Judge dismisses suit by ex-trustee of Hillbroom vs Vietnam-based lawyer

The federal court dismissed yesterday the lawsuit filed by a former trustee of Junior Larry Hillbroom against Hillbroom’s former lawyer Barry J. Israel, who is now based in Vietnam. Hillbroom is the reported DNA-proven son of the late business tycoon Larry Lee Hillblom.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona granted Israel’s motion to dismiss Keith Waibel’s cross-claims for lack of personal jurisdiction.

Manglona agreed with Israel that the court lacks specific jurisdiction over the lawyer on Waibel’s cross claims because, first and foremost, Waibel was never a resident of the CNMI.

Moreover, Manglona said, Waibel’s alleged involvement in the scheme to defraud Hillbroom did not begin until 1999, near the end of the CNMI Hillblom probate case.

The judge said that Waibel’s role was to manage Hillbroom’s money in the JLH Trust, which was approved by the Guam Guardianship Court and registered in the Cook Islands.

“Israel’s alleged actions to coerce Waibel, a California resident, to support efforts to raise the contingency fee were not expressly aimed at this forum,” Manglona noted in her order.

With the ruling, Manglona vacated the hearing on the motion to dismiss set for today, Thursday.

Hillbroom is suing his former lawyers, Israel and David J. Lujan, in district court for allegedly conspiring to inflate their contingency fee when Hillblom’s fortune was still undergoing probate proceedings. He also named Waibel as co-defendant.

Waibel filed a cross-complaint (third-party complaint) against Israel and Lujan so that in the event he is found liable in Hillbroom’s lawsuit, he could claim for indemnity and contribution from Israel and Lujan.

On Jan. 26, 2012, Manglona dismissed Hillbroom’s lawsuit against Israel for lack of personal jurisdiction. The judge ruled that Hillbroom’s lawsuit was filed in 2010, nine years after Israel moved away from the CNMI and ceased meaningful contacts with the forum.

“To make Israel answer in the CNMI today for any and all actions that arose long ago when he maintained substantial activities here, regardless of whether those actions were related to the forum, would not comport with the notions of ‘fair play and substantial justice’ that underpin personal jurisdiction,” said Manglona in that order.

Last January, Manglona denied Lujan’s motion to dismiss Waibel’s cross-complaint filed against him,

Manglona ruled that Lujan’s improper-venue defense is without merit.

Manglona said that Waibel’s equitable claims of indemnity and contribution are not foreclosed because of his own alleged negligence.