Governmental Actions and Defense

We live in a litigious world, and there is no shortage of lawsuits being filed against municipalities and governmental agencies. There are few firms in Florida that match our experience defending governments, elected officials, law enforcement personnel, and individual departments, branches and divisions of local governments in both state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels.

Our result-focused approach puts our clients’ interests front and center at every stage of litigation. We are not afraid to take a case to trial—especially considering our track record for successful verdicts—and we are always prepared to do so. But we are constantly aware of our clients’ priorities and obtain favorable settlements when necessary.

We specialize in cases involving disputes related to all aspects of local governance, including government contracts, civil rights, land use, zoning, takings, tort liability, sovereign immunity and qualified immunity.. For example, in one case, we fought on behalf of a local government to have a $65 million waste disposal contract invalidated for failure to follow the awarding authority’s bidding process. Our efforts resulted in the client saving $8 million on the new contract when the proper bidding process was followed.

Our litigators also regularly defended local government clients and employees, including law enforcement, accused of violating constitutional and statutory rights arising under federal, state and local laws.. For example, we were lead counsel in a seminal, high-profile case involving unique issues relating to the intersection between land use and the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Amendments Act. Because of our success in that case, our lawyers have been hired to consult for dozens of local governments in Florida regarding these issues.  In another high-profile case, we were lead government counsel for dozens of local governments in a $200 million federal class action seeking recovery of red light camera fines. Our efforts there resulted in the dismissal with prejudice of the lawsuit.