Find Lawyers in Portland, Maine
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Practice Areas
Eben Adams is partner and Chair of Pierce Atwood's Real Estate Practice Group. His practice includes all aspects of real estate law with a focus on commercial and residential development, acquisitions, sales and leasing. Eben regularly represents hospitality clients in the purchase and sale of restaurants and hotels. He has extensive experience representing developers of condominium projects including residential, commercial and mixed-use condominiums. Eben regularly assists energy companies ...
Eben is an experienced and skilled litigator and energy attorney who focuses in complex regulatory and administrative proceedings including utility ratemaking and related matters, as well as complex commercial litigation and municipal litigation. Eben regularly appears before the Maine Public Utilities Commission (“MPUC”) and state and federal courts in Maine, and has argued numerous cases in state and federal court, including both bench and jury trials. He is a principal member o...
Drew practices in a wide variety of real estate areas including: The purchase, sale, and development of commercial and industrial buildings and multi-family apartment buildings and complexesLeasing transactions for landlords and tenantsRepresenting lenders and borrowers in loan transactions of all typesAssisting developers with residential and office condominiumsQualified Opportunity Zone investments and 1031 exchanges Drew’s corporate work includes stock and asset purchases and sales, ...
Sam Anderson is a shareholder, co-chair of the firm’s Business Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group and member of the firm’s Board of Directors. Sam’s practice focuses primarily on representing businesses in chapter 11 reorganization proceedings, including recent cases before the Bankruptcy Courts for the Districts of Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Sam has a wide range of experience in representing businesses in chapter 11 proceedings, inclu...
Dave Barry is Pierce Atwood’s managing partner. Previously, Dave was chair of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, representing clients in a wide variety of complex litigation and counseling clients on how to avoid or minimize the risks and burdens of litigation. Dave also chaired the firm’s Government Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense practice. He regularly manages complex business litigation in federal and state courts and has extensive experience assisting...
Frank is a partner in the Portland, Maine office and practices in three distinct areas. First, Frank assists all types of clients in complying with state and federal consumer financial protection laws related to retail installment sales contracts, secured and unsecured loans and lines of credit, residential mortgages and home equity loans, auto leases, etc., with a focus on compliance with the state uniform consumer credit code ("UCCC"). Frank also assists clients in complying with state and ...
Jon Block represents and advises clients with Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts tax problems. Jon litigates tax cases at the administrative level and through all levels of the court system, advises clients on transactional and multistate tax issues, obtains advance rulings for clients, and does a substantial amount of legislative and government relations work in the tax area. Jon's substantive expertise in state and local tax encompasses corporate and individual income tax, business pro...
After clerking for Maine Supreme Court Justice Robert Clifford for a year after law school, Mike dove straight into construction law, defending architects and engineers in construction cases at a small Portland insurance defense firm. Since joining Bernstein Shur a decade and a half ago, Mike has had the pleasure of representing the full panoply of participants on a construction project: developers, owners, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, lenders, and sureties in everything fr...
In 1978, Jim became a founding partner of what was then Hunt Thompson & Bowie. His current practice with Thompson Bowie & Hatch LLC focuses on commercial litigation, insurance counseling services and professional liability. His exceptional reputation in the legal community is built, in part, on his successful involvement in cases which have helped shape Maine law. Not only is he a veteran of countless jury trials in both state and federal court, as well as non-jury trials, arbitration...
For over 25 years, Christopher has been serving the legal needs of businesses and entrepreneurs. He often serves as general counsel to clients and his experience covers the spectrum of the business cycle, from start-up, to investment and growth, to succession planning and exit strategies. Christopher also has considerable experience with business disputes and has successfully handled commercial litigation in both state and federal courts. His clients past and present include biotech and techn...
Jamie started his career on the staff of the US House of Representatives, where he drafted the revised HUD Section 202 program to provide housing for the elderly and was appointed by the president to the Federal Council on Aging to focus on housing policy. As an attorney, his public policy experience complements his personal and professional dedication to improving the livelihood of senior citizens. In over four decades, he has worked on more than 100 projects in 29 states, including a progra...
