Accounts payable documents from the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority show that the agency paid more than $80,000 in legal fees on Feb. 16.
The organization provided the documents to the Post-Tribune ahead of its Thursday afternoon meeting.
The documents show that the SSCVA wrote three checks to separate legal firms on Feb. 16: Barnes and Thornburg received $70,122.80 for December legal fees; Rhame, Elwood and McClure received $1,012.50 for legal services; and Westland and Bennett received $9,048 for an undisclosed reason.
For all three firms, the SSCVA paid a total of $80,183.30.
Scott McClure is the SSCVA board attorney. According to Post-Tribune archives, Barnes and Thornburg is representing the SSCVA in an ongoing lawsuit between the organization and its former president and CEO Speros Batistatos.
Hammond-based attorney David Westland is representing Chairman Andy Qunell; board members Matt Maloney, Brent Brashier and Matt Schuffert; and former board member Tom Dabertin as individuals.
At Thursday’s meeting, Phil Taillon, president and CEO of the SSCVA, told the Post-Tribune that he expects legal fees to decrease soon.
“The lawsuit is still ongoing, but I would say that we’re really in the 11th hour,” Taillon said. “We really had an uptick (in legal fees) at the end of last year, and then you’re seeing it at the beginning of this year because of all of the key things that were happening as part of the suit. … We’re getting to that point where we’re going to get in front of a judge to make a decision, and then we’ll see what happens.”
Basistatos sued the SSCVA in August 2022, one month after being fired, alleging the agency violated the law and mishandled contract renegotiations because of his age and misspent federal Payroll Protection Plan funds in violation of the CARES Act.
According to the organization’s January appropriations report, the SSCVA spent $76,623.96 in attorney fees. The organization has $223,376.04 remaining in the attorney fees fund this year, according to the appropriations report.
In June, the agency had spent $406,198.46 in legal fees for the year, according to Post-Tribune archives. The CVA had allocated $150,000 for legal fees in 2025.
Between 2021 and November 2024, the SSCVA had paid $237,835.80 in legal fees to Barnes and Thornburg, according to Post-Tribune archives.
In January, the agency collected about $260,000 in innkeeper’s taxes, Wolverton said Thursday, which is about a $27,000 increase from the January 2025 numbers.
Wolverton also presented the casino revenue numbers collected in 2025, with $160,746 coming in the year’s fourth quarter. The casino revenue was down about $60,000 from its 2024 numbers, she said.
