Man sues six attorneys, others for monetary losses

MARTINSBURG -- A man is suing six attorneys, a law firm, two banks and several others for causing him to sustain monetary damages.

David Pill and the Pill Law Firm; Aaron C. Amore of Kratovil & Amore; Centra Bank; Branch Bank & Trust; William Hallam of Rosenberg, Martin & Greenberg; Robert Tumble and Suzanne Williams-McAuliffe of McNeer, Highland, McMunn, Varner, LLP; the Estate of James D. Steptoe; Security Title Insurance Co.; Atlas Tri-State SPE, LLC; and PC DiMagno Engineers were named as defendants in the suit.

George Van Wagner is a real estate developer and is the beneficial owner of the assets of Hickory Ridge LLC, Vanwood LLC and Leisure Living LLC, according to a complaint filed Feb. 16 in Berkeley Circuit Court.

Van Wagner claims the companies sustained monetary damages as a result of the breach of fiduciary duty, professional malpractice, negligent and fraudulent conduct of the defendants, and contributory negligence and conspiracy to defraud in wrongful foreclosures.

The law firm of Pill & Pill did over $40 million worth of settlements for Van Wagner collectively and David Pill represented him at the settlements and prepared all settlement documents, according to the suit.

Van Wagner claims he realized several documents were incorrect and that oversights included omitted parcels of land, incorrect Habendum clauses and order oversights. He claims the omissions were never admitted to and corrected when they were discovered by the defendants, but instead were complicated by the defendants "attempting to cover up and force through further incorrect documents without the plaintiff's knowledge."

Van Wagner has been damaged by the negligence of the defendants who knew or should have known of the negligence that deprived him of the Hickory Ridge Route 11 property that was worth $1,000,000, the Leisure Living property that was worth $250,000, the Hickory Ridge Route 9 property's second trust note that was worth $3,150,000 and the Vanwood property that was work $250,000.

Van Wagner is seeking punitive damages in the amount of $11,500,000. He is representing himself.

Berkeley Circuit Court case number: 10-C-125