NEW HIRES
Deborah Ibonwa joined Petruccelli, Martin & Haddow LLP in Portland.
Ibonwa is a member of the Maine Bar Association and the Women’s Law Section. She also serves as a disaster services volunteer caseworker at the American Red Cross and a volunteer interpreter at the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project.

 

Christopher Boots joined Berman & Simmons law firm in Lewiston.
Boots represents clients in personal injury cases. He most recently worked as a litigation associate with Ropes and Gray LLP in its Boston and San Francisco offices. Previously, he was a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Jon Levy in Portland.

 

Anna Polko Clark joined Lambert Coffin as an associate attorney.
Clark previously represented clients in trust and estate planning, probate administration, and probate and civil litigation.

Murray Plumb & Murray expanded its bankruptcy practice group with the addition of new partner Andrew Helman.
Helman, of Freeport, has been involved in significant chapter 11 cases in Maine and New Hampshire, including representation of the debtor-in-possession in the largest health care bankruptcy case in Maine’s history.

Laura O’Neill joined Drummond Woodsum as an associate attorney in its school and local government practice group.
She previously served as a staff attorney to the Oakland Unified School District and as a school law consultant to the California School Boards Association.

Danielle Hansen joined Epstein & O’Donovan LLP as an associate attorney.
Hansen, of Freeport, previously worked for a public accounting firm specializing in high net worth individuals. Hansen graduated cum laude from the University of Maine School of Law in 2016 and worked in banking prior to law school.

 

BOARD APPOINTMENTS
Verrill Dana attorney Kenneth Ginder was elected vice president of the Maine Employee Benefits Council.
Ginder is a member of Verrill Dana’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group and handles matters in all areas of employee benefits, including retirement plans, welfare plans, fringe benefits and executive compensation.

PROMOTIONS

Peter Felmly was promoted to head of its school and local government practice group at Drummond Woodsum.
Felmly will continue to provide counsel to private sector employers and public schools in all aspects of labor, employment and school law. He currently serves as co-chair of the labor and employment section of the Maine State Bar Association.

AWARDS and RECOGNITIONS
Epstein & O’Donovan LLP announced that attorneys Dennis O’Donovan and Jennifer Kruszewski were named to the list of the 2019 Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of trusts and estates.
Miles Hunt was named as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for 2018. He has also received the 2018 Martindale Hubbell Platinum Client Champion Award.

The National Judicial College welcomes new trustees and board officers, including chair-elect Peter Bennett, president and treasurer of The Bennett Law Firm in Portland.
Bennett has chaired the 36,000-member Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association and the ABA’s Standing Committee on Judicial Independence.

Nearly 40 Verrill Dana attorneys, across four offices were recognized in the 2018 Chambers & Partners Guide.
In Maine, Verrill Dana was rated as a Leading Firm in seven categories and three subcategories, and 27 Maine-based attorneys were recognized.
The following attorneys from its Portland firm were recognized:
Eric Altholz, Tawny Alvarez, Scott Anderson, Lisa Boehm, Robert Brooks, Juliet Browne, Anthony Calcagni, Roger Clement Jr., James Cohen, Kimberly Couch, Douglas Currier, Harold Friedman, Gregory Fryer, David Galgay Jr., Martha Gaythwaite, Gregg Ginn, Mark Googins, Katie Gray, William Harwood, Nathaniel Hull, Suzanne Meeker, Richard Moon, James Palmer, Raymond Pelletier, Robert Ruesch, Gordon Smith and Karen Frink Wolf.

Tim Shannon, an intellectual property attorney at Verrill Dana, was recognized as a Global IP Star in Managing Intellectual Property’s 2018/19 IP Stars Guide.

Verrill Dana was also listed as a Recommended Firm in Maine for its intellectual property practice.
Shannon, also recognized on both the patent and trademark lists, is a commercial litigator specializing in intellectual property, with a particular focus on patent and “patent troll” litigation.

Verrill Dana was again recognized as one of the top 10 law firms in the country for gender equality by the National Law Journal in the 2018 NLJ 500 Women’s Scorecard.

The National Law Journal also ranked the firm as a top law firm for women in last year’s scorecard.

Verrill Dana was also named a 2017 Law360 Ceiling Smasher and was ranked in Law360’s 2015 and 2016 Glass Ceiling Reports for its commitment to gender equality.

Bernstein Shur earned top ratings in Chambers USA in three practice areas: corporate mergers and acquisitions, energy and natural resources, and real estate.

In addition, 25 attorneys were recognized and four were ranked in the top band in their areas of practice.

Attorney Robert Keach received the highest ranking of Star Individual for his bankruptcy practice. Charles Miller, Gordon Grimes and Nathan Smith were highlighted as a senior statesman, N. Joel Moser and Daniel Murphy were highlighted as associates to watch, and CEO Patrick Scully was ranked as an eminent practitioner.

The Bernstein Shur attorneys included in Chambers USA directory are:

D. Sam Anderson, Robert Keach, John Carpenter, Anthony Perkins, Joel Moser, James Broder, Gordon Grimes, Patrick Scully, Katherine Joyce, Steven Gerlach, Glenn Israel, Linda McGill, Patricia Peard, Ronald Schneider Jr., Paul McDonald, Daniel Murphy, Andru Volinsky, Tom Hanson, Charles Miller, Jaimie Paul Schwartz, Nathan Smith, Hawley Strait, Peter Van Hemel, William Welch and Eliza Cope Nolan.

 

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