A Florida commission approved a $1.3 million precedent-setting settlement an Am Law 200 litigator obtained from the City of Miami Beach over its alleged harassment campaign of a residential property owner of an Orthodox Jewish congregation.

Franklin Zemel, a Saul Ewing partner who represented the plaintiffs, the Congregation Bais Yeshaya D'Kerestir, said the settlement followed a "landmark first-of-its-kind decision" by the U.S. District Court in Miami. And to an outside observer, he said the city operates a court located in city hall in which it hires, retains, and pays its special magistrate judges.