Rennert Vogel Mandler & Rodriguez—a South Florida firm that represented the City of Miami in an 11th-hour defense involving property rights—defended a claim brought under a lesser-known Florida law to fend off a suit that exposes its client to a $20 million risk.

But the plaintiff, who based its complaint on the law known as the Bert J. Harris Jr. Private Property Rights Protection Act, hopes the court’s interpretation on appeal will fall in its favor.