PORTLAND, Maine — Cate Street CEO John Halle and the former business partner seeking to collect a legal judgment of at least $2.4 million have entered settlement talks that started last week.
The parties are seeking to settle in federal court, where plaintiff Richard Davimos filed charges that Halle illegally transferred a home and interest in various corporations to his wife to avoid paying a $1 million judgment awarded by New York’s top court.
The settlement talks have pushed the trial date to Nov. 12, according to court records. The trial date initially was set for Nov. 3.
An attorney for Davimos did not respond to a request for comment on the case, and Halle’s attorney said early in the case he would not comment and has since declined requests for comment.
The legal battle has required Halle, his wife and other company officials to provide statements and records to the court that provide rare insight into the complex network of corporations associated with and managed by Cate Street Capital, including the now bankrupt Great Northern Paper Co. and the related GNP East in Millinocket, as well as Thermogen Industries in East Millinocket.
During a previous court hearing, Halle said Cate Street is owned by a company called Jenis Investments, which is owned by his wife. The effort to collect that money and the fraudulent transfer charges are separate, but if Halle were found to have transferred assets to avoid paying Davimos, it could triple the amount owed.
In a motion to extend time for both parties to submit pretrial documents, Halle’s attorney Brian Champion wrote both parties have made “significant progress” after a judicial settlement conference with Magistrate Judge John Nivison and that both parties agreed filings battling over what evidence may or may not be admitted in the case “may thwart the settlement progress, if not completely cancel efforts made to date.”
Davimos and his attorneys attended a settlement conference in Maine on Oct. 17, which spilled over to a telephone conference Wednesday. Another telephone conference in the case is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 27.