Maine Appeals
Maine Appeals

About

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.

January 18, 2022

Revisiting Appellate Trends from 2021
COVID-19, First Circuit, Law Court, Maine
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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 […]

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November 17, 2021

Tricky Issues of Appellate Procedure: Timeliness and Cross-Appeals Edition
Cross-Appeals, Law Court, Maine
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Yesterday the Law Court, in an opinion written by Justice Connors, Concord General Mutual Ins. Co. v. Estate of Collette J. Boure, touched on two important appellate issues – one of which has been addressed often on this blog.  The issues involve timeliness of an appeal and the need for cross-appeals. The case involved claims […]

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October 19, 2021

It’s Time to Clarify When Cross-Appeals Are Necessary
Cross-Appeals, Law Court, Maine
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Much has been said on this blog about when one should cross-appeal, given the Law Court’s jurisprudence on the topic.  I most recently addressed the issue here.  As I noted then, there is some tension between the text of the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, which provides that “[i]f the appellee seeks any change in […]

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September 28, 2021

A New Experiment In Oral Arguments
First Circuit, Law Court, Oral Argument, US Supreme Court
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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 […]

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August 18, 2021

Ballot Question Challenges – To Expedite or Not to Expedite? That Is the Question.
Elections, Law Court, Maine
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The Law Court recently issued a decision in Caiazzo v. Secretary of State that was interesting on several levels.  (Full disclosure: this blogger represented the petitioner in the appeal).  One procedural aspect of the decision is particularly interesting, as it will affect the timing of future challenges to the Secretary of State’s determination regarding the […]

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July 26, 2021

The Appellate Judges Education Institute
Uncategorized
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Any good appellate lawyer, and any good appellate judge, is always learning.  One great avenue for professional growth is the Council of Appellate Lawyers, which is the ABA’s unique appellate bench-bar organization.  CAL’s mission is to foster a dialogue among federal and state appellate lawyers and judges.  (Full disclosure: I am privileged to be the […]

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July 12, 2021

Administrative Appeals: The Remedy When the Fact Finder Doesn’t Make Factual Findings
Law Court, Maine
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What is the remedy in an administrative appeal when the fact-finder doesn’t do its job by making findings of fact to explain its decision? As the Law Court recently reaffirmed in Fair Elections Portland, Inc. v. City of Portland, the proper remedy is generally a remand for further proceedings. Fair Elections Portland involved a Rule […]

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May 26, 2021

Aiding and Abetting, Conspiracy, and The Picture of Dorian Gray
Law Court, Maine
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It isn’t every day that the Law Court addresses claims of civil conspiracy or aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duty, but that is exactly what the court did in Meridian Medical Systems, LLC v. Epix Therapeutics, Inc. – with a bit of literary allusion thrown in. In Meridian, the Court clearly stated for the […]

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April 22, 2021

Interlocutory Appeals and Judicial Efficiency
Law Court, Maine
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In a recent blog post, I explored the application of the final judgment rule to appeals from preliminary injunction orders in state court.  As I noted, the Law Court has recently applied the “death knell” exception to that rule to hear an interlocutory appeal regarding a preliminary injunction.  In two other recent cases, the Law […]

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March 22, 2021

All Cleaned Up
Appellate Briefs, First Circuit, Law Court, US Supreme Court
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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 […]

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