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Carter Banks pushes for dismissal in state case regarding Justice-owned Greenbrier

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)

CHARLESTON – 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.

Attorneys 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.

Attorneys 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’s debt. TRT Holdings has denied these claims.

In Thursday’s 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.

“The Court should dismiss this suit without prejudice and permit the claims asserted to be litigated in the parties’ agreed venue … where the Carter Bank Defendants have already filed suit against Plaintiffs based on breaches of the contracts between the parties,” 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’s chief executive and switched parties to Republican.

According 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.

“Nothing about the application of the forum selection clauses at issue in this case – each one negotiated by the parties’ respective legal counsel – is unreasonable, unjust, or invalid,” Goodwin wrote.

“Given their business sophistication and first-class legal representation, Plaintiffs’ 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,” Goodwin continued. “Neither should be tolerated by this Court.”

At the beginning of April, White Sulphur Springs Holdings LLC (WSSH) — a company formed by TRT Holdings — 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.

WSSH 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’s operations.

Justice 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.

The 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’s 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.

According 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.

TRT 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.

The Justice family accuses WSSH/TRT Holdings of using confidential information and violating standstill agreements to purchase the Greenbrier’s 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.

“The defendants who filed this motion apparently don’t want to face the people of Greenbrier County, whose jobs and livelihoods they’re putting at risk,” Ruby said in a statement Thursday. “The 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.”

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