A seven-year U.S. legal feud between members of the prominent Guatemalan family that controls the popular Pollo Campero restaurant chain has reached a turning point that could send the bitter dispute over millions of dollars back to Guatemala -- where one side claims justice may be impossible to get.

The case pits Juan Arturo Gutierrez, who with his brother and sister helped launch what became the parent of Pollo Campero, against his two nephews who now control Guatemalan conglomerate Corporacion Multi-Inversiones.

Known by its Spanish acronym CMI, the company operates the fried chicken restaurant chain, as well as poultry production and dozens of other businesses.

Arturo Gutierrez, who formed a company called Lisa S.A., claims he was cheated by the nephews out of millions of dollars since relinquishing his share of control over the conglomerate in 1982.

Arturo Gutierrez contends that the nephews -- CMI co-presidents Juan Luis Bosch and Dionisio Gutierrez -- siphoned profits from the company and stashed them away in Miami banks for their own personal use, including lavish homes and aircraft. Both nephews deny doing that.

Since 1999, Arturo Gutierrez -- who lives in Toronto -- has tried to persuade state and federal courts in Miami to consider his claims, arguing in part that the nephews' power in Guatemala means no court will side with him there.

Miami has increasingly become a favored forum for settling of legal disputes involving entities in the Caribbean and Latin America. Last year, for example, a federal jury found a powerful Dominican banker liable in a scheme to swindle Banco International out of tens of millions of dollars.

At the same time, many similar cases have been sent back to Venezuela, Colombia and other countries -- and that's what US District Judge K. Michael Moore ordered in the Guatemalan case.

Moore rejected Arturo Gutierrez's claims his lawsuit would be plagued by corruption and inefficiency in the Guatemalan courts and that judges and witnesses there are routinely subjected to intimidation. Moore also noted that almost all of the major players in the case are Guatemalan and concluded that country's laws should apply to the dispute.

"Guatemala is a far more appropriate forum," Moore wrote in his July ruling.

Lawyers for CMI said the lawsuit should never have been brought in the United States in the first place.

"It doesn't make sense that Miami or the state of Florida be the arbiter of any dispute that Latin Americans have," said James Meyer, CMI's main attorney in Miami. "We are of the opinion that the case belongs to Guatemala, and that's where it will end up."

Not surprisingly, Arturo Gutierrez intends to appeal Moore's decision to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, said his attorney, Robert Amsterdam. Amsterdam is also pursuing related claims in Florida state courts, although a judge there has also been asked to transfer the case to Guatemala. Yet another lawsuit is pending in Bermuda.

The influence wielded by Bosch and Dionisio Gutierrez in Guatemala coupled with judicial corruption documented by the US State Department and independent international organisations means a "death sentence" for the lawsuits, Arturo Gutierrez argues in court papers.

"Unfortunately when a country lacks rule of law, there are very few legal options, especially when you are taking on two of the most wealthy and powerful men in the country," Amsterdam said. "It is exceptionally clear to us that a fair trial is not possible in Guatemala in this context."

Moore, however, said in his ruling that several other US courts have concluded that Guatemala's judicial system adequate and noted that Arturo Gutierrez has filed "dozens of lawsuits" there as part of the ongoing dispute.

Although Pollo Campero is only one aspect of CMI, it has figured in the legal dispute and a public relations campaign aimed at drawing attention to the case. The chain now has more than 200 restaurants in Latin America and the United States, with plans to expand aggressively into China and Indonesia.

Amsterdam claimed that CMI has "overall plans to globalize on the back of stolen dividends [that will ultimately come back to haunt them."

But Meyer said Pollo Campero is not directly related to the legal dispute, which has more to do with a CMI poultry production business that does not supply the restaurants.

"They have used Pollo Campero in as many statements and comments as they can. It will make their statements get broader publication," Meyer said.

Bosch and Dionisio Gutierrez have repeatedly denied their uncle's claims. They contend the lawsuits are actually "a ploy by a disgruntled shareholder to extract an inflated purchase price" for his minority interest in the poultry business. They have refused to settle the case.

"We have not allowed this unsubstantiated litigation to distract us from our business operations and commitment to our employees, customers and business partners," they said in a joint statement. "The Gutierrez-Bosch family and its companies have a long, proud history in Guatemala and Central America."

Moore did give Arturo Gutierrez permission to bring the lawsuit back to a .. court if he is "unable" to file it in Guatemala.