This decision was handed down by District Judge Reed O’Connor on February 18, but I haven’t seen news of it anywhere, so let’s see if I can sum it without having to jump. Al Hill III, great-grandson of H.L. Hunt, is suing his father, Al Hill Jr., for about $92 million. The argument centers on some documents signed by Al Jr. in 2005 that gave the money to Al III. You read about this in the cover story Gretel Kovach did for us in 2008.
Well, as recently as December 2009, it looked like Al III was going to lose his fight, as Al Jr. claimed that when he signed those documents in 2005, he was incapacitated and shouldn’t have been anywhere near any documents. But no! Now the court has determined that an updated version of those documents was actually created in 2007 — or part of them was. And by that time, Al Jr. was totally capacitated. An attorney named Ivan Irwin who has worked for Al Jr. for 50 years testified that “his secretary edited the first two pages of the 2005 Disclaimer in 2007 and ‘then stapled [the updated two pages] back on to the original signature page, which was signed in 2005.’” That secretary was Joyce Waller. There is a question about whether she signed Al Jr.’s name to some of the documents. It gets complicated-er. Perhaps I’ll write more on this later.
Anyway, the point is, Judge O’Conner has determined that the documents were backdated and that Al Jr. lied (”falsly testified,” if you prefer) to the Court when asked to explain what had happened and when. That’s a big no-no. First thing, then, is that Al Jr. owes his son some attorneys fees. That’s required by law. But Judge O’Connor goes further: “The Court does not take lightly the task of determining what sanctions are appropriate to adequately address the grave misconduct committed by Al Jr.” O’Connor says he might still find Al Jr. in contempt. Even worse for Al Jr., though, O’Connor could enter summary judgment in favor of Al III, giving him that $92 million. The Court ordered the parties to try to work it out mediation.
Bottom line: Al III’s stock just went up. A lot.
(Note: I updated this post after spending more time with the ruling to clarify, if you can believe it, the material in the second paragraph explaining the controversy over the documents.)
10 comments
This is exactly why the Lord God Almighty gave Moses stone tablets. No unauthorized edits later with WordStar version zero zero zero three.
so does Al 3 get a share of Highland Park Village with his sisters???
Oh, thank god. The missus needs a refresh of couture, and we need to get her back in NM’s “spends the most money here / best dressed list.”
@ pigskinnie- The sisters didn’t do the HP Village deal. Their husbands did.
There’s a reason why Al Jr’s been building spec homes, I guess. One of these days I’ll tell you all about it.
Husbands? With what money? Oh yeah, granpappy Hunt. Seems like the sister’s were somewhat instrumental in the deal.
Obviously you know nothing about the individual people involved in the HP Village deal and didn’t closely read the D article about this saga. And you completely missed the point.
Husbands are not poor, just for the record. (Ever heard of Mi Cocina?) Everyone has plenty of money to go around. They’re not two poor kids from the wrong side of the tracks being fully bankrolled by their wives because they haven’t earned or inherited their own money. Either way, money they MAY or MAY NOT have used for the HP Village deal, money already received from grandpappy, would not be money involved in the suit. Because the sisters aren’t fighting grandpappy to keep their money. They aren’t fighting anyone. Al III is fighting daddy to keep his part of daddy’s portion. All of this means… the Al III suit has nothing to do with HP Village. The sisters’ husbands own & run it. Not a part of the suit. So Al III won’t be getting any of it. That was the point of my comment. Thank you.
Agree to disagree on the bankrolling…yes Ray W. has made money on his own, but not the kind that buys HP Village. I also agree that the HP deal has nothing to do with the suit as you state. Was more making a joke that yes it was the the husbands that did the deal, but there is very little chance they could have without the wives approval. This is a III vs. Jr. story, and a sad one at that.
tell a lie, tell ten for each you tell…so how many lies do you think al jr. has told…1,000,000 x10×10x10×10….stop for goodness sake!
They will live to wish they had left the wealth in Al Jr.s control. “Best dressed” and fine jewelry is surely a vain expenditure if it doesn’t guarantee a return. I prefer synthetic stones for most pieces.