Law Court Maine Maine Constitution
March 16, 2022 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
One of the most interesting trends in the Law Court’s jurisprudence (at least in the mind of this blogger) is the continued renaissance of the Court’s primacy doctrine – an issue addressed before on this blog. As explained in two prior blog posts (here and here), the primacy doctrine, generally speaking, directs state courts to […]
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First Circuit Law Court
February 1, 2022 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
The Law Court recently weighed in on a matter of critical importance – the enforceability of online consumer contracts. Confronting the issue in a case involving ride-sharing giant Uber’s efforts to enforce an arbitration provision, the Law Court held in Sarchi v. Uber Technologies that online contracts are enforceable only if the consumer (1) has […]
COVID-19 First Circuit Law Court Maine
January 18, 2022 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
Cross-Appeals Law Court Maine
November 17, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
October 19, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
First Circuit Law Court Oral Argument US Supreme Court
September 28, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
Elections Law Court Maine
August 18, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
Uncategorized
July 26, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
Law Court Maine
July 12, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
May 26, 2021 / March 4, 2026 by Pierce Atwood Litigation
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 […]
