City of Miami To Employ "Belts and Suspenders" Legal Approach. HA HA HA HA HA HA

No it's not April's Fools, but new City of Miami attorney Julie O. Bru -- apparently with a straight face -- claims the City will adopt a "belts and suspenders" legal approach to fending off Harley Tropin's attack on the bullcrap, I mean, global rebuilding/Marlins Assistance Act boondoggle that they ramrodded through without public vote or even comment:

In his lawsuit opposing the pact, auto magnate Norman Braman claims the city violated its own notice laws for the Dec.13 vote.
City code requires items for commissioners to consider be circulated five days before a meeting.
The city gave notice of the global item first as a discussion, but commissioners later voted on a resolution allowing City Manager Pete Hernandez to make the agreement with the county — meaning the resolution itself was not circulated prior.
City Attorney Julie O. Bru maintains case law and precedent back the action but to "moot the issue" and avert legal fees, commissioners will be asked April 24 to ratify the vote, she said, calling it "the belt and suspender kind of approach."

Let me see -- the City of Miami's legal team vs. Harley Tropin. This is a battle of the wits in which one side is unarmed.

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Reports on Geller/Tropin Showdown

Reports coming in......Courtroom packed to the rafters, every seat including jury box full.

Geller spoke well but way too fast. Judge Moreno told him several times to slow down. Harley didn't say anything, Joe Whatley handled the argument for settling plaintiffs.

Basically, Moreno told Geller to try to settle the issue with the parties. Geller said at the end it was mostly defendants who are responsible for that, implying that if some relief is given to his doctor class (and fees) then he will fold into the deal.

Whatley was gentlemanly, remarking that "even friends can be wrong." Moreno basically said that he was concerned and they had until the end of the day to work it out.

My guess is that Harley is not the problem here.

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Today's the Big Day!

Slugfest between Harley Tropin and Paul Geller over the HMO thingy, in front of Judge Moreno.

Anyone who attends or participates please send a report.

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Stop Making Sense

Here's attorney Harley Tropin, representing Norman Braman, at the County Commission meeting that recently approved handing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to a private business for a for-profit baseball enterprise, using funds dedicating to easing poverty, blight, and to providing affordable housing:

Miami attorney Harley Tropin, representing car dealer Norman Braman, challenged the lack of public participation in the process and called for a referendum. He said his client would drop the lawsuit in circuit court to block the global agreement if a referendum was held.

Tropin also said it was wrong, and the lawsuit charges it is unconstitutional, for the city and the county to spend community redevelopment money on projects that don't remove blight, provide for affordable housing, prevent crime and redevelop slums.

What's to worry -- look how well the Miami Arena worked out!

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Clash of the Titans

Big legal battle brewing between HMO attorney Harley Tropin and his cast of thousands, on the one hand, and Paul Geller, on the other, over an objection Paul filed in the pending Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO settlement. Paul is objecting to the settlement wiping out his 2005 state court case, which deals with a narrow Florida statute that prescribes how Florida HMOs must pay for non-participating Florida emergency service providers.

Admittedly, I am only getting one side of this story, having only read Paul's 38-page objection. It does not appear from the docket that Harley's team has filed a response yet.

Still, Paul sets out an intriguing, if not compelling case. From his pleadings, he argues that the BCBS settlement wipes out his suit, which is against a entity that is not an actual defendant in Harley's case, and which deals with a narrow Florida statute that was never the subject of Harley's litigation. Further, Paul complains that no remedy is provided to the class for violations of that Florida statute, and no injunctive remedy included to stop the offending conduct from continuing in the future. Still, I doubt Harley simply decided to steamroll over Paul's claim -- there has got to be something more to this.

Judge Moreno has set a case management conference for November 14, where presumably Paul's objection, among others, will be heard.

BCBS's local attorney, Steve Siff, will be crowned a genius if he is able to kill two birds with one stone, as Paul alleges. But query, why not bring Paul in to the deal, modify the settlement to properly account for this claim, and get this wrapped up for all concerned?

Why give Judge Moreno all this tsurris before Thanksgiving?

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