A lawsuit settlement last month crafted by lawyers for trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs totaled $879,000 in legal fees.

OHA paid $614,000 while insurance company AIG paid $265,000.

The money was used to settle a 2013 lawsuit by Trustee Rowena Akana against her eight colleagues and 10 unnamed individuals.

The lawsuit stemmed from minutes of closed-door board meetings related to a real estate purchase. The targeted trustees subsequently countersued.

As part of the settlement, made Nov. 14, Akana apologized for the public release of confidential board matters.

Update: The trustees also issued a statement saying it was in the interest of OHA and its Native Hawaiian beneficiaries to avoid a trial. Trustee Lei Ahu Isa told Civil Beat Friday that she did sign the agreement statement.

The legal fees disclosure resulted from a records request made by Civil Beat earlier this month.

$600 Million Trust

OHA attorney Paul Alston and OHA officials did not respond Thursday to requests for a copy of the settlement agreement.

Asked for a breakdown of OHA’s share of the legal fees, Public Relations Officer Sterling Wong said, “It’s going to take us a little bit of time to figure out the details of where the funds came from. And a bunch of our fiscal staff is out on vacation. We will get back to you as soon as possible.”

As of 2016, OHA was a trust valued at $600 million. For funding, it relies on a combination of public trust land revenue, interest and investment earnings, state general fund monies, commercial property leases and withdrawals from a trust fund.

OHA provided more than $14 million in grants in one year to qualified individuals and groups, which comprised nearly one-third of OHA’s then-$48 million operating budget. About $3 million also went to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.