Herbalife trustees win round in battle with founder's wife. (Wall Street West).

A Superior Court judge said he would dismiss a lawsuit see king to remove the trustees of the estate of Herbalife founder Mark Hughes, who died in 2000 of a drug and alcohol overdose.

In a ruling made public last week, Judge Thomas Stoever said he found "no evidence" that the trustees of the Hughes Family Trust, which controls a $250 million fortune to benefit Hughes' only son, Alexander, abused their fiduciary discretion.

In May 2001, Hughes' ex-wife, Suzan, filed suit seeking to remove the three trustees, each of whom was a Herbalife executive and received a large payout when the Los Angeles-based company was sold for $685 million to two investment firms in July 2002.

Suzan Hughes claimed that the trustees--including Jack Reynolds, the child's paternal grandfather--had engaged in self dealing, violating their fiduciary duties due to conflicts of interest and animosity toward Alexander and Suzan, his mother.

Suzan Hughes' lawyer, Hillel Chodos, said the dismissal would be appealed as soon as it is signed next month.

"I believe that Suzan brought the case because she's looking after her son Alex and hopes to ultimately vindicate her position," Chodos said.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the Hughes Trust said they filed motions to recoup $1.2 million in attorneys' fees spent defending Suzan Hughes' efforts to replace the trustees. "The false allegations brought against us as to our integrity and fairness were hurtful--particularly to Mr. Reynolds who is Alex's grandfather," said Conrad Klein, another of the trustees.