THE federal court has awarded Junior Larry Hillbroom $20 million in judgment against his former trustee Keith Waibel after the two agreed to settle their civil dispute.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona, in her order of judgment, said the plaintiff, Hillbroom, “shall be entitled to enforce this judgment by any legal means, including by writ of attachment and/or execution, judgment lien, foreclosure sale and/or order in aid of judgment.”
Moreover, “Hillbroom shall be entitled to an award of costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, expert fees incurred in post-judgment collection efforts, including but not limited to fees and costs incurred in negotiations, motions, applications, judgment debtor discovery procedures, enforcement of discovery orders, for prevailing in appeals, if any, of orders in aid of judgment, writs and/or discovery orders relating to the collection of the judgment or any other efforts necessary to collect the judgment.”
In 2010, Hillbroom sued his former attorneys, Lujan and Barry Israel, for legal malpractice, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and violations of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Israel and Lujan represented Hillbroom when he was a minor in securing $90 million from the Larry Lee Hillblom estate.
When Hillbroom became an adult, he sued his former lawyers for malpractice as well as his former trustee, Keith Waibel, for conspiracy.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants committed extrinsic fraud on the Guam guardianship court by denying Hillbroom a fair opportunity to challenge their 56% retainer.
In July 2020, Israel was dismissed from the lawsuit after a settlement agreement was reached between him and Hillbroom.
Judge Manglona granted the stipulation of Waibel, who represented himself, and Hillbroom, represented by attorneys Mark Hanson and Rachel Dimitruk, to dismiss all claims against Waibel except for breach of fiduciary duty.
As for Hillbroom’s claims against Lujan, Judge Manglona has also dismissed them with prejudice and approved the parties’ settlement agreement.
“Each party to the stipulation shall bear their own costs and attorneys’ fees with respect to the dismissed claims. The court retains jurisdiction to enforce the settlement of the parties in the event of a dispute,” the judge said.
As for the cross-claims between Lujan and Waibel, Judge Manglona directed their closure, and dismissed the case with prejudice.
Waibel and Lujan have stipulated previously to dismiss with prejudice their cross-claims.
Hillbroom is one of the four DNA-proven heirs of DHL Corp. founder Larry Lee Hillblom who died in a plane crash in 1995 near Saipan, leaving behind him an estimated $600 million estate.
Junior Larry Hillbroom
