Disney’s attorneys seem genuinely shocked that Ron DeSantis’ legal team is so bad at this

Government

“When you wish for a star,” says a Disney classic, “dreams come true.” Although, the lawyers representing the company could not have imagined that their chosen star could give them such a chronically bumbling opponent. In a manufactured culture war aimed at supporting A presidential bid is already falteringRon DeSantis targeted Disney for the sin of giving a light rebuke to his “Don’t Say Gay” initiative by using his control of the Florida government to get to Disney’s bottom line… despite the company being a major employer and source of tax revenue for the state. The strategy!

After trying to abolish Disney’s special tax zone – Only to learn that this will cost the state millions – decided to exchange the entire board for his followers – who then forgot to object The current council has entered into legally binding contracts which functionally abolish the power of the future council. Blocked by minimal effort, DeSantis and the legislature passed a law preventing the board from complying with previously executed contracts. In clear violation of the language in the ConstitutionAnd thus bring them to the Federal Court.

Dissatisfied with the obvious and inevitable consequences of his actions, DeSantis asked the board to file a competing lawsuit in a state court that was already riddled with procedural problems before. These idiots have made their case moot.

Crackerjack Attorney guys! From the New York Times:

But the company’s argument for why the district’s case was dismissed was less predictable: The filing said Mr. DeSantis and his allies in the legislature made the case moot with their subsequent actions. And by forbidding the district from being bound by the contracts, Mr. DeSantis and the legislature made “any order that this court might make – in favor of either party – legally irrelevant.”

“In short, any statement about the enforceability, voidness or validity of contracts – either way – would amount to an advisory opinion without any real-world consequences,” Disney added in the filing. “Trial Courts in Florida Prohibited from Issuing Fatwas”. The company cited more than 40 court rulings to support its argument.

And by choosing to pass the appropriate unconstitutional action to invalidate the board’s previous contracts, Florida Republicans obliterated the litigation argument that the board should not be bound by contracts. No matter how functionally Florida law fails to abolish contracts – even though the Constitution literally says “No State shall make any law impairing the obligation of contracts” – the fact remains that now The new board of directors is not harmed by these contracts because state law says they are not bound by contracts. If they are not obligated to live by the contracts, there is no basis for a lawsuit over the contracts.

Had the new board gone straight to state court the first day it took office claiming that last-minute contracts were improperly executed under Florida law, they might have been able to prove it. But instead, Florida Republicans couldn’t act fast enough to pass this idiotic law — making a bunch of retaliatory comments along the way — opening the door for Disney to file an application first with federal court on the contracts clause and free speech reasons that blocked the state’s way. .

In strategic terms, this is like suing a coke addict in 48 hours.

Biglaw’s lawyers are rarely smutty in legal filings, but most of the editing process seems to involve removing early draft phrases like, “In an appalling move of incompetence…” or “Look, we can’t believe they’re that stupid either.”

The dismissal motion is fully available on the next page.

This is a remedy civil proceeding and Disney attorneys from O’Melphenny and Wilmerhill and local counsel Adam Lucy cannot believe their luck in reconciling this proceeding.

Or perhaps DeSantis is deliberately putting up roadblocks in the path of his case, aiming to combine all the benefits of taking a doomed stand against some vague notion of vigilanteism while ensuring that one of the state’s largest employers will emerge unscathed in the end.

It’s not impossible, but if it is, there are definitely less publicly embarrassing ways to do it.

Disney argues that the new Florida law nullifies the DeSantis-backed lawsuit (The New York Times)
Disney is asking the state court to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the DeSantis-appointed board of directors (Spectrum News 13)

previously: Disney’s lawyers are better than Ron DeSantis’ lawyers
Disney litigants are taking turns beating Ron DeSantis with a new federal lawsuit
Harvard Law School’s Ron DeSantis fails to spot the Disney contract issue

Joe Patrice He is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of The Think like a lawyer. Do not hesitate to e-mail Any tips, questions or comments. follow him Twitter If you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also works as Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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