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STAR-ADVERTISER
Hawaii State Attorney General Russell Suzuki.
Litigation over Ciber Inc. and its failure to deliver a working financial services computer system under a contract with the Hawaii Department of Transportation will continue in the state, according to Hawaii Attorney General Russell Suzuki.
The state defeated a recent attempt by insurers of Colorado-based Ciber to move the lawsuit out of state.
“Having the case remain in Hawaii is important to maintain the state’s ability to control the procurement process and makes it easier to enforce these contract requirements in court,” said Suzuki in a news release. “Moving the litigation to a jurisdiction on the mainland would have added significantly to the cost of pursuing the case against the insurers because all of the state’s witnesses and evidence are here in Hawaii.”
The state has already recovered $11 million in the litigation — $1 million from Ciber and $10 million from one of Ciber’s insurers.
That $11 million, however, exceeds the amount HDOT paid Ciber for the failed computer system.
Earlier this year, Ciber assigned HDOT the rights to Ciber’s other insurance policies to ensure that the state can seek further recovery from Ciber’s other insurers.
The state filed suit against those insurers in Hawaii court in March, seeking to recover the cost of a new HDOT computer system as well as other HDOT losses. Those insurers sought to move the litigation out of Hawaii but were denied on June 22.
Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP of New York is working with the state in pursuing the additional compensation.
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