Miami hires law firm linked to former city attorney to defend Carollo in new lawsuit
The city of Miami has hired Shutts & Bowen, a law firm that employs two prominent former city officials, to defend City Commissioner Joe Carollo in a recent whistleblower lawsuit accusing him of attempting to use public funds to benefit himself, his wife and his friends.
On Monday, board members of the Bayfront Park Management Trust — the downtown city agency at the center of the latest lawsuit against Carollo — voted to hire outside counsel to represent Carollo, the Bayfront Park Management Trust and Javier Baños, a Trust board member who was also named as a defendant.
Marc Sarnoff, who is a former city commissioner and current partner at Shutts & Bowen, confirmed to the Miami Herald that he will be part of the team defending Carollo in the latest lawsuit.
Shutts is also the employer of former Miami City Attorney Victoria Méndez, whom the City Commission terminated last year. Méndez did not respond to questions asking if she will be part of the Shutts legal team defending Carollo in the latest lawsuit, but Sarnoff said in a text message Monday that Méndez will not be involved.
City Attorney George Wysong did not respond to an email asking why outside counsel would be representing Carollo instead of attorneys in his office.
The lawsuit was filed last month by Jose Suarez, the former executive director of the Bayfront Park Management Trust, and Jose Canto, the agency’s former finance director. The employees accused Carollo, who is chairman of the Trust, of retaliation, saying they were forced out of the agency in December. They alleged that Carollo and Baños, who is also Carollo’s personal accountant, “set out to undermine and force the departures of Suarez and Canto after Suarez and Canto began questioning the Trust’s lack of proper accounting practices.”
Carollo has denied the allegations, calling them “outrageous.” Baños said he “emphatically” denies the lawsuit’s claims.
The board’s vote on Monday green-lighted the hiring of outside counsel for all three defendants. Shutts & Bowen has been tapped to represent Carollo; attorney Mason Pertnoy has been hired to represent the Bayfront Park Management Trust; and the law firm Rivero Mestre will represent Baños. Carollo and Baños abstained from voting on the matter.
Agency staff indicated they have been in contact with the insurer for the Bayfront Park Management Trust about covering the legal fees. The city’s legal department did not respond to a question asking for the name of the insurer or whether the insurer has confirmed they will cover the lawsuit’s costs.
Reached for comment, Baños said his impression is that the insurer will be covering the costs. “So my understanding is that this is not a Trust or city expense,” Baños said.
While the hiring of Sarnoff and Pertnoy was made official Monday, the attorneys began speaking on behalf of Carollo almost two weeks ago.
When the Miami Herald first contacted Carollo asking for comment the night the lawsuit was filed, Sarnoff was the first person to reach out on the commissioner’s behalf. Sarnoff now says he thought then that it was “likely” that he would be hired for the case. Sarnoff has represented Carollo in previous legal matters with the operators of Ball & Chain nightclub in Little Havana.
The day after the lawsuit was filed, the Daily Business Review also published an article quoting Pertnoy, who told the trade publication that he viewed the lawsuit as “a political hit in an election season.”
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Pertnoy did not directly respond to a question asking if he anticipated being hired for the case at the time he gave comment to the Daily Business Review, nor did he directly say whether he made that comment as an attorney for the Bayfront Park agency or on behalf of Carollo as an individual. Carollo, who is termed out of his District 3 seat, has left the door open to the possibility of running for mayor this year as the city of Miami heads into election season.
Wysong, the city attorney, confirmed to the Herald in late January that the city had not hired outside counsel for the case at the time Sarnoff and Pertnoy were answering media questions about the lawsuit.
“I think they just stepped up because they represent him [Carollo] in these other matters and he feels comfortable with them,” Wysong said when asked about Sarnoff and Pertnoy’s comments.
Sarnoff and Pertnoy have represented Carollo in other city-related legal matters in recent years — particularly in matters involving attorney Jeff Gutchess, who is representing the former Bayfront Park Management Trust employees in the latest lawsuit. That includes the trial that resulted in a $63.5 million judgment against Carollo after a jury found Carollo personally liable for violating the free speech rights of Little Havana businessmen Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, who run the Ball & Chain nightclub, by trying to destroy the men’s reputations and pushing city cops and code enforcement officers to target their properties.
Sarnoff was also on the scene when U.S. Marshals arrived at Carollo’s Coconut Grove home last year to initiate the process of seizing the property in order to collect on the multimillion-dollar judgment. Sarnoff and Pertnoy were both present for federal court hearings last year to determine if Carollo’s home could be seized and if his wages could be garnished to satisfy the judgment.
A judge later ruled that the home was protected by a Florida constitutional homestead protection and that his wages could not be garnished.
This story was originally published February 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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