Fixel, Maguire & Willis
Eminent Domain –
Condemnation Attorneys
Decades of experience serving Florida's property owners and businesses
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Fixel, Maguire & Willis
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Decades of experience serving Florida's property owners and businesses |
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Present Florida law obligates Florida condemning authorities which initiate the eminent domain process to be responsible for statutorily formulated attorney fees and reasonable experts’ expenses incurred by property owners during that process. Florida law, which obligates Florida condemning authorities to pay these attorney fees and expenses, is in recognition of three facts. First, the condemnation process has been acknowledged as being what it is: government or utility companies subjecting private citizens to being forced to convey their private property, not necessarily at the time and for a price agreeable to those citizens. Second, if the law did not obligate condemning authorities to pay for property owners' attorney fees, the condemning authorities would typically have superior resources to litigate and therefore an unfair advantage to force unreasonable settlements against private property owners. Third, fair compensation received by those being subjected to the eminent domain process should not be diminished as a result of property owners having to incur attorney fees and experts' costs to become fully informed about (a) the taking of their property, (b) what they should be paid as full compensation for it, and (c) what they should be paid for damages to their remaining property. Fixel, Maguire & Willis usually accepts the statutorily formulated fees Florida condemning authorities must pay as payment for the services Fixel, Maguire & Willis provides its property owner clients for pursuing and securing property claims throughout the eminent domain process. The same is normally true with respect to the eminent domain experts (e.g. appraisers, engineers, etc.) who work with Fixel, Maguire & Willis. Therefore, Fixel, Maguire & Willis’s property owner clients usually will not receive a bill for legal services provided to them for pursuing and securing property claims during the eminent domain process. Two examples of circumstances where property owner clients may be responsible for such services are when (1) a client terminates Fixel, Maguire & Willis's representation or an expert's services; or (2) a client eliminates the opportunity of Fixel, Maguire & Willis, or retained experts, to use the procedures provided by law to have a condemning authority’s responsibility for their fees and/or costs determined separate from and after the client’s substantive claims have been resolved. To date, neither of these two circumstances have occurred during Fixel, Maguire & Willis’s many years of eminent domain practice. In contrast to the previously discussed property claims which cover losses in value to buildings and land, business damage claims include lost profits, lost good will, etc. suffered by an operating business as a result of a governmental taking of private property where a business operation is located. Florida law has many strict requirements, all of which must be met in order to qualify for business damage compensation. Moreover, unlike how it treats property claims, in most circumstances Florida law does not obligate Florida condemning authorities to pay for the very important and time consuming legal services directed to properly preparing business damage claims. For a more detailed explanation of the difference between property claims and business damage claims and the requirements for business damages, see Questions & Answers #16 & #17 of the Common Questions & Answers portion of this web site. As to the responsibility for attorney fees regarding business damage claim preparation, Fixel, Maguire & Willis will meet with each such prospective client and work diligently towards reaching an agreeable means for payment of reasonable fees for assisting the business. Since Fixel, Maguire & Willis is willing to prepare and pursue business damage claims on a basis of "no fee charged if not successful", most businesses choose to retain Fixel, Maguire & Willis using that arrangement. This results in Fixel, Maguire & Willis being paid a relatively small percentage of the business damage claim recovery for Fixel, Maguire & Willis's related services. In any event, Fixel, Maguire & Willis will work closely with each business so that a fair and acceptable fee arrangement can be put in place in time to avoid the harsh consequences of not properly preparing and submitting all legitimate business damage claims within the time deadline provided by law, since they will be forever waived (i.e. lost) if that deadline is not met. Prospective clients may contact Raymer F. Maguire, III by telephone toll free at (888) 216-6870 or by e-mail at rmaguire@fla-eminentdomain.com, Joe W. Fixel by telephone toll free at (800) 848-7535 or by e-mail at jfixel@fla-eminentdomain.com, or Craig B. Willis by telephone toll free at (800) 848-7535 or by e-mail at cwillis@fla-eminentdomain.com if any additional explanation is desired as to responsibility for attorney fees and any other expenses, how attorney fees are calculated, how experts' (e.g. appraisers') fees are determined, or to review the standard Fixel, Maguire & Willis Property Owner Retainer Agreement. ©(2006) Fixel, Maguire & Willis, all rights reserved. |
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