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Hillbroom appeals dismissal of suit vs Vietnam-based lawyer
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Posted on Apr 30 2012
Junior Larry Hillbroom, the reported DNA-proven son of the late business tycoon Larry Lee Hillblom, is appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit a federal court ruling that dismissed his lawsuit against his former lawyer who is now based in Vietnam.
Hillbroom, through counsel, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court his notice of appeal. He is appealing to reverse the district court’s Jan. 26, 2012, decision that dismissed his lawsuit against attorney Barry J. Israel. He is also seeking to reverse the district court’s final dismissal judgment issued on April 5, 2012, on his claim against Israel.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona dismissed Hillbroom’s lawsuit against Israel on Jan. 26, 2012, for lack of personal jurisdiction. In granting Israel’s motion to dismiss, Manglona said the court does not decide the lawyer’s other asserted defenses.
Manglona said that Hillbroom’s lawsuit was filed in 2010, nine years after Israel moved 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 the order.
In January, Manglona denied Guam attorney David J. Lujan’s motion to dismiss a cross-complaint filed against him by a former trustee of the Junior Larry Hillbroom Trust. She ruled that Lujan’s improper-venue defense is meritless.
Hillbroom filed separate lawsuits against his former lawyers Israel and David J. Lujan in district court for allegedly conspiring to inflate their attorney’s contingency fee when Hillblom’s fortune was still undergoing probate proceedings. He also named his former trustee Keith A. Waibel as co-defendant.
