ordered in April by Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Kern Reese, who is presiding over the case. Reese has said he wants the parties to reach a "global settlement" so that individual cases do not need to be tried separately, a long and costly process.

Last fall, he appointed Baton Rouge attorney John Perry, Jr. to serve as a mediator in settlement talks and devise a plan to pay off what could be tens of millions of dollars in claims.

Perry declined to comment on this week's mediation, which will be closed to all but an appointed committee of 13 attorneys representing the plaintiffs and another dozen or so attorneys representing the various defendants.

But attorneys involved in the case say it is an important step that signals both sides are working towards a resolution.

"While all the lawyers have been talking quite a bit, this is the first time there is total focus on attempting to resolve it," said Walter Leger, Jr., who co-chairs the group representing the plaintiffs. "We obviously hope for a successful resolution as a result of these meetings. If we don't get one, we will proceed to organizing the cases for trial."

'A maze'

No immediate resolution is expected from the first round of mediation, a process that is expected to be long and complicated. That's in part because so many suits have been filed, each claiming harm or injury in different ways and to varying degrees.

Part of Perry's job will be to devise a formula determining how much each claimant should be paid based on the extent to which they were harmed by the disaster.

Before that can happen, Perry and the committee have to decide how many claims can go forward or be considered eligible for any future settlement. Court records show some cases have already been tossed out because their attorneys did not respond to requests for information.

Further complicating matters is the fact that some defendants in the case have also filed suits against each other. Citadel Builders, for instance, is suing 1031 Canal. 1031 Canal is suing the city of New Orleans.

"It is a maze," said attorney Michael Arrata, who represents the Sonder Hotel at 201 N. Rampart St., which was under construction at the time of the Hard Rock collapse and alleges it was harmed by months of related delays. "The owners consider themselves aggrieved in all this and whether we agree with that is somewhat immaterial. The fact remains that it makes things more complex."

Process moving forward

Another question Perry and the lawyers have to answer is how much money all the legitimate claimants are seeking.

So far, no single total dollar amount has been listed in court documents. Whatever the amount, it will likely exceed what the insurance companies are willing to pay, according to attorneys familiar with the case.

If the two sides cannot agree on a fair amount and a fair formula, the global settlement falls apart and the cases go to trial.

"Should the defense not pay what we think is fair, we are going to move this case as quickly as possible to trial," said Mark Glago, who co-chairs the plaintiff's committee with Leger.

Paul Thibodeaux, an attorney for 1031 Canal, declined to comment, except to say that "the process is moving forward towards a global settlement."

For now, all suits are on hold per a court order by Reese until the mediation process plays out. If and when a settlement is reached and approved by the judge, claimants can opt out of their share and continue to pursue their own lawsuits individually.

Still unresolved is the status of potential criminal charges related to the building collapse.

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams had an open investigation into the disaster but did not respond this week to multiple requests seeking comment on that status of that investigation.