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Attorneys for Virginia-based Carter Bank are seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed by U.S. Sen. Jim Justice and his family over alleged interference with the Greenbrier Resort due to previous agreements requiring that disagreements be settled in Virginia. (File photo\/Steven Allen Adams)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCHARLESTON \u2013 The former lender to U.S. Sen. Jim Justice that sold off its loan debt for the historic Greenbrier Resort to a Texas-based hotel chain is asking a circuit court judge to dismiss a case brought by the Justice family to halt interference in the hotel.
\nAttorneys for Virginia-based Carter Bank and Trust filed a motion Thursday in Greenbrier County Circuit Court seeking dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the Justice family last month against Carter Bank and Texas-based TRT Holdings.
\nAttorneys for the Justice family allege that Carter Bank and TRT Holdings engaged in a deceptive conspiracy to orchestrate a hostile takeover of The Greenbrier by unlawfully selling and acquiring the hotel\u2019s debt. TRT Holdings has denied these claims.
\nIn Thursday\u2019s motion, attorneys for Carter Bank argue that the case should be thrown out due to improper venue, asserting that the Justice family is contractually bound by a forum selection clause. This clause allegedly mandates that all disputes regarding their lending relationship be litigated exclusively in specific Virginia courts, such as the Circuit Court of the City of Martinsville, Va., or the U.S. District Court for the West District of Virginia.
\n\u201cThe Court should dismiss this suit without prejudice and permit the claims asserted to be litigated in the parties\u2019 agreed venue \u2026 where the Carter Bank Defendants have already filed suit against Plaintiffs based on breaches of the contracts between the parties,\u201d wrote Carter Bank attorney Booth Goodwin, a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia who lost in the 2016 Democratic primary for West Virginia governor to Justice, who served two terms as the state\u2019s chief executive and switched parties to Republican.
\nAccording to Goodwin, The Justice family has contractually agreed on 22 previous occasions since 2021 that any litigation arising from their lending relationship with Carter Bank must be conducted in either state or federal courts in Virginia. The most recent agreement between the Justice family and Carter Bank occurred on March 2.
\n\u201cNothing about the application of the forum selection clauses at issue in this case \u2013 each one negotiated by the parties\u2019 respective legal counsel \u2013 is unreasonable, unjust, or invalid,\u201d Goodwin wrote.
\n\u201cGiven their business sophistication and first-class legal representation, Plaintiffs\u2019 repeated and intentional violation of these forum selection clauses evidences both a misplaced belief that they are not bound by the contracts they sign and a willingness to misuse the judicial process to obtain leverage over and increase the legal costs of their contracting counterparties,\u201d Goodwin continued. \u201cNeither should be tolerated by this Court.\u201d
\nAt the beginning of April, White Sulphur Springs Holdings LLC (WSSH) \u2014 a company formed by TRT Holdings \u2014 filed a federal lawsuit against Jim Justice, former first lady Cathy Justice, son Jay Justice, the Greenbrier Hotel Corp. and other Justice-owned companies affiliated with the Greenbrier.
\nWSSH is asking a federal judge to appoint a receiver for The Greenbrier Resort and miscellaneous properties, as well as a permanent injunction against the Justice family to prevent further interference in The Greenbrier\u2019s operations.
\nJustice and his family had settled with Carter Bank for a second time in the summer of 2024 after the bank filed 21 confessed judgments since April 2023 against Justice, Cathy Justice, Jay Justice and multiple Justice-owned companies, seeking more than $301 million plus interest and attorney fees.
\nThe 2024 settlement agreement between the Justice family and Carter Bank offered the family a pathway to paying off the more than $301 million owed to the bank by the Justices. On March 25, Carter Bank announced the sale of Justice\u2019s Greenbrier loans to WSSH for $289.5 million, which was roughly $70 million less than what the bank was demanding from the Justice family, according to the filing.
\nAccording to previous court filings, representatives of TRT Holdings and the Justice family attempted to negotiate a deal where TRT agreed to forgive $200 million in remaining loan debt in exchange for a 50% stake in the Greenbrier. But that deal fell through, with WSSH deciding to take the matter to federal court.
\nTRT Holdings and its president, Blake Rowling, own Omni Hotels and Resorts with more than 50 hotels and luxury properties, including the nearby Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Va. The Justice family is being represented by several attorneys, including Steve Ruby, a former assistant U.S. attorney who worked with Goodwin.
\nThe Justice family accuses WSSH\/TRT Holdings of using confidential information and violating standstill agreements to purchase the Greenbrier\u2019s loans at a discount, then declaring a sham default to seize the property. They also accuse WSSH of putting the jobs of more than 2,000 Greenbrier employees at risk.
\n\u201cThe defendants who filed this motion apparently don\u2019t want to face the people of Greenbrier County, whose jobs and livelihoods they\u2019re putting at risk,\u201d Ruby said in a statement Thursday. \u201cThe Justice Family will fight any attempt to remove this case from the local community and will continue to protect The Greenbrier, its employees, and West Virginia from exploitation by out-of-state companies.\u201d<\/p>\n