PORTLAND, Maine — The legal fallout from Maine’s deadliest fire in decades could change the way that the state handles some lawsuits.
A Maine Supreme Judicial Court decision related to the 2014 fire that killed six people in Portland could sink the state’s longstanding “first-come, first-served” standard of setting priorities for payments in cases like these, in which multiple people are lining up to sue the same person.
The case at hand pits the victims’ families against each other in a battle over who gets to be first in line for payouts if the burned building’s landlord Gregory Nisbet, who is also facing manslaughter charges, is successfully sued.
The farther back in line, the greater the chance the plaintiff could be left with nothing because the defendant has run out of money. Estates for five of the six victims have filed suit.
Here’s a timeline of this story so far
In the immediate aftermath of the Nov. 1, 2014, fire at 20-24 Noyes St. that killed six people, attorney Thomas Hallett, on behalf of the estate of victim Steven Summers, filed a non-public claim for Nisbet’s money and property in court, a move commonly used in cases where the plaintiff fears the defendant could hide away assets to prevent them from being taken through legal action.
In legal circles, that claim is known as an ex parte attachment, and is not publicized until the landlord challenges it.
But as Chief Justice Leigh Saufley noted during a hearing about the case Thursday in Portland, the state typically anticipates that the defendants will fight the orders, unlike Nisbet, who did not.
“The rules don’t provide us with guidance, and the case law does not provide us with guidance,” she said.
That matters because, by challenging the filing, the defendant brings the otherwise hidden claim to light, where other parties could also challenge it.
But Nisbet never fought it, so families of the other victims didn’t learn about it until they also filed similar claims weeks later. The estates of the other families successfully sued in Superior Court to get the Summers’ claim removed.
As a result, the Summers family lost its place at the front of the line, and appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to get it back.
Hallett argued Thursday his original claim shouldn’t be considered any less valid just because Nisbet never challenged it.
“This is a terrible case, but when there are multiple claimants, the first ones in get priority under Maine law,” he told the judges.
Judge Joseph Jabar of the supreme court said that by ruling in favor of the Summers family, the high court would set a precedent forever cementing a system in which “everybody races to the courthouse” after a tragedy.
“Why should we condone that?” he questioned.
Michael K. Martin, who is representing the family of victim Ashley Thomas, argued that the Superior Court was justified in throwing out the Summers estate’s claim — which allowed his client to leapfrog the Summers estate — saying that there was no strong evidence Nisbet was a threat to hide away his assets, despite Hallett’s argument the landlord had fallen behind on mortgage payments and appeared to be in financial distress.
Since the fire, Nisbet has been charged with six counts of manslaughter, in a case in which prosecutors claim he’s responsible for the deaths because his building did not have working fire alarms and that exits were blocked. Investigators determined that the cause of the fire was improperly disposed smoking materials on the porch.
Nisbet has pleaded not guilty to the charges but has otherwise remained largely quiet about the cases against him, just reiterating words of sympathy for the victims through his attorney.
The Supreme Judicial Court is not deciding Nisbet’s guilt or innocence, nor whether the wrongful death lawsuits have merit. The Law Court is only deciding who gets first dibs on Nisbet’s assets if it’s ultimately determined the families should be paid damages.
The Supreme Court does not have a timetable in which it must deliver a ruling in the case, and decisions can come weeks or months after hearings are held.
Portland firefighters responded just after 7 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014, to a report of a fire at the two-unit building at 20-24 Noyes St. The bodies of tenants David Bragdon Jr., 27; Thomas, 29; and Nicole Finlay, 26; as well as visitors to the building Christopher Conlee, 25, of Portland; and Maelisha Jackson, 23, of Topsham were found in the building.
A sixth victim, 29-year-old Rockland man Summers, leaped from the upper floors of the 94-year-old building to escape. He was hospitalized with severe burns but succumbed to his injuries three days later.
