Berman & Simmons News Articles

  • Recent Proposed State/Federal Rules Changes as of October 2017

    The federal district court has announced a few changes to the local rules, effective December 1, 2017. A number of these rule changes were announced in June, and the proposed changes were summarized on this website at that time. These changes affect attorney discipline, and prevent attorneys admitted only conditionally to the Maine bar, from admission to the federal bar.

  • Kagan to present at Maine Trial Lawyers Association fall seminar

    Berman & Simmons attorney Daniel Kagan will give a presentation at the Fall Trial Lawyers Seminar held by the Maine Trial Lawyers Association. Kagan is one of Maine’s leading trial lawyers, with a record of jury verdicts and settlements in complex and difficult personal injury cases. Since joining Berman & Simmons in 1989, Kagan has often taken on controversial cases that play out in the public spotlight.

  • Alicia F. Curtis

    Recent Proposed State/Federal Rules Changes as of September 2017

    On September 1, 2017, new, re-styled Appellate Rules of Procedure went into effect.  The changes are intended to modernize the language of the rules, and make them easier for judges, lawyers, and the general public to understand and apply.  Long paragraphs addressing multiple topics have been broken up into separate sub-paragraphs, with each sub-paragraph addressing a discrete rule, direction, or order.Relevant substantive changes to the Appellate Rules are summarized below:

  • Maine media highlight ShineOnCass Foundation in wake of settlement

    The settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit in connection with a fatal hayride crash in 2014 was reported by media outlets throughout Maine and around the nation last week. The news stories highlighted the establishment of the ShineonCass Foundation, a charitable organization created by the victim’s family.

  • Settlement reached in Maine haunted hayride tragedy

    The family of Cassidy Charette, the central Maine teenager killed in a haunted hayride crash in October 2014, has settled its lawsuit against the farm owner. Attorney Jodi Nofsinger of Berman & Simmons said the wrongful death lawsuit against Harvest Hill Farm, former farm owner Peter Bolduc Jr., hayride driver David Brown, and mechanic Philip Theberge has been settled.

  • Alicia F. Curtis

    Recent Proposed State/Federal Rules Changes as of May 2017

    Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 77(c) has been changed effective May 30, 2017.  The change is minor, but reflects the move towards unifying the civil and criminal courts.  Previously, chiefs of the respective trial courts set hours for the court clerks in each branch.  Now, the Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court sets all the clerks’ hours, by administrative order.There are also a few changes proposed for the Maine federal district court local rules.Â