Salute to Bill Moore
Herald Tribune, March 10, 2008
Hanging in the Sarasota conference room of law firm Brigham Moore is an earth-tone print of six Plains Indians seated and standing around a table with a parchment copy of the U.S. Bill of Rights in the background.
For Bill Moore, one of the law firm's named partners, the print is a reminder of one of the greatest land crimes ever perpetrated by the U.S. government.
In the 1820s, federal officials tried to oust Cherokee Indians from their lands in North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, and the Cherokee responded by hiring a lawyer.
"They had been promised that land under a treaty dating back to Washington's time," Moore said. "They pled their case all the way to the Supreme Court, and they won."
But President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the rights of Cherokees, Moore said. Instead, he ordered troops to drive them on a thousand-mile march to Oklahoma, which became known as the "Trail of Tears."
Moore, part Cherokee himself, has dedicated his life to helping protect Florida residents against similar takings. Along the way, he has helped to build his firm into the largest eminent domain practice in the state, with 19 attorneys in five offices…
-Bill Moore has been among the outstanding advocates in protecting owners in eminent domain. His passionate and rational demeanour along with a sense of fairness has offered protection to thousands of Florida owners seeking redress in their constitutional right to be treated fairly.
