Appeals Court Stays Malpractice Suit Against Greenberg Traurig
A New York appeals court has stayed a malpractice suit against Greenberg Traurig and the chairman of its New York office to allow the facts to be developed first in an arbitration hearing.
The court said the California arbitration should proceed first in the interest of judicial economy, the New York Law Journal reports.
The suit claims a conflict of interest by lawyer Robert Ivanhoe, who chairs the firm’s real estate group in addition to its New York office. The suit contends Ivanhoe was representing a Las Vegas developer working on a portion of the World Market Center when he took a personal stake in a second competing project called Blue Diamond.
The suit was filed by Nama Holdings, which owns an equity interest in the World Market Center developer.
Greenberg Traurig said it is pleased with the decision in a statement published by the New York Law Journal. “The lawsuit against the firm and Mr. Ivanhoe is and always has been without merit and was a transparent attempt to avoid the proper and fair resolution of this matter between the actual parties to the dispute in the arbitration venue to which they are bound,” the statement said.
Neither the firm nor Ivanhoe is a party to the arbitration hearing, the statement continued. “Once the facts are known, it will be clear that there was never any wrongdoing by Mr. Ivanhoe or the firm.”
