Anti Landlords

Its a silly place

It's a $1.68 socket. No way the landlord didn't have a handyman replace that in 15 minutes. Handyman hourly rate ~ $50

If he called a real electrician, it would have been around $150, including a full hour of labor. Landlords who don't handle exterminators* or collect trash on the regular* don't call real electricians; he probably called his nephew, and they each take a cut.

So the guy is slumlording, which is why he got the 32k payout.

The $225k legal fee is because the renters' lawyer wants to fuck the landlord over for being a dirtbag. He'll go after him himself for the 225k, perhaps reach a lower settlement. But it sounds like the landlord wants to appeal the whole thing; he's likely going to lose, again.

The interesting part, the outlet got Hot AF on the neutral side

The alarm clock would not have been the culprit. That was a loose connection in the outlet, or its wiring, certainly not the tenant's fault.

"* FTA"

We have the same problem with Medical. You go to the hospital for an extreme migraine, they give you $200 OTC painkiller, a $300 bill each from the triage nurse, the doctor that sees you and the doctor associated with whatever tests they run. They charge the insurance company $1100, the insurance company already has an agreement with them to only pay 30%. If you don't have insurance, you can often (but not always) talk them down to a reasonable rate closer to what it actually costs them.