George is passionate about achieving the best practical result, but he tries not to lose sight of humor and humanity in the process. He has been practicing law for over four decades and focuses on litigating, arbitrating, and mediating business and construction disputes. His trial experience is extensive and multi-faceted, before juries and arbitrators alike throughout New England and New York, including numerous construction and design claims, some involving tens of millions of dollars; prod...
Natalie practices municipal, environmental, land use and administrative law and represents both public and private clients. Before joining the firm, she served as Associate Corporation Counsel for the City of Portland for 10 years. Natalie graduated from Bowdoin College, with departmental honors in Romance Languages. She received her law degree from the University of Maine School of Law. She has made presentations on municipal and land use issues at seminars sponsored by the Maine State Bar A...
Pierce Atwood senior counsel Scott Cammarn has 34 years of banking law experience, focusing his practice on regulatory matters, mergers and acquisitions, legislation, and transactions. Scott has represented various national and international financial institutions, and has practiced before the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and many state banki...
Technology firms, manufacturers, beverage companies, health care companies, nonprofits, and oil and gas companies have all benefited from John’s thoughtful, pragmatic strategic direction on corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and agreements, and debt and equity financings. Whether you’re looking to raise capital, finance growth, or negotiate an acquisition agreement, John has the experience and acumen to help you meet your business goals. Joh...
Melinda (Mindy) J. Caterine represents management in employment disputes before federal and states courts and agencies throughout New England. Her practice includes defending employers in matters involving: Sexual harassment Employment discrimination Retaliation Wrongful discharge Employment contract dispute cases Mindy also conducts training on numerous employment issues, such as: Harassment Wage and hour compliance Reductions-in-force Leaves of absence Discipline and discharge In addition t...
Emily Cooke’s practice focuses on commercial transactions, compliance, and corporate governance for a range of clients, including banks and other financial institutions, health care organizations, insurance industry participants, educational institutions, nonprofit entities, and small businesses. She negotiates third-party vendor contracts for banking services, negotiates master services agreements for outsourcing critical processing functions for national bank and insurers, and provide...
Calm under pressure, dependable, and a true advocate for her clients, Mary is an experienced municipal and environmental law counselor. Having worked in the public sector for years before joining Bernstein Shur, she has a firsthand understanding of the issues faced by municipal and state employees and boards—and how to help her clients confront them. Her most recent public sector position was associate corporation counsel to the City of Portland, where she advised the city staff and cou...
For 20 years, Randy Creswell has represented national and regional lenders, banks, financial institutions, private equity firms, secured and unsecured creditors, lessors and lessees, and other interested parties in consumer and complex commercial cases under Chapters 7, 11, and 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. He has handled innumerable out-of-court workouts, receiverships and other insolvency proceedings, and he has extensive experience representing Chapter 7 trustees, Creditor Committees, stalkin...
John's practice is concentrated in real estate, ranging from residential title examinations to complex commercial lending transactions. He has focused extensively on issues of highway law, roads, and easements, and has considerable experience with condominiums, planned unit developments, and cooperative housing. John is a frequent seminar speaker on real estate issues, especially topics concerning roads and easements.
Byrne J. Decker, partner at Pierce Atwood LLP, has a national practice in employee benefits/ERISA litigation. He defends benefits cases in both ERISA and non-ERISA contexts, including in particular, complex benefits cases and class actions. Byrne has appeared in district courts in virtually every federal judicial circuit and also has an active appellate practice with respect to benefits issues. In addition to defending appeals in several Circuit Courts of Appeals and State Supreme Courts, he ...
Jared des Rosiers' practice focuses on complex energy regulatory, infrastructure development and siting, and litigation matters before the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and state and federal courts around the country. Jared strives to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for success in collaboration with his clients and then to efficiently implement that plan through advocacy, negotiation and creativity. When litigation is necessa...
