http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-26T04:08:16-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/will_f._lee_bailey_practice_law_again_opinion_sees_good_character_and_one_2/ At age 79, disbarred lawyer F. Lee Bailey hasn’t given up his pursuit of a return to law practice. Last week, a justice on the state’s top court sided with Bailey on one issue in the lawyer’s appeal of a November decision by the State of Maine Board of Bar… Legal Ethics, States, Maine Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:56:41 -0500 43883.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyers_ask_feds_to_probe_claims_maine_governor_pressured_hearing_officers_/ A group of employment lawyers is seeking a federal investigation of the governor of Maine, citing news reports that he and other officials have pressured hearing officers to rule for the state in administrative cases about unemployment compensation benefits. In a Monday letter (PDF), the local chapter of… Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Government Law, Judiciary, Labor & Employment, Trials & Litigation, States, Maine Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:40:16 -0500 43776.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/secretly_taping_johns_is_not_a_privacy_violation_maines_top_court_says/ Maine’s top court has upheld the dismissal of 46 charges against a businessman accused of taping a prostitute’s sexual encounters, holding that the johns have no reasonable expectation of privacy under a state law banning recording in private places. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court dismissed the invasion of privacy charges… Criminal Justice, Privacy Law, States, Maine Wed, 20 Feb 2013 06:59:52 -0600 42913.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_is_optimistic_about_collecting_26b_judgment_against_syria/ A Maine lawyer who helped win a $26 billion judgment against Syria last week is optimistic he will be able to collect. Ron Jenkins of Meridian 361 International Law Group in Portland spoke with the Bangor Daily News about the suit, which claimed Syria supported 1985… International Law, Terrorism, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Maine Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:26:04 -0600 42680.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/top_maine_court_says_voir_dire_must_be_public_even_when_answers_could_be_em/ Ruling on a protest by the owner of a local newspaper, Maine's top court on Thursday afternoon said a judge must hold jury selection sessions in open court, even if answering voir dire questions could be embarrassing to jurors. Prospective members of the jury in the case at issue are… Criminal Justice, Trials & Litigation, Juries, States, Maine Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:30:13 -0600 42546.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/after_17_days_on_the_lam_former_maine_prosecutor_is_arrested_in_new_mexico/ A former top drug prosecutor for the Maine Attorney General’s office was arrested in New Mexico on Sunday, 17 days after he cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet. James Cameron had disappeared after a federal appeals court in Boston upheld his conviction on seven of 13 counts for sending and… Criminal Justice, States, Maine, New Mexico Tue, 04 Dec 2012 08:56:12 -0600 41870.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-prosecutor_ditches_his_monitoring_bracelet_and_flees_after_adverse_child/ A former assistant attorney general in Maine cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet and disappeared last week after a federal appeals court upheld his conviction on seven of 13 counts for sending and receiving child pornography. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled… Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Sentencing/Post Conviction, 1st Circuit Court, States, Maine Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:33:21 -0600 41703.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_admits_making_bomb_threats_to_elementary_school/ A lawyer in Maine has admitted phoning in two bomb threats to elementary schools earlier this year. Ronald Hoffman, of Sumner, appeared in court Friday to plead no contest to two misdemeanor charges of terrorizing. As part of his plea deal, a 364-day sentence in the local jail will be… Criminal Justice, Legal Ethics, States, Maine Mon, 24 Sep 2012 10:23:07 -0500 40841.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/girl_10_charged_with_manslaughter_in_babys_death_may_be_youngest_to_face_su/ A 10-year-old girl who has been charged with manslaughter in the death of a 3-month-old baby may be the youngest child to face a manslaughter case in Maine history and is almost undoubtedly the first to do so in at least 25 years, authorities said. The case against the unidentified… Criminal Justice, Juvenile Justice, Legal History, States, Maine Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:43:06 -0500 40503.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/denied_protective_order_re_claimed_spouse_abuse_man_charged_with_threatenin/ A man who was denied a protective order on Wednesday by a Maine judge is accused of threatening to shoot both his wife and the judge as he left the courthouse. Shawn Breton, 37, is charged with two terrorizing counts concerning the Augusta District Court incident, reports the Criminal Justice, Family Law, Judiciary, Court Security, States, Maine Fri, 24 Aug 2012 05:27:46 -0500 40395.