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Lawyers in Fatal Portland Fire Frustrated with Settlement

Lawyers in Fatal Portland Fire Frustrated with Settlement

Photo: 560 WGAN Newsradio


PORTLAND, Maine (AP)   Lawyers for the six people killed in an apartment fire in Maine say the $300,000 settlement in the wrongful death lawsuits isn’t enough.

The Portland Herald Press reports the settlement reached in February provides $45,000 for each victim’s family along with $30,000 for a survivor of the 2014 Portland blaze. Landlord Gregory Nisbet was convicted of code violations.

Attorneys for the victims say they couldn’t get a larger settlement because Nisbet didn’t have many assets. They say the apartment house was insured by a fire policy but his personal home had no equity in it.

Bradford Pattershall, a lawyer representing the mother of one of the victims, says the families are “very frustrated.”

Nisbet appealed the code violations conviction last year. The state supreme court will hear arguments next week.

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