1/ The Court’s holding on the value of Mar-a-Lago cited to & relied upon a printout of Palm Beach County’s tax assessments of its total market value. Doc. No. 905. That exhibit, however, LACKS this important pop up disclaimer from the County’s website. pbcgov.org/papa/Asps/Prop…
2/ The record is too lengthy for me to see whether Trump’s side objected to the admissibility or reliability of the tax appraisal. But it’s not addressed in the rebuttal report of Trump’s expert.
3/ The Court regarded the proffered valuation opinions of Trump’s expert as inadmissible as inadequately supported “net” opinion. I read the opinion evidence and don’t wholly disagree. I certainly would have challenged its admissibility. The expert could have done much better.
/4 The judge might possibly have cut Trump a little more slack, but Trump’s lawyers insulted the Court by continually repeating frivolous legal arguments that had already been rejected by higher courts. Not a good strategy.
5/ Trump’s legal problems are attributable to three factors. First and foremost, political targeting. Second, he and/or his hires push the legal envelope, come close to illegal conduct, and occasionally step over the line. Third, bad lawyering. IMHO.
6/ What many non-lawyers miss is that judges should decide summary judgment motions based solely upon the admissible evidence placed before them in the record. And if something is objected to as inadmissible, the court makes its call and ignores any inadmissible evidence.
7/ It may be that the Trump tram gambled on using a shaky expert opinion because they had to hit a number that a traditional valuation approach just couldn’t or wouldn’t hit. That kind of gamble is not necessary bad lawyering. But they lost the gamble.
8/ If Trump can scramble to get a better expert report quickly, and seek leave to serve it now late despite the close of discovery 3 months ago, they would have a better record on appeal.
9/ Here’s a link to the expert opinion on valuation offered by Trump, that the judge found to be inadmissible.
10/ FYI. When an expert opinion is thrown out before trial, it is not uncommon at all for the loser to quickly get a new expert report and successfully ask the court for leave to submit it late. That should happen here.
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