The district board accepted a $6 million settlement from Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed. The Orland-based law firm advised Southeast Volusia Hospital District, which oversees Bert Fish Medical Center, through a 2010 merger with Adventist.
In 2011, a judge ruled that 21 closed-door meetings held leading up to the merger violated the state’s Sunshine Law, which requires business pertaining to the public be conducted in open meetings. The merger was overturned, and Bert Fish officials have estimated the failed deal cost the hospital and district roughly $22 million.
The district sued the law firm, alleging its former general counsel and other lawyers improperly advised the hospital and board that they were exempt from the Sunshine Law.
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