Mount Prospect tavern owner submits legal bill to judge

Tod Curtis is looking to be reimbursed about $276,000 in legal fees he paid to defend himself against an eminent domain lawsuit filed by Mount Prospect village officials.

Mount Prospect filed the lawsuit in January 2008, but abandoned the effort to take over Curtis' Ye Olde Town Inn in July, blaming the collapse of the real estate market. Because the building at 18 W. Busse Ave. is in the village's tax increment financing district, the village would have had to pay Curtis what the property was worth in 2007, not what it is worth today, village officials said.

Since the lawsuit was filed in 2008, Curtis said he used six different law firms.

"The paperwork is pretty bulletproof," he said. "I did what I had to do to protect my property, my employees and myself."

However, Mount Prospect Village Attorney Everette "Buzz" Hill said the $276,000 figure "sounds a little high." The village spend about $120,000 on the eminent domain suit, Hill said.

"We just need to see some more details," Hill said. "Some of the submissions were not the original bills. They were more like abstracts."

Hill also said that because Curtis used so many law firms, there was a lot of duplication of work.

"I'm not blaming the lawyers," Hill said. "At times, (Curtis) hired and fired lawyers in rapid succession. I'm just not sure it's the village's responsibility to pay for that."

Eventually a judge will decide the amount Curtis will be reimbursed. The two sides will meet in court again in about two months but Hill doesn't expect a decision to be made at that time.

Curtis has also filed a separate federal lawsuit against village officials, charging they have formed an "ongoing enterprise and scheme" for nearly a decade to develop the downtown without him.

Village officials have repeatedly denied his claim.