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 panel on Rule 26(f) issues. Of particular note for this blog, however, attendees also had the opportunity to hear from the Chief Judge of the First Circuit, Judge Barron.
Judge Barron provided an enlightening “State of the Circuit” update at the Conference. Judge Barron noted the transitions on the First Circuit bench, with the appointments in the last year of Judge Montecalvo for the open seat from Rhode Island and Judge Gelpí from Puerto Rico. More changes are yet to come, with a vacancy for Judge Howard’s seat from New Hampshire, and a pending nominee (Julie Rikelman) for Judge Lynch’s seat from Massachusetts. This is certainly a remarkable