City of Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo’s vendetta against a pair of Little Havana developers resulted in a hefty payday for his team of private defense lawyers at taxpayers’ expense.
The city has footed more than $2 million for a legal team featuring well-known criminal defense attorney Ben Kuehne and former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who defended Carollo against a five-year-old federal lawsuit brought against him by William “Bill” Fuller and Martin Pinilla.
(AP Photo, File)
Miami Commissioner Lawsuit
Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo was held civilly liable by a six-member jury in Fort Lauderdale federal court last month for violating the First Amendment rights of William “Bill” Fuller and Martin Pinilla by orchestrating an illegal code enforcement and police crackdown on businesses they owned, in retaliation for supporting his political opponent in 2017.
Business partners Fuller and Pinilla, who own multiple commercial properties in Little Havana including the popular Ball & Chain restaurant and nightclub, last month won a $63.5 million jury verdict against Carollo. After a two-month trial, jurors found Carollo liable for violating the pair’s First Amendment rights by orchestrating an illegal code enforcement and police crackdown on Ball & Chain and other businesses owned by them. They alleged Carollo targeted them because they had the audacity to support his political opponent in 2017, the year the commissioner made his political comeback at Miami City Hall.
“Because of our support of a candidate who we thought was more suitable for the neighborhood, [Carollo] punished us,” Fuller told the Biscayne Times. “He weaponized the city and its departments to attack our businesses and our properties. There has to be repercussions for those actions.”
Carollo is personally liable for the $63 million, but his legal representation is covered by the city. And it’s a tab that will continue growing as Carollo’s legal team still has more invoices to submit for its work during the trial. What’s more, taxpayers are also paying legal fees defending a separate, pending federal lawsuit brought by Mad Room LLC, a company partially owned by Fuller that is the parent company to Ball & Chain and a SW Eighth Street Mexican restaurant shut down by code enforcers in 2021.
(Ball & Chain)
Ball & Chain bar and nightclub owners William “Bill” Fuller and Martin Pinilla won a $63.5 million jury verdict against Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo last month; another pending lawsuit against the city could cost taxpayers at least $29 million on top of millions already spent on legal fees.
In that nearly two-year-old complaint, Mad Room alleges city staff was complicit in Carollo’s retaliation campaign. For that the firm is seeking nearly $29 million in damages against the city that taxpayers will be on the hook for should Mad Room prevail. Already, Miami has shelled out $3.2 million for 10 attorneys with the law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney to defend itself against the lawsuit, according to invoices obtained through a public records request.
Carollo did not respond to requests for comment.
“This is a blank check being written out by the city attorney’s office that is being used to further weaponize the city government against us,” Fuller said. “Every time we go to court, it is going to cost taxpayers more money.”
A windfall for Carollo’s Attorneys
Since 2018, the city of Miami has placed four law firms on its payroll to defend Carollo. Buchanan Ingersoll has submitted invoices that total $20,000. Coral Gables-based Marrero & Wydler has billed the city $43,211.
Kuehne’s private law practice has been paid roughly $632,000. Fort Lauderdale-based Shutts & Bowen has charged the city $826,713 for providing a half dozen lawyers, including firm partner Sarnoff. Invoices show he charged $425 an hour and his services alone resulted in at least $229,000 in legal fees paid by the city.
(Barlington Group)
William “Bill” Fuller, $63.5 Million Judgment Winner
Despite jurors finding Carollo at fault, city attorney Victoria Mendez refused to concede anything to Fuller and Pinilla. In an email response to questions submitted by the Times, she said it was their fault that taxpayers are being hit with an astronomical legal bill and maintained that the code enforcement actions against them were legitimate.
“Sadly, Mr. Fuller blames everyone but himself or his corporate entities for their code deficiencies,” Mendez said. “We would not be in court if they complied with the law.”
Fuller could have chosen to end the litigation, and bring his properties into code compliance, she said.
“Until that day, the city will continue to vigorously defend against these claims,” Mendez said. “At the same time, [the city] will continue to work with Mr. Fuller so that he can bring his businesses into compliance with all applicable building codes and code enforcement laws for the continued safety of the citizens of the City of Miami.”
She declined to comment on whether Carollo’s legal team did a good job given jurors didn’t buy their defense, if there were any discussions to settle the case to avoid an expensive trial and if she is worried that the Mad Room case could potentially result in another jury verdict against the city.
(@CityofMiami/Twitter)
City of Miami attorney Victoria Mendez insists William “Bill” Fuller and Martin Pinilla are guilty of legitimate code enforcement violations.
