Judge weighs whether Rivian factory opponents should pay state’s legal fees
A Morgan County Superior Court judge on Wednesday expressed reservations about the state’s bid to seek legal fees from six property owners who unsuccessfully sued multiple times to stop the planned Rivian factory east of Atlanta.
Two government agencies are now trying to recoup legal costs in the two most recent lawsuits — a figure that could potentially eclipse $540,000. The Georgia Department of Economic Development and a local development authority argue the lawsuits were frivolous and only intended to delay construction. But the residents say their lawsuits raised legitimate legal concerns, accusing the government of intimidation.
Governments have a right to pursue litigation costs in Georgia when lawsuits are deemed frivolous, which must be determined by a judge. But this case has alarmed some First Amendment advocates. Judge Stephen Bradley, who oversees one of the two lawsuits in question, seemed to acknowledge that.
“This is a policy that I’m mildly concerned about,” Bradley told attorneys and a packed courtroom after three hours of testimony. “Is the state’s request today ultimately ripe for misuse?”
“Can someone take a political action that gets complained about by a group and then hoist the cost of that political rationale onto the citizens?” the judge asked.
Charlie Peeler, an attorney representing the state, said, “There is absolutely no risk of that under these circumstances.” He argued the litigants knew their zoning challenges would fail but kept trying.
The residents’ attorney, John Christy, disagreed and said it would be a dangerous precedent if the state’s request for litigation costs is granted. The state’s pursuit of legal fees would “tie financial handcuffs on citizens to stifle their opposition to the Rivian project,” Christy said.
Prudent or payback?
The roughly 2,000-acre project site along I-20 was zoned for agricultural and residential use.
Once Rivian agreed in late 2021 to invest $5 billion and employ 7,500 workers at a factory on the site, the state’s local partner — the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton counties — began the process of rezoning the land for industrial use.
The JDA filed 17 rezoning applications, but those were withdrawn before going to county leaders for a vote. The state assumed control of the property in early 2022, and local zoning typically doesn’t apply to government-owned land.
“They only withdrew that application after citizens expressed opposition during the zoning stage,” Christy said. He added that Georgia’s other large projects, such as Hyundai’s Metaplant near Savannah, went through the rezoning process.
Andrea Gray, an attorney for the JDA, said the Rivian project was “infinitely more complex” because it included so many parcels split between Morgan and Walton counties.
Lawsuits soon followed, culminating in a temporary restraining order request seeking to stop work on the site until questions were settled.
Bradley, who also oversaw that case, declined to issue a stop-work order and said the request was “clearly a machination not to redress an irreparable harm, but to stop the construction of the Rivian production plant.”
Christy’s clients withdrew the lawsuit in December 2022. But a month later, they refiled nearly identical lawsuits in both Fulton and Morgan counties to individually sue the state and county.
In May 2023, Peeler sent a letter on behalf of the state to warn the plaintiffs that attorneys fees would be sought if they continued.
“It was crystal clear what was going to happen at this point, and they doubled down,” he said.
The Morgan County Board of Commissioners, also involved in that lawsuit, is not seeking attorneys fees.
The state and JDA retained private attorneys, including Peeler. Those outside lawyers charge higher rates than in-house attorneys.
Given the high tab, Bradley asked: “Does that not lead to the suggestion that this maybe was a closer question?”
Peeler said he charged in 2023 an hourly rate of $1,120 but provided the state a discounted rate of $629 an hour. Other outside attorneys offered similar discounts, he said.
“The work that was performed was necessary because the plaintiffs took a shotgun approach,” Peeler said. “They made all kinds of allegations and all they had to do was have one of them stick to derail the project.”
Still, the state and JDA contend that the residents never had a chance to win. They say it’s prudent to pursue attorneys fees as stewards of public funds.
Bradley said he expects to issue a final ruling in the coming weeks. A hearing in the Fulton County case has yet to be scheduled.
Cox Enterprises, which owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also owns about a 3% stake in Rivian.
About the Author
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
