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U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Landowner's Class Action Against the Clerk of the Court

One of de la Parte & Gilbert, P.A. shareholders, David Caldevilla, recently successfully defeated a class action lawsuit that was filed against the Hillsborough County Clerk of the Court, which was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The class action lawsuit was known as Livingston v. Pat Frank, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Hillsborough County, and the City of Tampa.

The class action lawsuit was filed against both the Clerk's Office and the City of Tampa in August 2011, and alleged that the Clerk's Office unlawfully acquired and disbursed interest earned on money that was deposited into the court registry by the City of Tampa in previously resolved eminent domain actions. According to the plaintiff, the interest earned on the City's deposits in prior eminent domain cases belonged to the class of landowners whose property was being condemned by the City, and did not belong to the City.

In October 2012, the trial court granted our motion for summary judgment, concluded that the interest earned on the money deposited by the City belonged to the City, and entered judgment in favor of the Clerk's Office and the City. The landowner appealed to the Florida Second District Court of Appeal. In November 2014, the Second District affirmed the trial court's decision in Livingston v. Pat Frank, 15 So.3d 239 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014). In its affirming decision, the Second District agreed that the interest earned on the City's deposit belonged to the City, and also agreed with our position that the class action lawsuit was barred by the doctrine of res judicata, because the issue could have been raised in the prior eminent domain lawsuit.

Undaunted, the landowner continued appealing. His appeal to the Florida Supreme Court was rejected in May 2015, and his subsequent appeal to the United State Supreme Court was finally rejected in January 2016. So, after almost 5 years of litigation, the class action has finally been defeated.

Our firm is very pleased with this outcome. "We have always strongly believed that the Clerk's Office properly complied with the applicable law governing court registry deposits and properly disbursed the interest earned on those deposits," Caldevilla said. He explained that the landowner "was improperly attempting to recover double payment, and the courts have now recognized that he had no legitimate claim against the Clerk."

de la Parte & Gilbert, P.A. has significant experience in handling eminent domain actions on behalf of governmental entities and landowners - in presuit planning and negotiations, at the trial court level, and at the appellate court level. If you are interested in discussing an eminent domain matter, David Caldevilla can be reached at dcaldevilla@dgfirm.com.