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Talk of the bay: Court's decision on Hooters case coming this fall

By Times Staff
Published July 12, 2007

U.S. District Court Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich expects to rule this fall on whether Atlanta-based Hooters of America Inc. cheated one of the wing chain's six founders, L.D. Stewart of Palm Harbor, out of royalties. Attorneys wrapped up the three-day, nonjury trial Wednesday arguing the franchisor of the 450-store chain breached its contract with Stewart. The chain countersued, claiming he was overpaid, waited too long to file a claim and didn't prove the royalty deal was breached when Hooter's top executives cut Stewart's share of gross sales.

Gerdau pays $4.2B for steel company

Gerdau Ameristeel Corp., a publicly traded Canadian company that employs 350 at its executive offices in Tampa, said it will buy Texas-based Chaparral Steel Co. for $4.2-billion, or $86 per share. The deal will increase Gerdau's steel output by roughly one-third, but will not lead to a significant expansion of the company's Tampa operation.

Local companies dole out pink slips

Two area companies recently laid off an unspecified number of employees. Tampa's Electronic Learning Products says its total number of employees hasn't changed, but is putting more focus on sales and less on marketing. At Oldsmar-based Fortress Technologies Inc., the cuts were attributed to the company's shift to a new generation of wireless technology products. The affected employees were primarily from Tampa, it said.

Legal eagles nest within Tampa firms

Tampa law firms are well-represented on Florida Trend's "Legal Elite" list for 2007. Holland & Knight has more "elite" attorneys than any other Florida law firm, and Carlton Fields ranked third on the peer-selected list behind Miami's Akerman Senterfitt. Meanwhile, Tampa had five of the eight most popular managing attorneys. Of course, it's worth pointing out that big firms are likely to garner more survey votes than smaller ones. Florida Trend and the St. Petersburg Times are owned by the same company.

Citizens schedules Clearwater forum

Citizens Property Insurance is taking its show on the road. The state's largest property insurer will hold a policyholders forum at Clearwater High School at 540 Hercules Ave. from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday. Citizens staffers, including underwriters and Citizens president Scott Wallace, will answer questions about policies, coverage and rates.

. tampabay.com

Industry in crisis

Learn about the problems facing insurance companies in Florida at tampabay.com/insurance.

[Last modified July 11, 2007, 23:10:58]