Public Law and Finance - Complex Municipal Litigation

On behalf of the City of Excelsior Springs, the firm successfully defended a class action suit brought under Section 1983 by owners of timeshare interests in a historic hotel condemned by the City to allow restoration as part of a neighborhood redevelopment plan.  The plaintiffs sought over Five Million Dollars in damages, as well as punitive damages and attorney fees.  The firm obtained a ruling from the Missouri Court of Appeals defining the interests of a timeshare holder under Missouri law, then obtained dismissal of the class action by the Circuit Court on summary judgment.

The firm successfully reformed the Riverside-Quindaro Bend Levee District, conducted the process of condemning land and assessing benefits to the protected landowners, and handled the assessment appeals including the appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court in which the Court reversed two prior Eastern District Court of Appeals cases and determined that levee assessments are not appealable (Riverside-Quindaro Bend Levee District v. Intercontinental Engineering Corp., 121 S.W.3d 531 (Mo. 2003)).  The firm also represented the Levee District in Riverside-Quindaro Bend Levee District v. Missouri American Water Co., 117 S.W.3d 140 (W.D.Mo. 2003) in which the Court of Appeals held that the Levee District could force a utility company to relocate its lines in public and railroad right of way at the cost of the utility company to facilitate construction of a levee.

The firm successfully represented the Centene Corporation through a related entity, Centene Plaza Redevelopment Corporation, in a highly-contested eminent domain case in St. Louis County. After a four-day hearing, the Court found in favor of Centene on all issues and held that the company could use the condemnation power granted it by law to acquire the properties necessary to construct a multi-million dollar mixed use project in the City of Clayton. The decision was recently affirmed at the appellate level.

On behalf of the City of St. Peters, the firm successfully defended a challenge by the County Executive of St. Charles County alleging violations of the Constitution in the imposition of the TIF and the allocation of EATs to the repayment of outstanding TIF obligations. The trial court rejected these contentions on the grounds that the plaintiffs misapplied existing law to the facts at hand. Following appeal, the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri transferred the matter to the Missouri Court of Appeals without opinion. The Missouri Court of Appeals subsequently entered an order adopting its former disposition and directing the clerk of the court to issue the mandate forthwith. The decision is pending approval of the clerk of the court.

On behalf of an affected landowner, the firm sued the City of Sikeston in circuit court for violating the Sunshine Law. The City failed to comply with the provisions of the Sunshine Law in the posting of notices pertaining to the passage of a zoning ordinance. It then attempted to cure its mistakes by repealing the ordinances that were illegally approved, and the circuit court dismissed the case. But on appeal to the Supreme Court of Missouri, the firm successfully argued that the City’s violations could not be mooted merely by undoing the illegal ordinance because it was not just the ordinance itself that violated the law, but also the City’s repeated violations of the public’s right to access to the political process. The improper dismissal was dismissed and the case has been remanded to the circuit court for trial on the merits.