Gill v Bischoff [2011] GUSC 25; 2011 Guam 25 (20 December 2011)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF GUAM

FRANCIS L. GILL,
Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

WILLIAM C. BISCHOFF aka BILL BISCHOFF,
ROGER S. MORAN and BOTTOMLESS PIT, L.L.C.,
and DOES ONE (1) through TEN (10) INCLUSIVE
Defendants-Appellees.

Supreme Court Case No. CVA11-004
Superior Court Case No. CV0333-07

OPINION

December 20, 2011

Cite as: 2011 Guam 25

Appeal from the Superior Court of Guam
Argued and submitted July 14, 2011
Hagåtña, Guam

Appearing for Plaintiff-Appellant: Curtis C. Van de veld, Esq. The Van de veld Law Offices, P.C. 123 Hernan Cortez Ave. Hagåtña, GU 96910

Appearing for Defendants-Appellees: William C. Bischoff, Esq. HCR Box 172 Inarajan, GU 96915

BEFORE: F. PHILIP CARBULLIDO, Chief Justice; ROBERT J. TORRES, Associate Justice; and KATHERINE A. MARAMAN, Associate Justice.

MARAMAN, J.:

[1] Petitioner-Appellant Francis L. Gill appealed the trial court’s dismissal of his action against Defendants-Appellees William C. Bischoff, Roger S. Moran, Bottomless Pit, L.L.C., and Does One through Ten (collectively referred to as “Bischoff, et al.”). For the reasons set forth, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the entire case that Gill brought against Bischoff, et al.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

[2] This case stems from a prior lawsuit by Francis Gill, a shareholder of Coral Pit, Inc. (“CPI”), on behalf of CPI and himself, against Jeffrey Siegel, Roger Moran, and Richard Cruz, who were all represented by Attorney William Bischoff. After dismissing Gill’s claims against Siegel, Cruz, and Moran, the trial court awarded Moran roughly $433,000.00 (“Moran Judgment”) pursuant to the CPI shareholders’ buyout agreement. Siegel obtained a similar judgment against CPI (“Siegel Judgment”) in a California federal court. Siegel then filed an abstract of this judgment at the Department of Land Management, giving Siegel priority in executing on any of CPI’s real property assets.[1]

[3]