Appellate Briefs Interlocutory Appeals Law Court Maine Oral Argument Rules
April 23, 2026 / April 23, 2026 by Julia MacDonald
Buckle up for a long (but informative!) post, everyone. On March 30, 2026, the Maine State Bar Association hosted an all-day seminar on appellate practice before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The seminar featured ten separate educational sessions, each led by one or more current Law Court Justice. Court staff, a Maine Law professor, and […]
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Elections Law Court Maine Maine Constitution
April 17, 2026 / April 17, 2026 by Nolan Reichl
On April 6, 2026, the Justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court handed down their respective opinions in the latest “solemn occasion” proceeding, this one concerning ranked-choice voting. If this sounds familiar to you, it’s because this is the second such solemn occasion concerning ranked-choice voting, with the last one in 2017. In both solemn […]
Law Court Law Court Roundups Maine
March 17, 2026 / March 20, 2026 by Julia MacDonald
While we will write lengthier posts for cases that merit a broader discussion, as we did in our last post with respect to the Xamplas decision, we also will write brief updates for notable cases issued recently. Here goes for Law Court decisions issued in January and February 2026: Jellison v. Jellison, 2026 ME 3, […]
Interlocutory Appeals Law Court Maine
March 12, 2026 / March 16, 2026 by Julia MacDonald
The Law Court typically may only consider an appeal of a “final judgment”—that is, a decision that fully decides and disposes of the parties’ entire case and leaves no further questions for consideration. However, this “final judgment rule” is subject to exceptions which, under certain circumstances, may allow a party to bring an appeal on […]
Maine
March 10, 2026 by Julia MacDonald
Hello, loyal readers. Six years ago, readers of this blog were greeted by a passing-of-the-torch post, when Pierce Atwood partner Cathy Connors became Associate Justice Catherine R. Connors of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and handed the reins of this blog to Pierce Atwood partner Josh Dunlap. The torch now has been passed again, as […]
Law Court Maine
April 15, 2025 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
February 24, 2025 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
Law Court Maine Maine Constitution
January 28, 2025 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
December 10, 2024 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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. […]
Appellate Briefs Law Court Maine Rules
October 2, 2024 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