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/top_maine_court_oks_25k_verrill_dana_crisis_receivership_fee_re_well-known_/ Parsing a receivership order (PDF) after the fact, Maine's Supreme Judicial Court has OK'd a legal fees award of nearly $25,000 to Verrill Dana, which provided a trusts and estates partner to step in on an emergency basis when a well-known probate practitioner disappeared. Verrill Dana had… Law Firms, Midsize Firm, Partners, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, Attorney Fees, Verdicts & Settlements, Trusts & Estates, States, Maine Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:24:44 -0500 39965.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/maine_criminal_defense_lawyer_charged_with_calling_in_bizarre_bomb_threats_/ A high-profile Maine criminal defense lawyer is himself charged with two misdemeanor counts of terrorizing after police say he called two elementary schools on a cellphone and made bomb threats that resulted in an evacuation. Ron Hoffman, 52, who practices in Rumford, is accused of making what Mount Blue Regional… Criminal Justice, States, Maine Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:57:16 -0500 39528.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/maine_lawyers_who_represent_indigent_defendants_will_have_to_wait_for_50-an/ Lawyers who are assigned to represent criminal defendants in Maine won’t be paid during the month of June because the Indigent Legal Defense Commission has run out of money. Lawyers will get paid in July when the new fiscal year begins, the Bangor Daily News reports.… Business of Law, Careers, Lawyer Pay, Criminal Justice, Trials & Litigation, Attorney Fees, States, Maine Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30:50 -0500 38994.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/longtime_maine_lawyer_is_reprimanded_re_crusade_concerning_ex-client_he_thi/ A recent ethics opinion by Maine's top court offers guidance on what to do—and not to do—when faced with a presumably unusual problem: An attorney is convinced that a former client is a serial killer. "Obsessed" with the background and history of his ex-client, Rory Holland, who he represented in… Criminal Justice, Legal Ethics, States, Maine Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:47:28 -0500 38087.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/maines_top_court_says_verrill_dana_partners_violated_ethics_rules_by_failin/ Updated: Maine’s highest court has ruled that six partners at Verrill Dana violated ethics rules by failing to have procedures in place to monitor a lawyer after questions arose about his handling of a client account. The lawyer, John Duncan, went to prison for two years after pleading guilty to… Legal Ethics, States, Maine Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:36:16 -0600 36418.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_gets_10_days_for_failing_to_file_state_income_tax_returns/ A practicing lawyer in Maine who fell behind on his state taxes will be spending approximately a week in jail. Alan Harding, 58, was sentenced to 120 days, with all except 10 days suspended, after pleading guilty in the Kennebec County Superior Court case to failing to file state income… Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Law Firms, Partners, Solos/Small Firms, Tax Law, States, Maine Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:17:45 -0500 35291.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/up_to_300m_stolen_annually_from/ Some $43 million was stolen in conventional bricks-and-mortar robberies, heists and stickups of U.S. banks last year. Meanwhile, cybercrooks stole hundreds of millions in what is being called a national security threat. The exact amount isn't known. But security experts say up to $1 billion annually is being taken by… Banking Law, Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Criminal Justice, International Law, Internet Law, Law Firms, Science & Technology Law, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 1st Circuit Court, 6th Circuit Court, States, Maine, Michigan Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:28:58 -0500 34286.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/business_goes_back_to_paper_checks_after_losing_345k_and_liability_ruling_b/ It's less convenient. But a business in Maine that lost $345,000 in 2009 when cyber crooks tried to siphon well over half a million from its online account has now gone back to paper checks to try to keep its funds secure. Deciding cross-motions for summary judgment last week, a… Banking Law, Corporate Law, Internet Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 1st Circuit Court, States, Maine Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:08:54 -0500 33204.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/maine_town_declares_food_sovereignty_inspiring_a_movement/ As state lawmakers debate whether food such as raw milk can safely be sold to informed consumers, the residents of a Maine community have seized the day and recognized a right to do so. Under a so-called food sovereignty initiative unanimously approved at a March 5 town meeting by 100… Administrative Law, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Government Law, Health Law, Legislation & Lobbying, States, Maine Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:52:14 -0500 31685.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/former_top_drug_prosecutor_gets_16_years_in_child_porn_case/ A former assistant state attorney general who at one time was the top drug prosecutor in Maine was sentenced today to a 16-year federal prison term in a child pornography case. James Cameron, 48, worked for the AG's office from 1990 to 2008. Prosecutors, who sought a prison term of… Careers, Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Internet Law, Legal Ethics, Personal Lives, Trials & Litigation, 1st Circuit Court, States, Maine Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:55:11 -0600 31599.abajournal.com