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February 28, 2018 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
Yesterday, CJ Saufley gave her State of the Judiciary report to the Legislature: A Report to the Joint Convention of the Second Regular Session 128th Maine Legislature. In it she discussed, among other things, courthouse infrastructure, digitization of records and a Drug Court to deal with the opioid crisis. But let’s talk about the most important […]
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February 23, 2018 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
Mud season doldrums may be upon us, but there’s always appellate news to report. Mark your calendar for May 2 The Maine SJC is having another of its popular seminars on May 2, 2018, this time called “New Directions in Appellate Practice.” There was a big crowd at the last one, and this seminar is […]
February 21, 2018 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
I am often asked by recent law school graduates, or those still in law school, what they should be doing to pursue a career in appellate law. I recently came upon this December 2017 article that discusses this issue: Kowarski, I. (Dec. 1, 2017) Pick the Right Law School for an Appellate Career, USNews.com The […]
February 8, 2018 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
This recent decision from the First Circuit reminds us of the series of insurance company commercials where the actors discuss unusual situations and whether they were covered, noting that the insurer “has seen a thing or two.” Mu v. Omni Hotels Management Corp. In Mu, the panel (CJ Howard, Torruella and J. Barron, opnion by J. […]
January 26, 2018 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
When you are a lesbian and co-workers call you the spectrum of nasty slurs for women generally and gay women, spit on you, shove you, and have the blood and brains of a suicide-attempt victim flung at you, among other things, is this discrimination because you are a woman, or because you are a gay […]
January 23, 2018 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
In November 2016, the First Circuit issued a decision rejecting a civil rights claim filed by gubernatorial candidate Mark Eves against Governor LePage. Eves v. LePage, No. 16-1492 (1st Cir., 2016). Eves filed a motion for rehearing en banc. Now, over a year later, the Court granted that motion. What does it mean? The short answer […]
January 18, 2018 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
In 1992, in Quill Corp. v. South Dakota, 504 U.S. 298, the Supreme Court ruled that a catalog retailer needs a physical presence in a state to require it to collect sales taxes. With the explosion of online sales, movement has been afoot to revisit this ruling. When the all-important Oz of the Supreme Court, Justice […]
January 12, 2018 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
So let’s start the New Year right with a shout out to another blogger, my nephew, Connor Finch. A recent graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and on his way to a job in DC, he’s spent time in between with the ACLU of Virginia. He recently blogged about a case just argued […]
December 20, 2017 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
We are off for the holidays, and so end the year with a quick review of recent decisions from the Law Court and First Circuit. Thanks to all for reading and for the feedback received in 2017. A surprising number of folks seem interested in reading about Maine law – we had 400 readers on […]
December 15, 2017 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
Looking at the summaries of oral arguments heard last week, one struck my eye, so I listened in. The merits of the dispute go to the legality of the Maine PUC’s net metering rule, an issue we won’t discuss. It’s a jurisdictional issue the Commission raised, with impact beyond this particular case, which I’d like […]
