Dennis Cotto has spent much of his adult life fighting legal battles.

So the attorney from Northern Virginia is ready, willing and able to mount a legal challenge to Richmond City Hall over its casino selection process, most notably the city’s insistence that state and city procurement laws do not apply in this case.

Mr. Cotto, who spearheaded the bid from the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casinos that has been eliminated from the casino competition, claims the city had no authority to ignore procurement laws that would have granted Golden Nugget “an administrative process from which to seek redress or appeal.”