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Press Release
Orlando Gateway developers win summary judgment over $13 million
[Orlando, FL]—An Orange County judge on Tuesday granted a summary judgment motion in a long-running legal dispute over membership interest in the prominent Orlando Gateway mixed-use development project, awarding developers Good Gateway and SEG Gateway LLC the equivalent of 87 percent of a $15 million judgment in the case.
The ruling ends a decade-long case over who is entitled to funds from a 2014 judgment and several rounds of legal maneuvering by the Defendant, Atlanta businessman Chittranjan Thakkar, in an attempt to secure a share of that money. Tuesday’s order confirmed that Thakkar’s claim to entitlement to proceeds from the 2014 judgments have been exhausted.
More than three years after Clay Townsend and Keith Mitnik and their team at Morgan & Morgan’s Business Trial Group filed the complaint to vindicate their clients’ right to a full distribution of the judgment awarded, the court granted the Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment in its entirety as well as their motion to strike Thakkar’s affirmative defenses.
“This is a very big day for our clients and impacts the resolution of the original case at so many levels,” said Business Trial Group attorney Clay Townsend. “The defendant waved his alleged ‘ownership’ in our clients’ company and judgment to every single judge and in every single filing since 2016. This has been one of the lengthiest, most complex battles I’ve seen, and we’re thrilled to have achieved this result for our clients.”
Keith Mitnik stated, “After the verdict, what Clay Townsend has done to pursue a just result is the most epic, tenacious, brilliant lawyering I have seen in my 35 year career.”
In 2014, Keith Mitnik and Clay Townsend tried the case, and after a two-week trial in Complex Business Litigation Court, an Orange County jury issued verdicts totaling $15 million in favor of the Plaintiffs, who had alleged that Orlando Gateway Partners LLC and related Defendants fraudulently deprived them of their membership interest in the LLC for the Orlando Gateway development project located near Orlando International Airport.
The Defendant subsequently litigated that he was entitled to 87 percent of that judgment because he had purchased an 87 percent membership interest from a bankruptcy trustee. In issuing the summary judgment Tuesday, the court sided with the Plaintiffs, stating that that they own 100 percent of SEG Gateway LLC, which owns the judgment, and thus, are entitled to 100 percent of the $15 million.
The order was filed on October 1, 2019 in Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit in and for Orange County, Florida by Judge Julie H. O’Kane, Case No. 96516992.
ABOUT THE BUSINESS TRIAL GROUP
The Business Trial Group specializes in contingency-fee litigation for commercial disputes. The Business Trial Group represents businesses and individuals in numerous industries and has recovered tens of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for its clients. The Group’s experienced attorneys regularly prosecute claims involving contracts, construction, real estate, securities, intellectual property, and other business disputes. To learn more about the Business Trial Group’s contingency-fee practice, visit BusinessTrialGroup.com or ctownsend@ forthepeople.com or kmitnik@forthepeople.com.
ABOUT MORGAN & MORGAN
The largest contingency law firm in the United States, Morgan & Morgan has recovered more than $5 billion for 200,000 clients. The firm has more than 500 attorneys across nearly 50 offices in 13 states. With the support of 2,000 employees, Morgan & Morgan's attorneys represent clients in a wide range of practice areas: national mass torts and class actions, personal injury, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, labor and employment, mesothelioma, and product liability lawsuits, among others.
