‘My mom is priceless.’ What relatives of Surfside collapse victims said after settlement

Rachel Spiegel struggles every day grieving for her mother, Judy Spiegel, who died nearly one year ago in the Surfside condo collapse.

Last Sunday was the first Mother’s Day since the tragedy. Her 5-year-old daughter, Scarlett, asked last week why her grandma, 65, passed away so young.

The nearly $1 billion legal settlement that relatives of the victims and survivors of the Champlain Towers South collapse will receive doesn’t matter much to Spiegel, although she thanked the attorneys and the Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge who brought the class-action lawsuit to a close.

“For me personally, it’s never been about that,” Spiegel said Thursday. “My mom is priceless in my opinion.”

Spiegel, the assistant vice president at Baptist Health South Florida, found out about the settlement while at work on Wednesday. Her husband texted her a news article about it. She said she was aware that attorneys were in mediation and making progress to reach a settlement, but the speed was surprising.

“I think the lawyers and the judge have done a marvelous job in bringing this case forward and moving it forward,” she said. “I don’t think anybody thought that they would reach this level of closure in such a short period of time.”

But as for personal closure, Spiegel and other relatives of the victims say money won’t bring any. While Rachel Spiegel worked during the height of the pandemic, her mother took care of her two daughters, Scarlett and 3-year-old Sloane.

Outside of her family, Judy Spiegel was passionate about volunteering and philanthropy. In a word, she was “perfect,” Spiegel said. Her mother was alone at home in the Champlain Towers South when it collapsed on June 24.

“I still can’t believe this is our reality,” Spiegel said.

Martin Langesfeld, whose sister and brother-in-law died in the collapse, said Thursday that no amount of money would compensate for the tragedy that killed 26-year-old Nicole Langesfeld and 28-year-old Luis Sadovnic. They died in their home — “their safest place,” Martin said — with their dog.

He said he’s more focused on concerns that other buildings may be in danger if statewide condominium reforms are not passed in the Florida Legislature. In a statement Thursday, Langesfeld called on state lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis to approve legislation making condo buildings safer.

Lawmakers failed to reach agreement during a special session in March after considering a proposal that would have required strict new inspections and that condo associations hold money in reserve to pay for repairs.

“We could not let a number cover the fact that this could happen again and millions of lives are in potential danger,” he said.

Judge still needs to approve settlement

The settlement with a variety of developers, contractors, engineers and lawyers must still be approved by a Miami-Dade judge.

Once Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman approves the final settlement in the Champlain Towers South class-action case, possibly as early as next week, then the arduous challenge of dividing up the vast sum of money for relatives of the 98 people who died in the collapse will begin.

The vast majority of the Champlain Towers settlement will be given to the estates of those who died or those who suffered serious injuries.

Hanzman, the judge presiding over the class-action case, has assigned the formidable task of deciding the value of each death to a pair of veteran Miami-Dade lawyers, Robert Parks and John Thornton, who is also a retired circuit judge.

With input from attorneys representing the relatives of those who lost their lives, both Parks and Thornton will serve as evaluators to decide how much money to give the families of each victim — based on factors such as age, occupation, lost wages and other economic circumstances. Relatives of the deceased have already been sent questionnaires to address these factors to assist with their claims.

Once the “evaluators,” as they are known, complete their assessment based on a rating scale, they will make their recommendations to Hanzman on how to distribute the money. The judge will have final say.

Victim’s brother: ‘We need closure’

Langesfeld said he wants to see criminal charges brought against any individuals responsible for the collapse. The defendants in the class-action suit include the developers of the Eighty Seven Park condo tower next door to Champlain Towers South, the Champlain Towers South condo association, a law firm and engineering firms involved with the properties.

“Apart from the settlements, the most important part for us as a family is who will be charged criminally?” Langesfeld said. “We have no idea what is going on in the criminal case and we are demanding answers. We need closure.”

His father, Pablo Langesfeld, said news of the settlement came as a surprise to him. He was inside Hanzman’s court room Wednesday for a periodic hearing on the case when he began to hear the judge and attorneys speaking in congratulatory tones.

“They said there was going to be good news,” Langesfeld said. “There’s no good news here.”

The announced settlement came as a shock, he said. His phone was ringing off the hook. The money may help families, but it won’t make the tragedy easier to bear, he said.

“Of course it’s going to help, but you have a broken heart,” he said.