$546,323.85 in legal fees, so far...

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Mon, 04/06/2009 - 10:07 — Walter

Yikes!

Niagara Bottling lawsuit drains coffers as well as aquifer
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... 097.column

Then they hired Foley & Lardner LLP, a big national firm whose Orlando office has an excellent reputation in water litigation. Foley partner Duke Woodson worked for the water district some years ago and knows the ins and outs.

Good choice or bad choice? You decide.

One thing is for sure: It was an expensive choice.

By the end of February, the cost to the taxpayers of Groveland and Lake County for fighting Niagara stood at $546,323.85. That bill was to be shared equally by the city and the county.

The amount represents 1,446.7 lawyer hours since August at an average cost of $377.63 per hour. If lawyers could be chopped up — oh, don't we sometimes wish? — that would be the equivalent of 1.3 lawyers working full time for seven months to keep Niagara from getting a pumping permit.

And in the end, Lake County withdrew, leaving Groveland to fight on — and pay the bills — by itself.

Let's stop there for just a moment to allow the defibrillators in Lake County to recharge.

Those are astonishing, unfathomable numbers for average people to contemplate. Lake County residents wouldn't have to pay a dime if the St. Johns district were doing its job, protecting water resources.

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Mon, 04/06/2009 - 10:26 — richard

$500,000 for lawyers to get our own state agency to do the right thing? that's depressing...

we should all write the water management district officials and tell them we're mad as hell and don't want to put up with these things any more...there would be plenty of water if they would really do their jobs and protect the supply