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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Ind. Courts - Greene County Courthouse lawsuit tops $1 million in legal fees and counting
From Nick Schneider's very long story yesterday in the Greene County Daily World, here is the beginning:
If the Greene County Courthouse renovation project has had any common elements it has been delay and unexpected costs.The project was nearly five years going from the drawing board stage to completion. There were a number of delays when several structural flaws surfaced.
And, now for nearly five years, Greene County has been engaged in a complicated civil lawsuit to collect up to $6.5 million in unexpected cost related to the original $10.5 million remodeling/renovation project that has turned into a $17 million nightmare.
The construction project has been substantially completed for more than a year, but the lawsuit -- which originated in 2004 is still an active case.
Legal fees associated in fighting to get back money the county believes it is owed has been costly -- with legal fees now at more than a $1 million and counting, according to commissioner's attorney Marilyn Hartman of the Bloomfield law firm of Hartman & Paddock.
The county is being represented in the suit -- now pending in Owen Circuit Court -- by the Indianapolis law office of Drewry Simmons Pitts & Vornehm. Hartman is assisting on the local end of the legal fight.
The seven-count, 25-page lawsuit was originally filed Dec. 30, 2004 in Greene Circuit Court on behalf of the county commissioners and building corporation against United Consulting Engineers, Inc., Indianapolis; architects DLZ Indiana, LLC, Indianapolis; Alt & Witzig Engineering, Inc. Carmel (structural engineers) and general contractors Weddle Brothers Construction, Co. of Bloomington.
Former Greene County Judge David Johnson signed an order in March 2005 granting a change of venue to Owen Circuit Court.
There have been at least three new jury trial dates in the case -- the latest is set for 9 a.m. on April 12, 2010.
A spokesperson in the Owen Circuit Court said the case already had nine files of court documents.
Hartman called the case a very complicated and technical one.
"Whenever you get into heavy duty litigation, litigation becomes what we call a motions process," Hartman explained. "These are all very legal, technical issues that result in getting one advantage or another in going forward with the litigation. None of these motions mean 'we lost' or 'we won'. They are ways you can eliminate having to pursue a particular issue at trial."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 28, 2009 09:12 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts