A state appeals court has ruled that a $25 million lawsuit leveled against an alleged “holdover” tenant represented by real estate attorney Adam Leitman Bailey will continue to be stayed in deference to the building owner’s related holdover proceeding against the tenant in housing court.

The ruling from the Appellate Division, First Department, while an incremental one, is another piece of a heated, multilayered legal war that’s been raging for months between the tenant and building owner. And it involves Bailey, who is representing his client on contingency, more personally than is typically seen. In May, Bailey and his law firm were sued by the building owner in a separate $25 million action that’s now been dismissed by the trial court but that is being appealed.