State high court
justice listed as
possible Campbell
Estate trustee
Robert Klein, one of several
By Rick Daysog
candidates, is backed by
beneficiary Abigail Kawananakoa
Star-BulletinState Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert Klein has turned up on the list of candidates for trustee of the Estate of James Campbell.
Klein and several local business leaders have been proposed to replace Paul Cassiday, who retired from the board of the $2 billion trust last week, sources familiar with the selection process said.
Klein's nomination is backed by Campbell Estate beneficiary Abigail Kawananakoa, sources said. Klein recently recused himself from hearing cases relating to the Campbell Estate after he appeared with Kawananakoa at a proceeding related to her bankruptcy petition.
Klein and Kawananakoa did not return calls yesterday.
Cassiday's successor to the four-person board may not be selected any time soon.
In a petition for instructions filed in Circuit Court last week, the estate said its beneficiaries are split on whether to select a replacement trustee or to eliminate the fourth trustee position. A hearing is scheduled later this year.
Founded in 1900, the estate is a private, for-profit trust established for the benefit of the heirs of Scottish seaman James Campbell. The trust is the state's eighth-largest private landowner, with 70,800 acres in Hawaii.
In 1997, each of the trustees -- Cassiday, Clint Churchill, C. Dudley Pratt and David Heenan -- earned $852,000 in commissions, up from $840,000 the previous year. Pratt retired at the end of 1997 and was replaced by Tom Leppert.
The current trustees will likely be in place when the trust is set to terminate in 2007. Then, trustees will be legally entitled to a termination fee of $5 million to $10 million each.