Meanwhile, Carollo’s attorneys are still figuring out what the grounds they will use to argue for an appeal of the $63.5 million verdict, said his lead attorney, Kuehne, in a phone interview with the Times.
“We are working on post-verdict motions,” he said. “Filing an appeal now would be premature.”
Who Pays the Tab?
Kuehne has been legal counsel for Carollo for many years, dating back to 1998. At the time, Carollo sued to overturn the results of the city’s 1997 mayoral election in which he lost his incumbency to Xavier Suarez. A Miami-Dade judge granted Carollo’s challenge, citing a pattern of fraudulent, intentional and criminal conduct in the collection of absentee ballots in Suarez’s favor.
For this most recent case, his law practice has more invoices to turn in for his work during the trial, Kuehne said.
(Kuehne Davis Law)
Ben Kuehne, Lead Defense Attorney for Joe Carollo
“I don’t know how much it is because I haven’t done a summary,” he said. “I haven’t looked at my spreadsheet.”
The legal tab for Carollo’s defense is being justified because the Fuller and Pinilla case was very complicated, requiring adequate staffing to represent the commissioner’s interests.
“The commissioner’s lawyers worked diligently and ably to present their best possible defense,” Kuehne said. “With the unfavorable outcome, the legal team will continue to advance all issues to obtain a just result.”
Even though Carollo was found personally liable for violating Fuller’s and Pinilla’s First Amendment rights, the commissioner is entitled to have his legal fees paid for by the city, Kuehne insisted.
“Florida has been very clear for a long time that public officials whose conduct is challenged are absolutely entitled to obtain representation in the course of their official status,” he said. “And that representation is a responsibility of the government they serve.”
(WPLG Local 10 News Miami)
A confident-looking Commissioner Joe Carollo flanked by his legal team and supporters during the federal trial he ultimately lost. That defeat has cost Miami taxpayers more than $2 million so far.
In the wake of the verdict against Carollo, his commission colleagues sought to assure Miami taxpayers that they would not bear the brunt of the financial burden. On June 7, a day before their regularly monthly meeting, Commission Chairwoman Christine King and Commissioners Sabina Covo and Manolo Reyes put out nearly identical statements about the legal fees.
“Concerns arising out of the verdict in Fuller v. Carollo has taxpayers questioning whether their tax dollars will go toward legal expenses and/or any judgment,” King’s statement said. “The City of Miami taxpayers bare (sic) NO financial responsibility for legal fees expended up to now nor judgment if the verdict is upheld on appeal.”
The city maintains insurance coverage for litigation matters so that the burden of legal expenses is not taken out of the general fund, King explained.
“All elected officials: federal, state, and local are entitled to legal representation until all remedies at law are exhausted,” King’s statement said. “Legal fees in this instance are covered by an insurance policy.”
“One Lawsuit After Another”
There’s at least one commissioner, however, who claims that the city attorney’s office has not clearly explained what the insurance policy covers and how much money will be available when the city files its claim.
(City of Miami)
Miami Commissioner Sabina Covo
“I am a little confused by the information that has been provided by Ms. Mendez,” Covo said. “That is why we keep inquiring. I think getting the actual policy to see what it actually covers and how much it will pay out is critically important.”
And even though Carollo is entitled to legal representation provided by the city, if he loses an appeal, he is supposed to be on the hook for any post-trial fees, Covo said.
“Of course, the city should try to recoup those legal fees, but it depends on the outcome,” she said. “It’s a complicated situation.”
She’s also concerned about what will happen with the Mad Room case if it goes in front of a jury.
“It is unacceptable to keep spending millions and millions of dollars defending against lawsuits,” Covo said. “Unfortunately, we have one lawsuit after another. And it needs to stop.”
Fuller feels confident that a jury would also find in Mad Room’s favor given that some of the same witnesses and evidence are part of that case. In the Carollo trial, some of the witnesses for the plaintiffs included former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, three former police chiefs and other city staffers testifying that Carollo did in fact pull the levers of the code enforcement crackdown against Fuller and Pinilla.
“Only 50% of the evidence was presented to the jury,” Fuller said. “In the other case, the city will have to pay nearly $30 million, and possibly punitive damages in excess of that amount.”
The city’s paid legal staff could have avoided the mess altogether by standing up to Carollo, but instead enabled the commissioner’s revenge, Fuller said.
“There is zero accountability for Mendez and the city attorney’s office,” he said. “And they are still figuring out how to continue the cover up and keep paying legal fees. They are so scared of Joe Carollo.”