First Circuit Massachusetts Personal Jurisdiction
May 7, 2026 by Julia MacDonald
Issues of personal jurisdiction are inherently fact specific. But the First Circuit’s recent decision in Putnam v. EPR Properties, No. 25-1857 (1st Cir. Apr. 28, 2026), offers broader lessons applicable to future disputes over personal jurisdiction—both before the district court and First Circuit. What follows is a somewhat lengthy factual recitation. With apologies to the […]
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First Circuit
November 17, 2022 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
I had the opportunity to attend the District of Maine Judicial Conference earlier this week, and it did not disappoint. It was the first one held in four years given the pandemic, and it was great to hear from practitioners and judges in person. My partner Nolan Reichl, along with Valerie Wicks, moderated a great […]
October 13, 2022 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
Yesterday the First Circuit handed down a notable decision in Maine Forest Products Council v. Cormier, a case in which my firm represented the plaintiffs-appellees. In MFPC, plaintiffs challenged a state law barring non-resident workers from hauling logs within Maine under the federal H-2A visa program. The First Circuit concluded that plaintiffs demonstrated a substantial […]
August 23, 2022 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
Last week the First Circuit reached an interesting conclusion: the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from adopting protectionist legislation affecting illegal interstate markets. The case, Northeast Patients Group v. United Cannabis Patients and Caregivers of Maine, involved a state law requiring officers and directors of medical marijuana dispensaries operating in Maine to be Maine residents. The […]
First Circuit Law Court
February 1, 2022 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
The Law Court recently weighed in on a matter of critical importance – the enforceability of online consumer contracts. Confronting the issue in a case involving ride-sharing giant Uber’s efforts to enforce an arbitration provision, the Law Court held in Sarchi v. Uber Technologies that online contracts are enforceable only if the consumer (1) has […]
COVID-19 First Circuit Law Court Maine
January 18, 2022 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
Around this time last year, I took a look at statistics showing that the filing of new civil appeals had declined in federal courts and in Maine. As I observed then, the 2020 statistics had not yet fully captured the impact of the pandemic on appeals and civil appeal statistics would bear monitoring. I decided […]
First Circuit Law Court Oral Argument US Supreme Court
September 28, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
For Supreme Court watchers and appellate practitioners, last week brought an interesting development – the Court is changing how it conducts oral argument. Arguments will now feature both unstructured questioning by all justices and then uninterrupted questioning by individual justices. It will be fascinating to watch how this new approach affects oral arguments in the […]
Appellate Briefs First Circuit Law Court US Supreme Court
March 22, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
Appellate advocacy is about persuasion – and the most important avenue for persuading appellate judges is a brief that is clear, concise, and readable. So what does an appellate attorney do when confronted by the need to quote a passage that contains ellipses, citations, or alterations in brackets? One less-than-desirable option is to include all […]
COVID-19 First Circuit Maine
February 1, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
Chief Justice Roberts recently issued his year-end report on the federal judiciary, appropriately focusing on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chief Justice noted that 2020 ended with the judiciary in much the same situation as when the American court system began – in the midst of a public health crisis. In 1790, it […]
January 12, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
Interlocutory appeals, including those relating to injunctive relief, often present traps for the unwary. In state court in Maine, parties typically cannot appeal an order granting or denying a motion for preliminary injunction. The Law Court has so held in numerous cases, including Sanborn v. Sanborn. In federal court, by contrast, it is possible to […]
