The Miccosukee tribe won an appeal Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by its former law firm, which accused the tribe of almost driving it out of business.

The Third District Court of Appeal rejected Lewis Tein's lawsuit in its messy battle against the Miccosukee Tribe. Judge Robert Luck, writing for a unanimous panel, ordered dismissal on sovereign immunity grounds, saying the tribe “did not clearly, unequivocally and unmistakably waive its immunity.”

The law firm co-founded by former Miami U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis and former federal prosecutor Michael Tein alleged in a malicious prosecution complaint that the tribe “spent five years filing false lawsuits, suborning perjury and obstructing justice in an effort to damage the attorneys' finances, reputations and law firm,” Luck wrote.