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It may be the height of summer vacation time, but the Law Court and First Circuit continue to issue decisions, some of note.  Here’s one of interest, in which Judge Lynch parted ways with the reasoning of the majority (Judge Lipez, joined by CJ Howard):  Ms. S. v. Regional School Unit 72, No. 15-1487 (1st Cir. July 15, 2016).

The underlying subject matter is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its interface with a Maine regulation regarding the timing for seeking a due process hearing under IDEA.  But the discussion is all about Maine procedural requirements for rulemaking under the Maine Administrative Procedure Act.

I will spare you the majority’s long discussion of its interpretation (the ruling is a remand for the district court to try again to figure out the answer to the ultimate question whether the rule passed muster or is invalid.)  I also won’t go into the labrynthian and confusing nature of the

The attached Findlaw blog rates US Supreme Court Justices’ hipster quotients:

http://blogs.findlaw.com/supreme_court/2016/07/who-is-the-biggest-hipster-on-the-supreme-court.html?DCMP=NWL-pro_scotus

Any thoughts on how our own Supreme Judicial Court Justices rank?

As you can see, we have a new format/platform. Let’s hope it’s easier to use that the last one.  As always, all comments welcome, cconnors@pierceatwood.com.  Now let’s finish discussing the SJC’s appellate seminar.

We had just finished up with Justices Alexander and Humphrey on jurisdictional issues. Next, Justice Mead spoke about Rules 5-7 on the brief and appendix structure.  After observing that the people attending probably weren’t the offenders, Justice Mead stated that sometimes it appears that attorneys hand off appeals to a junior associate or secretary, who in turn calls the clerk’s office for questions answered in the rules.  If you are the supervising attorney, he said, then supervise.  You should know the rules, and the buck stops with you.

Regarding Rule 9(a) and the standard of review, Justice Mead said this is not the portion of the brief to exercise your advocacy skills. Just set out the standard.

Do not seek to enlarge your page limit simultaneously with filing an