This morning Circuit Court Judge Scott Duncan issued an order in the dispute between Seville Harbour and the City of Pensacola finding that Seville Harbour, who leases Pitts Slip from the City, is entitled to recover its attorney’s fees from the City:
“The Court finds that Seville Harbour is the prevailing party in this lawsuit … Under the provisions of the lease, Seville Harbour is entitled to an award of reasonable attorney fees incurred in this action.”
The amount of the fee award will be decided at a later date. Judge Duncan’s recent judgment in favor of Seville Harbour has been appealed by the City and is currently pending before the First District Court of Appeal. Seville Harbour is represented by Ed Fleming and Todd Harris of the McDonald Fleming Moorhead law firm who stated they are confident the judgment against the City will be affirmed.
Judge Duncan ruled that Great Southern Restaurant and Merrill Land Co. were not entitled to legal fees because those companies were not parties to the lease.
The lawsuit was filed in early 2014 after the City of Pensacola issued in November 2013 a default letter claiming The Fish House, which leases space from Seville Harbour, owed the city millions of dollars in lease payments. Read How Not To Do Business.
Judge Duncan ruled against the City this past April.
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Disclaimer: Collier Merrill (co-owner of Great Southern Restaurant and Merrill Land) owns five percent of Inweekly, and Ray Russenberger (owner of Seville Harbour) and Chuck Emiling own 2.5 percent each. The balance is owned by me. I have sole control over editorial content, as I have had since the newspaper was founded in July 1999. BTW: I also own Rick’s Blog. :-)