Last week, the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals transferred to U.S. District Court a motion from Liberty Counsel seeking additional attorney’s fees and costs in Otto, et al v. City of Boca Raton, FL et al, which was a victory over unlawful city and county counseling bans.

In October 2025, after the counseling ban had been struck down in 2020, the Eleventh Circuit awarded Liberty Counsel an increase in the original amount of attorney’s fees awarded by the lower district court, which had been deemed insufficient for the years of litigation. Since Liberty Counsel had to appeal the lower court’s attorney’s fees award, it is now seeking the appropriate additional fees and costs to cover that appeal.

The Eleventh Circuit ruling awarded slightly more than $885,000 in fees and expenses, an increase of nearly $150,000 from a lower court judgment. Now, the Court of Appeals has sent the case back to the lower court to consider additional attorney fees and costs for the appeal.

In Otto, et al v. City of Boca Raton, FL et al, Liberty Counsel represented Dr. Robert Otto, LMFT and Dr. Julie Hamilton, LMFT, and their minor clients who challenged and prevailed over the Boca Raton’s and Palm Beach County’s unconstitutional counseling ban ordinances. These now defunct ordinances had banned these counselors from helping their minor clients with life-saving counseling to deal with unwanted same sex attractions, behaviors, or gender confusion. The Eleventh Circuit struck down these ordinances, finding they were both content and viewpoint based and violated the First Amendment right to free speech. 

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Boca Raton and Palm Beach County made a costly mistake when they violated the First Amendment. They lost on appeal regarding the ordinances and they lost again regarding the attorney’s fees. They now need to finish paying for their unlawful actions and continual resistance.”