Judge Allows Suit Against Greenberg Traurig
A New York judge is allowing a breach of duty lawsuit against Greenberg Traurig and the chairman of its New York office, Robert Ivanhoe, despite the firm’s claim that a pending arbitration involves the same dispute.
The suit claims the law firm and Ivanhoe breached a fiduciary duty to a client, a Las Vegas developer working on a portion of the World Market Center, when Ivanhoe took a personal stake in a second competing project called Blue Diamond, the New York Law Journal reports. The suit was filed by a company that owns an equity interest in the World Market Center developer.
Judge Richard Lowe of Manhattan ruled the investment company, Nama Holdings, could sue on behalf of the developer, the story says. He also allowed the suit to proceed despite the arbitration because Greenberg and Ivanhoe were not parties to that proceeding. The arbitration is between the investment company and the developer, and it involves a missed capital call.
The law firm said in a statement the allegations are without merit. “When the facts are fully developed, we are confident the record will show there was no wrongdoing and that this lawsuit is an improper litigation tactic designed to gain leverage in the private arbitration and coerce an unjust settlement by suing an opposing party’s attorneys.”
