Chandler leaving LandAmerica; company to sell other businesses

-- The chairman and chief executive of the bankrupt LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. is stepping down and the Henrico County-based company will sell its remaining business units, it said today.

Theodore L. Chandler Jr. is leaving the company Thursday, according to a news release.

The 13-member board of directors has been reduced to five people.

What was once a top employer in the Richmond area and won "most admired" recognition from Fortune magazine for the past two years filed for Chapter 11 protection Nov. 26.

The company has sold its principal title insurance subsidiaries, which provided 85 percent of company revenue.

"The company, in its dramatically scaled-down form, no longer offers Mr. Chandler the same executive responsibilities and challenges previously available to him," a company news release said.

Jonathan Mitchell, who was brought in after the bankruptcy filing, will lead the company, the release said. -- Emily C. Dooley