City of Venice Ordered to Pay $703,500 in Attorneys Fees

The City of Venice has been ordered to pay Anthony Lorenzo's attorneys a combined $703,449.50 in attorneys fees to two law firms for the recently concluded public records litigation. The Court's order, issued Friday September 25th, is here.

The fee award was substantially less than the $2,000,000 plus that the plaintiffs' attorneys had requested. Attorney Andrea Mogensen was awarded $343,680 or about 82% of the $420,286 worth of time that she claimed to have devoted to the case. The Carlton Fields firm, who joined Mogensen as co-counsel after the case was filed, was awarded $359,769.50 or about 85% of the $422,285 that it logged in time on the matter in a mere five months.

The Court denied the attorneys' request for a multiplier, or "enhancement," of the fee that would have pushed the amount well into the millions. The Court also denied the attorneys' request to be paid for the time they spend litigating with the City over the amount of fees to which they were entitled, which likely means that Mogensen and Carlton Fields will have to pay the attorney who represented them in the fee litigation out of their respective awards. Both rulings are sound and supported by applicable Florida law.

The order also awarded Lorenzo's attorneys about $42,000 in court costs, putting the City's total obligation at close to $750,000.


Media coverage can be found here, here and here.

More analysis to follow . . .

Lorenzo v. City of Venice Expert Attorneys Fees Testimony

Your humble servant testified earlier this week as an expert on behalf of the City of Venice in the attorneys fees hearing arising out of the recent public records and sunshine litigation over the City's email practices and related matters. The Charlotte Sun article is here. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune coverage is here.

Judge Bennett has the matter under advisement, but from what I heard and saw in the courtroom, I don't expect him to take very long to render a decision. Until his decision issues, however, I will refrain from making any further observations on the proceedings.

I'll post the order as soon as it comes out and then share some thoughts on the matter.

PSC Suspends Text Messaging After Criticism

The Florida Public Service Commission has suspended the use of text messages on all agency-issued Blackberries and phones after recent criticism that such messages were not be stored in accordance with the public records law. Miami Herald article is here.