MIAMI, Fla. (November 12, 2019) – William Hill, a shareholder in Gunster’s business litigation practice in Miami, recently served as a fee expert in a first amendment lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) that resulted in more than one million dollars in fees for the plaintiff.
The lawsuit was filed in 2011 by Prison Legal News (PLN), a 72-page monthly publication that covers criminal justice-related issues, after several years of censorship by the DOC, which rejected all editorial issues of PLN, allegedly due to an incidental number of advertisements for prison phone services, pen pals and companies that purchase postage stamps from prisoners. PLN raised a First Amendment censorship claim and a due process claim for the DOC’s failure to provide adequate notice when the publication was rejected by prison staff.
Over the last several years, the case went through trial and appeal, before being rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court and remanded to the district court. Last month a Florida federal district court awarded $1,148,210.89 in fees plus $33,448.57 in litigation expenses to PLN, where Hill provided expert testimony regarding attorney fees. Hill stated, “The case is significant in awarding full market-rate fees, with no reduction, when judges are often reluctant to award such high hourly fees.”
At Gunster, Hill is a seasoned business advocate, litigator and trial lawyer with more than three decades of experience. He has extensive experience working as a fee expert on similar cases in the past, many of which resulting in favorable outcomes. In the PLN opinion, although DOC offered a rebuttal expert, the federal court found Hill’s testimony to be “credible and persuasive,” and awarded the full amount of fees that Hill testified were reasonable.
Hill also serves as an expert on US law in foreign cases, most recently in a commercial dispute pending in Tel Aviv, Israel. As a litigator, he represents clients in complex cases, including class actions and international arbitrations. Over the last decade, his representative matters have included significant recoveries for large corporate clients, resulting in more than $55 million in judgments and pre-trial settlements.
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About Gunster
Gunster, Florida’s law firm for business, provides full-service legal counsel to leading organizations and individuals from its 13 offices statewide. Established in 1925, the firm has expanded, diversified and evolved, but always with a singular focus: Florida and its clients’ stake in it. A magnet for business-savvy attorneys who embrace collaboration for the greatest advantage of clients, Gunster’s growth has not been at the expense of personalized service but because of it. The firm serves clients from its offices in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Palm Beach, Stuart, Tallahassee, Tampa Bayshore, Tampa Downtown, Vero Beach, and its headquarters in West Palm Beach. With more than 280 attorneys and consultants, and over 290 committed professional staff, Gunster is ranked among the National Law Journal’s list of the 500 largest law firms and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Diverse Law Firms by Law360. More information about its practice areas, offices and insider’s view newsletters is available at www.gunster.com.
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