The Law Court recently issued a decision in Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative v. Board of Environmental Protection that contains an enlightening discussion of what an agency must consider—as opposed to what an agency may...more
In recent years, numerous state courts across the country have been asked to consider the question whether a plaintiff’s claim can be retroactively revived by the legislature after the claim has been extinguished by a statute...more
On January 7, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana v. FERC, rejected a National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and Natural Gas Act (NGA) challenge to FERC’s...more
1/13/2025
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Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Jurisdiction ,
Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas Act ,
NEPA ,
Pipelines ,
Regulatory Requirements
On November 12, 2024, a split panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to address whether the FAA complied with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations because those regulations are...more
The Supreme Judicial Court has adopted amendments to the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, which will become effective on November 1. These rules reflect a significant amount of work by the Maine Appellate Rules Committee,...more
Amid the intense coverage of the Colorado ballot exclusion case that was the subject of oral argument before the Supreme Court earlier this month, the Law Court’s decision in Trump v. Secretary of State on a parallel appeal...more
Earlier this month, the Maine Law Court issued its decision in Cassidy Holdings, LLC v. Aroostook County Commissioners, holding that, in a municipality without a board of assessment review, a taxpayer whose nonresidential...more
In Board of Overseers v. Brown, the Law Court addressed the timeliness of an appeal following a “motion for clarification” of a judgment. In doing so, the Law Court drew an interesting distinction between requests for relief...more
The necessity of preserving issues for appeal can be a trap for the unwary, leaving litigants without recourse if they fail to take proper steps to preserve a particular argument. Near the end of its recent term, the Supreme...more
What is the proper remedy when a party challenges a municipal action under Rule 80B, but the court later determines that this was the wrong procedural vehicle to challenge the municipal action? In Hurricane Island Foundation...more
Last week the Law Court handed down two decisions relating to judicial process, addressing the time limits for notices of appeal and the situations in which relief can be sought for wrongful use of civil proceedings....more
It’s the middle of a beautiful Maine summer, a good time for a few quick hits on some interesting developments . . ....more
Around this time last year, I took a look at statistics showing that the filing of new civil appeals had declined in federal courts and in Maine. As I observed then, the 2020 statistics had not yet fully captured the impact...more
Yesterday the Law Court, in an opinion written by Justice Connors, Concord General Mutual Ins. Co. v. Estate of Collette J. Boure, touched on two important appellate issues – one of which has been addressed often on this...more
Much has been said on this blog about when one should cross-appeal, given the Law Court’s jurisprudence on the topic. I most recently addressed the issue here. As I noted then, there is some tension between the text of the...more
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...more
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...more
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....more
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...more
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...more
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...more
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....more
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...more
I recently blogged about the need to file a cross-appeal of a favorable judgment in order to preserve an argument that provides alternate grounds for affirmance at the Law Court. As I noted, the Court has declined to reach...more
The Law Court this week issued an interesting decision in the ongoing ranked choice voting litigation that will have a broad application to appeals of final agency actions under M.R. Civ. P. 80C. The decision clarifies when...more