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Brochure available online now!

Be on the lookout for your Summer Meeting brochure in your mailbox this week or click here for the pdf of brochure.

Reserve your room NOW at Sunday River for the MSBA 2008 Summer Meeting! A limited number of rooms are available at special rates for MSBA Summer Meeting attendees. Standard rooms and studios are $99/night (+tax), and suites are $119/night (+tax) based on single or double occupancy.

Please click here for the Individual Reservation Form. This form will provide you with all the information you need to make your reservation today. Reservations should be made directly with the Grand Summit Hotel & Conference Center at Sunday River Resort. Deadline for reserving rooms at these special rates is Tuesday, May 20, 2008, so don't delay!

We hope to see you at Sunday River in June!

America’s ‘rule of law’ faces erosions from within

By Brett D. Baber
President of the Maine State Bar Association>

On May 1 we celebrate the 50th anniversary of National Law Day, created in 1958 by President Dwight Eisenhower as a “day of national dedication to the principle of government under law.” Although its holiday siblings — Memorial Day and the Fourth of July — get all of the fanfare, it is the rule of law as recognized on this day that provides our nation its inherent strength. >>more

LRIS is “The Right Call” When You Need a Lawyer

The Right Call for the Right Lawyer is the slogan trademarked by the American Bar Association for use by lawyer referral services meeting the ABA’s standards of professional experience criteria, accountability, and public service. This summer, the Lawyer Referral and Information Service of the Maine State Bar Association became one of fewer than 70 referral services nationwide authorized to use this slogan and the ABA seal of approval.

As an impartial not-for-profit professional and public service, the Lawyer Referral & Information Service is, more clearly now than ever, the most effective access point for members of the public looking for assistance with legal issues.

1-800-860-1460

2008 edition of 'On Your Own' available online

May 15, 2008

ALFRED—Wells woman, accused of killing 2 people in a head-on collision while driving the wrong way on the Maine Turnpike, to be arraigned Monday on manslaughter charges
Portland Press Herald

ALFRED—Former Biddeford city official sentenced to 30 months in jail for violating probation terms of his child sexual assault conviction
Portland Press Herald

AUGUSTA—Murderer pleads guilty to criminal mischief charge: damaging an Augusta hospital window
(Augusta) Kennebec Journal

BANGOR—Judge issues TRO blocking school board from interviewing the superintendent who had reported improper removal of the board’s recorded minutes from a school office
Bangor Daily News

ELLSWORTH—A Surry couple bilked out of $300,000 by their bookkeeper leaves the courthouse with the embezzler’s promise of $10,000 restitution
Ellsworth American

FARMINGTON—Jury acquits Waterville man of sexually abusing a teenage girl and giving her marijuana and alcohol
Lewiston Sun Journal

FARMINGTON—East Wilton man pleads no contest to charge of sexual abuse of a minor, will spend 6 months in jail
(Waterville) Morning Sentinel

PORTLAND—On the 3rd day of his Grievance Commission misconduct hearing, Rumford lawyer testifies that he regrets things he's said in the heat of the moment and admits lapses in judgment
Lewiston Sun Journal

PORTLAND—Law Court hears appeal today of a Portland man convicted of murdering his friend and former business partner; attorney says prosecutor acted improperly and unfairly influenced the jury
Portland Press Herald

PORTLAND—Sabattus man convicted of murdering his girlfriend to join his attorney today asking the Law Court for a new trial
Lewiston Sun Journal

May 14, 2008

AUGUSTA—Baldacci again signs bill allowing blended prison sentences, divided between a juvenile and an adult facility, in certain cases
Associated Press

AUGUSTA—Local lawyer receives France's highest honor in a Statehouse ceremony
(Augusta) Kennebec Journal
Bangor Daily News

BANGOR—Maine Supreme Judicial Court justices batter an attorney with questions about the defense theory that an Abbot man was not driving the car when his friends were killed
Bangor Daily News

BANGOR—City councilor arrested for allegedly stealing grocery items from a local supermarket pleads ‘not guilty’
Bangor Daily News

BANGOR—Law Court hears arguments here in couple’s lawsuit over allowing big-box stores in Belfast, decides case is moot
Bangor Daily News

ELLSWORTH—Trial starts next week for Lamoine couple accused of handcuffing an elderly relative to a bed and stealing a safe containing $60,000
Bangor Daily News

FARMINGTON—Wilton man sentenced to 6 months in jail for sexual abuse of a teenage boy 14 years ago
Lewiston Sun Journal

PARIS—Bridgton man pleads guilty to aggravated criminal mischief: damaging a Waterford mobile home in which he was living
Lewiston Sun Journal

PARIS—Rumford man acknowledges evidence sufficient for guilty verdict on cocaine-selling charge, sentenced to 30 days in jail
Lewiston Sun Journal

