Environmental Groups Ordered to Pay Attorney Fees Appeal to State Supreme Court

Not so fast, Florida taxpayers. You thought the eco-terrorist attorneys were going away without a fight? No way. There's too much money on the table. Besides, they believe there is a principle at stake -- that if they lose, every Floridian seeking to exercise his or her right to appeal a court decision will lose, too.

Here's what just happened:

The Martin County Conservation Alliance (MCCA) and 1000 Friends of Florida announced Monday they have filed a notice to seek the Florida Supreme Court's review of a recent 1st District Court of Appeal ruling. You remember the one. The court ruled that after their appeal of a land-use decision was dismissed, these groups and their attorneys pay the attorneys fees of the state, Martin County, and a developer.

If the order stands, the environmental groups and their attorneys will have to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Our only recourse at this point is to petition the Florida Supreme Court to hear this case, explains Charles Pattison, president of 1000 Friends. This is important not only to correct the lower court decision, but to make a ruling that guarantees the rights of all to seek appeals of administrative decisions without fear of being sanctioned.

"MCCA firmly believes that our appeal is in the best interest not just for our organization, but for all citizens and nonprofits throughout Florida," says MCCA Chairman Donna Melzer.

In December 2010, the 1st District Court of Appeal ordered 1000 Friends and the MCCA to pay attorneys fees over their 2008 appeal of two comprehensive plan amendments in Martin County regarding development options in agricultural lands, and water and sewer extensions in a secondary urban services district.

The court determined that 1000 Friends did not have the right, or standing, to file the appeal and thus viewed its appeal to be without a legal or factual basis. The 1st District Court had been asked by 1000 Friends to rehear the case, but that request was denied in a 2-1 decision opinion on Nov. 4.

This is what the 1st District Court judges' order read:

"... We believe that applying sanctions in cases such as this will protect this court's ability to serve litigants with meritorious cases ... and will discourage lawyers from raising meritless appellate arguments on the chance they will 'stick.'

"Furthermore, as does the dissent, we find positive policies embodied in the statute, because the statute protects those who are wrongfully required to pay attorneys' fees for meritless legal actions. Here, Appellees (Martin County and Co.) were wrongfully required to defend an appeal that should never have been filed. Although the imposition of sanctions does impose a cost on one party, it does so to protect the wronged party. ..."

The MCCA and 1000 Friends say they are requesting review by the state Supreme Court on the basis that the 1st District ruling expressly and directly conflict[s] with a decision of another district court of appeal or of the Supreme Court on the same question of law. Review by the Florida Supreme Court is discretionary; 1000 Friends must file its complete jurisdictional brief with the Supreme Court by Dec. 12.