Hillbroom sued his former attorneys David Lujan and Barry Israel for legal malpractice, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations or RICO Act.
Hillbroom also sued his former trustee, Keith Waibel.
Israel and Lujan, who represented Hillbroom when he was a minor, secured $90 million from the Larry Lee Hillblom estate.
Hillbroom is one of the four roven heirs of Hillblom, the DHL Corp. founder who died in a plane crash in 1995 near Saipan, leaving behind him an estate with an estimated value of around $600 million.
In his lawsuit, Hillbroom alleged that the defendants committed extrinsic fraud on the Guam guardianship court by denying him a fair opportunity to challenge their 56% retainer.
In July 2020, Hillbroom agreed to dismiss Israel from the lawsuit after a settlement agreement was reached. A stipulation of dismissal from the parties was filed in the court soon after.
On Nov. 12, 2019, the judge granted the parties’ stipulation —including the request that all currently pending motions remain pending should the matter proceed to trial — and vacated the Nov. 19 trial date.
In her recent order, the judge said almost a year has passed, and the remaining parties are still engaged in settlement discussions, including between Hillbroom and Lujan and between Hillbroom and Waibel.
Given the amount of time that has passed since the previous court order granting the parties’ stipulation, and the ongoing mediation efforts between the plaintiff and the remaining two defendants, Judge Manglona denied without prejudice two pending motions.
“If plaintiff’s claims do proceed to trial, then plaintiff may refile and notice these same motions,” she added.
At a status conference held on Nov. 5, 2020, Hillbroom’s attorney Rachel Dimitruk and Lujan updated the court as to the status of the mediation.
Dimitruk told the court that “there will be no remaining claims as to Waibel.”
Judge Manglona has vacated the jury trial set for Dec. 1, 2020 and ordered Waibel and Hillbroom to meet and confer to resolve issues.
Waibel requested that the jury trial be waived and that a bench trial be set as to the cross-claims of Israel and himself, but Judge Manglona said the jury trial will proceed as to the cross-claims.
She scheduled a pretrial conference for Nov. 13 at 8:30 a.m.
Judge Manglona told Israel about a potential order to show cause on the issue of statute of limitations as to his cross-claims against Waibel.
Israel and Waibel appeared at the hearing pro se — they represented themselves.
Judge Manglona previously denied the summary judgment motion of Israel for libel and slander in his cross-claims against Waibel.
The judge also denied Israel’s claims that Waibel made defamatory statements intentionally and with malice.
But Judge Manglona granted Israel’s partial summary judgment motion as to his claims that Waibel made defamatory statements per se to others and made defamatory statements negligently.
Israel also requested the court to enter a judgment against Waibel and issue an award of $1.44 million and punitive damages in the amount of $400,000.
In her order, Judge Manglona said that while the court agrees with Israel that he is entitled to presumed damages as a matter of law, “no evidence has been provided supporting any amount.”
As to the $400,000 claims by Israel, Judge Manglona said he failed to establish traditional malice and to demonstrate entitlement as matter of law.
She said because there is a reasonable dispute as to the amount of punitive damage owed, the issue should be left for the jury to decide.
