A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal heard arguments Wednesday in a legal battle between Florida State University and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The ACC argues a lawsuit it filed in North Carolina should have priority over a lawsuit that FSU filed in Florida.
The outcome of the cases could determine whether FSU leaves the athletic conference.
The ACC filed a lawsuit in December in North Carolina against FSU, a day before the university sued the conference in Leon County circuit court.
ACC attorney Alan Lawson argues that the lawsuit filed in North Carolina should take priority over the Florida case.
“You’d have to be wearing garnet and gold-colored lenses to come up with Tallahassee as the answer for the most natural place for that contract dispute," said Lawson.
Both cases deal with similar issues, as FSU is widely viewed as wanting to leave the ACC to move to a more-lucrative conference.
“We also have here the question of whether it is appropriate for a North Carolina court to be deciding a question of Florida sovereign immunity and the disposition of Florida sovereign property," said Attorney Elliot Scherker who represents FSU.
The conference’s petition to the appeals court came after a Leon County circuit judge in June refused to halt the Florida case.
