Maine Appeals
Maine Appeals

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In this blog, we seek to discuss issues relating to appeals and appellate law in Maine, including the activities and decisions of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and First Circuit Court of Appeals relevant to Maine, and other participants in the Maine appellate community.

April 15, 2025

May v. Must – The Scope of Agency Permitting Review under Statutory Standards
Law Court, Maine
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The Law Court recently issued a decision in Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative v. Board of Environmental Protection that contains an enlightening discussion of what an agency must consider—as opposed to what an agency may consider—in issuing a permit. In so doing, it adopted an important limit on how far agencies must go in reviewing a […]

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February 24, 2025

Opioids and Common Law Liability for Indirect Economic Harm
Law Court, Maine
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Earlier this month, the Law Court weighed in on a hot-button legal issue—the potential liability of opioid manufacturers for the costs of the drug epidemic. In Eastern Maine Medical Center v. Walgreen Company, the Law Court affirmed a decision granting a motion to dismiss hospitals’ claims for negligence, public nuisance, unjust enrichment, fraud and negligent […]

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January 28, 2025

Vested Rights Revisited
Law Court, Maine, Maine Constitution
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In recent years, numerous state courts across the country have been asked to consider the question whether a plaintiff’s claim can be retroactively revived by the legislature after the claim has been extinguished by a statute of limitations. The Law Court, in Dupuis v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, has now addressed that question in […]

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December 10, 2024

Litigants Beware: Unjust Enrichment v. Quantum Meruit
Law Court, Maine
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The distinction between unjust enrichment claims and quantum meruit claims have long bedeviled courts and practitioners. In Core Finance Team Affiliates v. Maine Medical Center, the Law Court provided important guidance regarding the differences between these claims while leaving open a difficult question relating to the implications of pursuing one claim but not the other. […]

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October 02, 2024

New Amendments to the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure
Appellate Briefs, Law Court, Maine, Rules
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The Supreme Judicial Court has adopted amendments to the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, which will become effective on November 1. These rules reflect a significant amount of work by the Maine Appellate Rules Committee, of which I currently have the honor of serving as chair. The amendments introduce changes that should substantially benefit practitioners […]

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September 30, 2024

Interlocutory Appeals – Navigating the Pitfalls
Interlocutory Appeals, Law Court, Maine
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Generally speaking, under the ‘final judgment rule,’ a party can only appeal a final judgment—a decision that fully decides and disposes of the whole case, leaving no further questions for future consideration. This judicial doctrine, however, is subject to exceptions. In certain circumstances, a party may be able to take an interlocutory appeal of a […]

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August 26, 2024

Legislators, Standing, and the Courts
Law Court, Maine
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Disputes between members of different branches of government frequently raise thorny issues—and standing is often one of them. The Maine Law Court tackled the issue of legislator standing in its recent decision in Clardy v. Jackson, its first pronouncement on the issue. Some background: in 2024, partisan disputes over the state budget led to a […]

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July 11, 2024

Overruling Chevron Changes Everything. Or Not.
Maine, US Supreme Court
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As I previously noted on this blog, the end of the Supreme Court’s term brought with it a landmark decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overruled Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The holding of Loper Bright is clear: courts are no longer required to defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. But […]

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June 28, 2024

Chevron Is Dead. Does It Still Live in Maine?
Maine, US Supreme Court
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In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court today overruled Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which held that courts should defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute. In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Court held that the Administrative Procedure Act requires courts to exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an […]

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April 01, 2024

Dictionaries and the Law – Hunting, Poaching, and the Right to Food
Law Court, Maine, Maine Constitution
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The Law Court’s recent decision in Parker v. Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife is fascinating—it is a rare instance when the Court has been called upon to interpret and apply a new constitutional provision. The Maine Constitution has had relatively few amendments, but in 2021 Maine voters approved a “Right to Food Amendment.” Parker […]

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