A Virginia hotel operator has filed a $28 million claim in the LeClairRyan bankruptcy and is seeking relief from the automatic stay in the matter so it can continue a New Jersey state court malpractice action that it filed against the firm in May, American Lawyer reported. Petersburg Regency LLC argued in a federal court filing yesterday in Richmond, Va., that it makes no sense to litigate its claims, which stem from the firm’s handling of an insurance dispute arising from 2003′s Hurricane Isabel, outside of New Jersey. “The claims in the Petersburg lawsuit, including the malpractice claims, all arise under the laws of New Jersey,” the company said. “It would be a waste of this court’s time and the estate’s limited assets to have to litigate the claims asserted by the plaintiffs in the Petersburg Lawsuit. If anything, litigating the plaintiffs’ claims before this court may impose additional costs and expenses for all parties given that all relevant.” Petersburg Regency and Robert Harmon owned the Ramada Plaza hotel in Petersburg, Virginia, at the time of the hurricane, having purchased it for $1.8 million in 1998. They claim they retained LeClairRyan to assist with claims against insurer Selective Insurance Co. over damage from the storm. According to the May lawsuit, the team at the law firm not only botched an arbitration proceeding by failing to include all relevant claims, but it also improperly colluded with an individual who had funded Petersburg’s underlying suit. The New Jersey suit, filed in Essex Country by Keith McKenna, does not provide a figure for damages. But Petersburg filed a claim for $28 million in the LeClairRyan bankruptcy proceeding.