Joshua Dunlap, a member of Pierce Atwood’s Litigation Group and co-chair of the firm's Appellate & Amici team, focuses his practice on civil litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. He appears in federal as well as state court, representing clients in various commercial litigation matters. Josh represents clients before federal and state appeals courts, and has argued and won appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Maine Supreme Judicial Cour...
Asha’s specialty is dispute resolution involving construction, energy, insurance, and banking claims. In addition to being an attorney, Asha is a licensed professional engineer, with LEED accreditation and years of experience designing and coordinating multi-million dollar projects as a civil engineer with Parsons Brinckerhoff. Her firsthand experience with the ins and outs of construction, and energy projects makes her an especially effective advocate in litigation matters and contract...
As co-chair of Pierce Atwood’s energy infrastructure group, and a member of Pierce Atwood’s tax and business practice groups, Kris Eimicke has a unique blend of technical expertise and business experience. Kris focuses on complex business transactions, with a particular emphasis on highly structured financing transactions that utilize one or more tax credit and economic development programs, including renewable energy tax credits, the opportunity zone incentive, new markets tax cr...
Jim Erwin has extensive state and federal litigation experience in a wide range of substantive areas at the trial, appellate, administrative and arbitration levels. His practice involves the defense at agencies and in court of all types of employment claims, including sex, race, religious and national origin discrimination; sexual and racial harassment; disability discrimination under the ADA; FMLA; retaliation and whistleblower claims; restrictive covenant and trade secrets enforcement; wage...
Becky joined the firm in 1980 and became a partner in 1982. Her statewide practice specializes in construction litigation and professional liability defense for design professionals, health care facilities and practitioners, and attorneys. She represents her clients in federal and state courts, in both jury and non-jury cases, before arbitration, regulatory and administrative panels, and mediations. In addition to providing legal representation to professionals when sued, she continuously pro...
Ed’s practice covers all aspects of employee benefits. He works primarily with employers in the establishment, operation and maintenance of tax-qualified retirement plans, retirement plans for tax-exempt and governmental entities, Taft-Hartley plans, cafeteria plans, health care and other welfare and fringe benefit programs and executive compensation arrangements. A significant portion of Ed’s time is devoted to resolving compliance issues under the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA...
In her role as CEO of Bernstein Shur, Joan works to ensure that the firm and its attorneys live by the firm’s strategic vision and core values. She empowers attorneys to serve clients with energy, empathy, precision, innovation, and with an eye to the future. To encourage Bernstein Shur attorneys to be creative and thoughtful practitioners, Joan consistently creates new opportunities for education and professional development so that they can effectively serve each unique client. Equall...
Steve is a tax attorney who specializes in employee benefits, executive compensation, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). He works with employers of all stripes—including health care entities, businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, and individuals—on ERISA requirements and liabilities, Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MEPERS) compliance and controversies, as well as the tax and ERISA implications of mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Steve repres...
Lisa Gilbreath is a partner in the Environmental, Land Use, and Energy Infrastructure Development, Acquisition & Financing practice groups. Lisa works on a wide variety of environmental and energy matters, offering clients strategic advice in regulatory, legislative, and judicial proceedings. In her environmental practice, Lisa assists clients with numerous issues including energy project development permitting, energy and environmental litigation, air quality legislative and regulatory a...
Chuck M. Graceffa, a partner in the firm's Business Group, has a general corporate and securities law practice concentrated in the areas of private equity, emerging company representation, public and private mergers and acquisitions, and securities law compliance. Chuck also has experience in commercial real estate transactions. Many of Chuck's clients turn to him on a daily basis for general business advice as he plays an active role in the strategic growth and advancement of his clients' bu...
Rebecca West Greenfield, partner at Pierce Atwood LLP, has a transactional commercial real estate practice involving acquisitions, dispositions, development, leasing, finance, and title and land use analysis. Rebecca has developed particular expertise in project finance for new and existing real estate developments. Rebecca has represented both regional real estate developers, educational institutions, lenders and other commercial entities in a wide array of development and lending transactio...
