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Lujan cites difficulties in obtaining testimonies, docs in Hillbroom suit
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Posted on Aug 08 2011
Guam attorney David J. Lujan cited difficulties in obtaining testimonies of witnesses and documents in connection with the lawsuit filed by against him by his former client, Junior Larry Hillbroom, the DNA-proven son of the late business tycoon Larry Lee Hillblom.
Lujan, through counsel Theodore W. Frank, said the parties and witnesses that need to be deposed are spread out all over the Pacific Rim, including Guam, the CNMI, California, Vietnam, and Palau.
The same holds true for documents to be discovered, said Frank in Lujan’s proposed scheduling order and discovery plan filed in the U.S. District Court on Saturday.
At the same time, Frank said, the lead counsel for the parties in the lawsuit are located in California.
For these reasons, Frank proposed to have a discovery cutoff date of December 2012.
“The logistical difficulties with scheduling depositions, coordinating parties’ witnesses, and counsel’s schedules, and locating and producing documents require this discovery cutoff date,” Frank said.
Discovery is a process employed by a party to a civil or criminal case to require the adverse party to disclose information that is essential for the preparation of the case.
Frank proposed, among other things, a trial date be set for December 2013.
Hillbroom, through counsel Mark B. Hanson, sued Lujan and 10 other unnamed co-defendants, for legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, racketeering activity, civil conspiracy, and violations of California Business and Professions Code.
Hillbroom, who is now based in Idaho, asked the court to order the defendants to pay him damages, restitution, attorney’s fees, and court costs.
Hillbroom filed the original lawsuit against Lujan in the Central District of California in February 2009. The case was dismissed, though, after the court found it did not have personal jurisdiction over him. This prompted Hillbroom to file the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the NMI.
