The feds are going after a prominent local law firm.
The FDIC, or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation filed a malpractice suit against Icard Merrill because of a nearly five and a half million dollar loan made by First Priority Bank,which is now defunct. The suit claims Robert Messick did not tell the bank’s board of directors that he was representing those who were developing River Meadows on the Upper Manatee River, nor that the board could buy the 25 acres that was part of the collateral for the loan. The FDIC said in the suit, that those two failures cost the bank more than four and a half million dollars. The law firm has denied the accusations.