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.
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Pierce Atwood
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Ballot Question Challenges – To Expedite or Not to Expedite? That Is the Question.
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…
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The Appellate Judges Education Institute
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…
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Administrative Appeals: The Remedy When the Fact Finder Doesn’t Make Factual Findings
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,…
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Aiding and Abetting, Conspiracy, and The Picture of Dorian Gray
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…
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Interlocutory Appeals and Judicial Efficiency
In a recent blog post, I explored the application of the final judgment rule to appeals from preliminary injunction orders in state court. As I noted, the Law Court has recently applied the “death knell” exception to that rule…
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All Cleaned Up
Appellate advocacy is about persuasion – and the most important avenue for persuading appellate judges is a brief that is clear, concise, and readable. So what does an appellate attorney do when confronted by the need to quote a passage…
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Appealing from a Preliminary Injunction Order in Maine? Maybe You Can, Maybe You Can’t.
As recently noted on this blog, parties can appeal a preliminary injunction order in federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 1292 – but, typically, the same right of appeal is not available under Maine law. As stated in Sanborn v. …
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Appellate Trends During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Chief Justice Roberts recently issued his year-end report on the federal judiciary, appropriately focusing on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chief Justice noted that 2020 ended with the judiciary in much the same situation as when the American…
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Immediate Appeals of Temporary Restraining Orders? Not So Fast.
Interlocutory appeals, including those relating to injunctive relief, often present traps for the unwary. In state court in Maine, parties typically cannot appeal an order granting or denying a motion for preliminary injunction. The Law Court has so held in…
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