Defense lawyers for a renowned class action attorney facing federal fraud and racketeering charges, Melvyn Weiss, have asked that his trial be moved to New York from Los Angeles, where he was indicted in September for allegedly paying plaintiffs to bring securities cases.

In a motion filed Friday in Los Angeles, Mr. Weiss’s legal team said holding the trial in that city would be costly and disruptive for the longtime litigator, for likely witnesses, for his defense attorneys, and for his New York-based firm, Milberg Weiss, which is also a defendant in the case.

“Justice has no interest in requiring Mr. Weiss and the firm’s representatives to relocate themselves to Los Angeles for the months it will take to try this case and to force them to defend it in a place where their friends, relatives, and families will be least likely to attend,” the defense lawyers, Benjamin Brafman and William Taylor III, wrote. Holding the trial in Los Angeles would result in an estimated $555,310 in extra expense for Mr. Weiss and the firm, including business-class travel for Milberg partners, the motion said. Another factor that favors moving the trial is that Mr. Weiss’s “temple and spiritual support” are located in New York, the defense argued.

Prosecutors had no immediate comment on the change-of-venue motion.