NEW YORK— It may well be all the repercussions of the Sheraton/Woodley Road case of two years ago have not yet settled, what with Sheraton Hotels filing a lawsuit against its former counsel— LeBoeuf, Lamb, Green & MacRae— alleging the law firm breached its duty to handle the matter with a reasonable degree of care. In the wake of the $50.1-million judgment rendered against the Starwood-owned brand, Sheraton would be expected to prove the law firm breached its duty by showing actual negligence on the attorneys’ part, according to David Neff of the Chicago-based law offices of Jenner & Block LLC. Moreover, Neff maintained Sheraton would similarly have to show that it would have prevailed at trial (or would have suffered a lesser judgment) if the alleged acts of malpractice had not occurred. “Sheraton’s pursuit of this malpractice claim is a smart move…as long as there is a good-faith basis for bringing it,” Neff said. “From a public relations standpoint, Sheraton can announce to the hotel industry that it really did not do anything wrong, but rather had ineffective counsel who lost a case they should have won.” Furthermore, Neff claimed that “from a business standpoint, [Sheraton’s] former law firm undoubtedly has substantial malpractice coverage, and the case is likely to settle with Sheraton receiving some payment…regardless of the merits of its claims.”—Michael Billig