Mayor Kaplan's lawyer files motion to dismiss USACA suit

Legal representatives for Lauderhill Mayor Richard J Kaplan have filed a motion seeking to dismiss the USA Cricket Association lawsuit which is attempting to stop six Caribbean Premier League games from happening at the Central Broward Regional Park in Florida next week. Douglas T Marx, of law firm Waldman Trigoboff Hildebrandt Marx & Calnan, filed a motion on Thursday afternoon, on behalf of Kaplan, arguing for a dismissal on procedural grounds as well as defending the sanctioning process as legitimate.

A suit was filed on Monday by former USACA executive secretary Kenwyn Williams, with USACA as a co-plaintiff, claiming that the CPL had violated sanctioning procedures by going through the ICC to receive permission to stage the event in Florida instead of USACA, the governing body in the USA. Kaplan told ESPNcricinfo on Wednesday that he was confident the suit would fail, and that local officials had gone through the proper sanctioning with the ICC since USACA's authority was stripped after suspension by the ICC in June 2015.

In the filing submitted on Wednesday, Marx argued two points. First, Williams filed the suit as a pro se litigant, meaning Williams is prosecuting the case on his own. Marx's filing states that Williams is not licensed to practice law in Florida and thus the case should be thrown out. Williams, who resides in New Jersey, has worked in the past as a paralegal for a New York law firm.

"This action is impermissibly filed by an individual pro se litigant, not licensed to practice law in Florida, on behalf of a legal entity, USA Cricket Association, which is required to file any proceeding through licensed Florida counsel," Marx writes.

His second argument centers upon contradictory information in USACA's exhibits attached as part of the supporting documents to the suit. One of the exhibits is a letter to CPL chief executive Damien O'Donohoe from ICC operations manager Clive Hitchcock, dated November 16, 2015, which claimed that "the CPL, as the event organiser, must apply for sanctioning/approval of the matches/event to be played in the USA" because USACA is the home governing body.

However, the letter also acknowledged USACA's suspension and stated that "the final decision on whether to approve/sanction the matches will be taken by the ICC within two months of having received the application". In his filing, Marx writes that the second portion of this statement negates USACA's original claim before it.

"Petitioners have failed to name indispensable parties, namely, the International Cricket Council, which is the governing body for cricket. It appears that the ICC suspended the Petitioner from ICC membership, which suspension was still in effect as of November 16, 2015 - See Exhibit 7 to Motion - and appears to be continuing. Notably, Exhibit 7 demonstrates that the ICC has the authority to make the "final decision on whether to approve/sanction the matches", which contradicts the Plaintiffs' allegation in the Motion that the USCA has that exclusive authority."

The games are scheduled to be held from July 28 to 31 in Lauderhill.