PORTLAND—Suspended union leaders at Bath Iron Works sue their parent organization and officers, claiming their removal from office violated federal labor laws and defamed them
Brunswick Times Record
Portland Press Herald

PORTLAND—Law Court sets aside a jury's verdict that the MDOT was partly to blame in a hit-and-run crash because it took too long to paint pavement stripes
Associated Press

May 13, 2008

AUGUSTA—PUC orders Fairpoint to protect consumer privacy
Maine Public Radio (listen)

BANGOR—Federal magistrate recommends clearing the Gardiner police chief and the city of claims they mistreated a Gardiner man having a mental-health crisis
(Augusta) Kennebec Journal

ELLSWORTH—Exeter bookkeeper pleads guilty to 3 embezzlement charges involving more than $416,000
Bangor Daily News

LEWISTON—Maine public safety commissioner to address connection between animal abuse and domestic violence in library presentation
Lewiston Sun Journal

May 10–12, 2008

AUBURN—Woman’s defamation lawsuit against the husband she is divorcing illustrates danger and speed of Internet communications
Lewiston Sun Journal

AUGUSTA—Hallowell lawyer to receive France’s Legion of Honor award in Statehouse ceremony
Portland Press Herald

AUGUSTA—Waterville man pleads guilty to sexually abusing 2 young girls who are sisters, to spend 8 years in prison
(Augusta) Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA—With demolition of the former Cony High School underway, 5 city residents opposing site’s sale give city notice that they will appeal latest rejection of their claim against the city to the Law Court
(Augusta) Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA—Former Carrabec High School vice principal pleads guilty to unlawful sexual contact with a student, to serve 9 months behind bars
(Augusta) Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA—Former drug prosecutor reviewing and analyzing Maine’s unsolved homicides, hoping a fresh look can result in a breakthrough
Portland Press Herald

BANGOR—Law Court, convening here, to hear arguments in an Abbot man’s vehicular manslaughter case that his conviction should be overturned because a major piece of evidence — the car — was destroyed before he was charged
Bangor Daily News

PARIS—Prosecutors drop misdemeanor assault charge against lawyer who led a referendum campaign to develop a casino in Oxford County
Portland Press Herald

PORTLAND—Suspended Leaders of BIW Labor Local to Sue Parent Union in federal court to end alleged strong-arm attempt by the International Association of Machinists to take over the Bath local
Maine Public Radio (listen)

SKOWHEGAN—Fairfield auctioneer sues Pennsylvania woman whom he says won bids on items valued at more than $300,000 and did not pay for them
(Waterville) Morning Sentinel

May 9, 2008

BANGOR—We court problems by limiting access to justice (op-ed essay)
Bangor Daily News

BANGOR—Brewer, Bangor students win Penobscot County Bar Association’s Law Day school art and essay contest
Bangor Daily News

BANGOR—Federal judge orders confidential informant in cocaine distribution case held without bail
Bangor Daily News

BANGOR—3rd man in a marijuana importing ring that concealed the drugs in a secret compartment in a semi-trailer sentenced to 2 years in federal prison.
Bangor Daily News

BELFAST—Local commercial real estate firm and a Massachusetts developer that ushered a new Lowe’s home improvement store here embroiled in $150,000 legal battle
Bangor Daily News

LEWISTON—Founder and chief trial attorney of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama tells Bates College audience need for justice continues despite civil rights progress
Lewiston Sun Journal

PORTLAND—Law Court overturns District Court acquittal of a man charged with driving his personal watercraft on Lake St. George in Liberty; state's ban on personal watercraft passes constitutional muster
VillageSoup/Knox County Times
Associated Press
Bangor Daily News
Portland Press Herald

PORTLAND—Tentative settlements reached in 7 of the 14 lawsuits filed by families who allege dead relatives' brains taken from the state Medical Examiner's Office without proper consent
Portland Press Herald

PORTLAND—Children of a woman killed in a boating crash explain their wrongful death suit
Lewiston Sun Journal
Associated Press

PORTLAND—Former University of Maine student will spend more than a month behind bars in connection with the alcohol-related death of his friend and an assault case
Bangor Daily News

"On Your Own," subtitled "A short guide to your legal rights and responsibilities as an adult," is available for download here as a PDF document.

New MSBA Career Center!

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ALPS is your Maine State Bar affiliated professional liability insurer.

ALPS comprehensive professional liability program offers industry-leading guidance, financial stability and protection to you and your law firm.

Click here for more information, or call 1-800-FOR-ALPS.

Spotlight on Benefits This MSBA Member Benefit Saves You Money (and Time) on Conference Calling Have you ever been stuck somewhere and been forced to cancel or reschedule an important conference call? A member service from the Maine State Bar Association makes that probability non-existent. Whether you are at home, in your car, in a hotel or at the airport, you are in charge of this new, highly efficient, easy-to-use conference calling service. >>More.