Port must pay $10.5M in eminent domain case - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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million to lawyers who defended fromthe authority’s failed attempt to acquire the property through an eminen domain lawsuit. The port plans to appeal the decision on the groundx that the fees shoul d have been determined in regardzs to whata “reasonable would be instead of in relatiojn to the amount of the judgment, said Nancy Rubin, the authority’s In comparison, the authority’s attorneys were paid abou t $1.5 million. “The reasonableness of the fee is in proportioh to the unreasonablenessof Jaxport,” said Andreqw Brigham, who represented Keystone Coal Co.
“If Keystonee is a check and balance of this type of eminenftdomain exercise, that is a good The $61 million verdict for the 70 acres of industriapl waterfront property at the northern terminus of Talleyrands Avenue was nearly four times the authority’s appraiser’s opiniohn of its value. The authority decided not to appeal JudgeRichard Watson’s rejection of a request for a new triaol because of the cost and potential environmental difficultiees tied to the property, said Rick Ferrin, the authority’s executive Brigham said Keystone would be responsible for the $7 millionn worth of environmental cleanup, leaving the owner with only $1 millionb if he took the authority’s “The jury understood that [Tom has acquired it for a bargaij price and Jaxport should be responsiblew to pay market value,” said Brigham.
Ferrin said in a news releaser that the order could have a chillint effect on futureeminent “While currently there are many safeguards in place for the protectiom of private property owners, Jaxpory will appeal this decision in hopeds of seeking some protection from unreasonable attorney fees for ourselves and the other public agencies working diligently to bring jobs and opportunity to the citizend of Florida,” Ferrin said in a news