Gordon has counseled clients in the power generation industry for over three decades, assisting private energy generators, banks, and contractors with matters ranging from insurance and warranty claims to crisis management. As a managing director of the alternative energy consulting firm Stratex Energy, he’s well-versed in the waste-to-energy, pulp and paper, biomass, and ethanol industries, as well as more traditional energy sources like oil and natural gas. He is also a Managing Direc...
Peter Guffin is chair of Pierce Atwood’s Privacy & Data Security practice. A long-time partner and now of counsel at the firm, Peter focuses his practice in the areas of information privacy and cybersecurity law, drawing on his extensive experience in the areas of intellectual property, the internet, and information technology. Peter regularly advises clients with respect to regulatory compliance issues, risk management, governance, and data security incidents, including internal fo...
JAMES B. HADDOW was born in Quincy, Massachusetts on June 25, 1959. He is admitted to practice in Maine, the United States District Court for the District of Maine, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. He is the author of The Evolution of the Maine Law of Attachment on Ordinary and Trustee Process, 7 Me. Bar Journal 2 (1992), and Legal Is...
Pete’s employment practice is guided by the adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Pete uses his common sense business approach to help his clients make legally sound decisions regarding their employees while advancing the needs and mission of his clients’ businesses. Pete practices in all areas of employment law, providing counsel and representation to employers throughout East Coast on issues regarding federal and state leave laws, wrongful termina...
Having represented businesses in hundreds of commercial real estate and loan transactions for nearly 20 years, Tom really knows the interests and concerns of real estate developers and investors and banks. That expertise comes from a wealth of experience in all phases of real estate development—from pre-development planning, land acquisition, and permitting and approvals, to construction, financing, leasing, and eventual sale. Tom’s insight and frank, detail-oriented approach make...
Rob joined Thompson & Bowie, LLP as an associate in 2001 and became a partner in January 2006. Prior to joining Thompson & Bowie, LLP, Rob completed a judicial clerkship with Donald G. Alexander, Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Since joining the firm, Rob has been engaged in all aspects of civil litigation in both state and federal court, with a particular focus on professional liability and municipal liability defense, insurance coverage disputes, construction ...
Christopher E. Howard, partner in the Business Group, serves on the firm's Management Committee and is the former head of its Business Practice Group. Chris has a unique combination of technical legal skills and hands-on business and finance experience, which enables him to integrate these disciplines into strategies that match client objectives and provide clients with a competitive advantage. Chris's practice has three main areas of focus: Corporate finance and transactional representation ...
Having concentrated on labor and employment law for over two decades, Glenn is adept at providing counsel on everything from disability accommodation and medical leave requests to high-level management strategies. No matter the problem, Glenn delivers positive, fast, and cost-effective results while ensuring that you protect your interests, comply with the law, and are fair to your employees—and yourself. On top of that, if you need someone to guide you through the nuances of a real est...
Robert J. Keach is co-chair of Bernstein Shur’s Business Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a Past President (2009-2010) of the American Bankruptcy Institute. Bob is also the co-chair of the ABI’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11. Bob focuses on the representation of various parties in workouts and bankruptcy cases, including debtors, creditors, creditors committees, lessors and third parties acquiring ...
Ryan Kelley provides legal counsel to public and private companies regarding debt and equity financings, commercial transactions and bankruptcy and creditors’ rights matters. Ryan represents both lenders and borrowers in construction, acquisition, new markets tax credits, term and working capital financing transactions. His transactional experience also includes commercial matters such as the representation of franchisors and franchisees with respect to franchise matters, of manufacture...
Justin attended Portland schools through high school, graduating from Cheverus in 1989. He then graduated from the University of Vermont in 1993 and the University of Georgia School of Law, magna cum laude, in 1999. Justin served as Clerk for the Honorable Leigh I. Saufley of the Maine Judicial Court as his first job after law school. After working briefly at a general practice firm in Portland, he moved in 2001 to a smaller firm which limited its practice to estate planning and related matte...