WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Jan. 7, 2025 – A team of Greenberg Traurig, P.A. litigators prevailed on behalf of GlobeNet Cabos Submarinos America, Inc., Caribbean Crossing, LTD, and several big tech companies in a Palm Beach County Circuit Court case that sets a precedent for future cases involving sovereign submerged lands in Florida.
On Jan. 2, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John J. Parnofiello granted summary judgment in defendants’ favor in South Spanish Trail (SST) LLC vs GlobeNet, et al., dismissing all the plaintiff’s remaining claims in the matter.
The decision comes after six years of protracted litigation — with thousands of docket entries in four related cases that started in county court, stalled with two separate stints in federal court, before twice being remanded back to state circuit court. This ruling followed from a 4-day trial in 2024 where then presiding Palm Beach County Circuit Judge James Nutt issued an order finding that the “subject lands are sovereign submerged lands held in trust for the people of the State of Florida pursuant to Article X, Section 11 of the Florida Constitution. The properties are not subject to plaintiff’s private claims of ownership and causes of action based upon those claims.”
The case centered on historical evidence from the 1800s showing the lands referenced in the matter were below the mean high-water line of a naturally navigable waterbody when Florida became a state March 3, 1845. In the lawsuits, SST had sought over $250 million in damages and removal of the fiber optic subsea cable systems from the sovereign submerged lands in the Intracoastal Waterway which are critical U.S. and Florida infrastructure. SST claimed it was the owner of the land in question, rather than the state of Florida.
“This is a significant victory, not only for our clients and the telecommunications companies who operate subsea cables in Florida, but also for the citizens of the State of Florida,” said West Palm Beach Litigation Shareholder Robert “Bobby” Kane III, who led Greenberg Traurig’s representation of the defendants. “The court’s rulings squarely rejected SST’s attempt to take sovereign lands that belong to our children and successive generations of Floridians.”
GlobeNet is the owner of the GlobeNet submarine fiber optic cable system, which runs from Boca Raton, Florida, to South America. Caribbean Crossing operates Bahamas Internet Cable System from Boca Raton to the Bahamas. The tech companies were alleged to be using the GlobeNet cable system to transmit data.
The multioffice Florida Greenberg Traurig team representing defendants also included Co-Managing Shareholder of the firm’s West Palm Beach office Mark F. Bideau, Tallahassee Litigation Shareholders Lorence Jon BielbyJohn K. Londot, Miami Litigation Shareholders Jessica Johnson Fishfeld and Humberto H. Ocariz, Miami Corporate Of Counsel Joshua B. Forman, and West Palm Beach Litigation Associates Corey A. Gross and Taylor N. Patton.
About Greenberg Traurig’s Litigation Practice: Greenberg Traurig’s Litigation Practice includes a team of more than 800 attorneys. The firm’s trial lawyers regularly appear in state and federal courts throughout the country, as well as in appellate courts and before international arbitration panels. They work closely with in-house counsel to develop a strategy that best fits a litigation cost and proficiency model appropriate to the client’s unique needs and goals.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2750 attorneys in 48 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2024 BTI “Leading Edge Law Firm” for delivering on client expectations for the future and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 500. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e® Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: www.gtlaw.com.
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