Ad: Man’s assets have been seized Michael Liberty sued over failed venture

PORTLAND – A lawyer who obtained an undisclosed settlement from Michael Liberty over debts allegedly owed to a Yarmouth developer has taken out legal advertisements seeking to claim additional assets for another client.

The legal advertisements that appeared in the Portland Press Herald claim Liberty’s stake in 12 different business ventures had been seized to secure the claim by Daniel Hall, who sued over a failed real estate venture.

Hall’s lawyer, William Robitzek, said he took out the legal announcements to gather more information about Liberty’s holdings.

George Marcus, Liberty’s lawyer, said the legal notices simply were a ploy to influence negotiations to settle the judgment.

The dispute is part of a bigger lawsuit that dates back to

the 1980s, when Liberty was investing in real estate in Old Port, said Charles Remmell, who represents four of the five who sued Liberty.

Hall and the four others sued after the deal soured and collected a judgment worth more than $1.6 million, Remmell said.

With interest, the judgment now is worth more than $2 million, Remmell said. Hall’s share is $350,000, Robitzek said.

Liberty boosted his financial worth to more than $300 million through a series of land deals in the mid 1980s, including the twin towers at 100 Middle St. and the Chandler’s Wharf condominium complex.

He rebounded from financial hits suffered in the recession of the early 1990s and remains one of Maine’s most prominent deal makers.

Liberty has been involved in other high-stakes deals, including a takeover of the C.F. Hathaway shirt factory in Waterville in 1996 that saved the plant from shutdown and preserved hundreds of jobs.

But he also has been accused of failing to pay debts.

Yarmouth developer William Hamill claimed last year in a lawsuit that Liberty refused to pay a $1.8 million debt. Hamill, who was represented by Robitzek, settled the case for an undisclosed amount.