Maine Supreme Court decides that Kennebunkport owns Goose Rocks Beach
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court recently decided Almeder v. Town of Kennebunkport. The closely-watched and protracted case concerned the use and ownership of Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport. First filed in 2009, the case wound through the Maine courts for two phases of trials and an appeal to the Supreme Court before reaching the Court… Read more »
U.S. Dept. of Labor issues final rule to update regulations relating to exemption of workers from minimum wage and overtime pay requirements
On Tuesday, September 24, 2019, the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor (the “Department”) issued a new Final Rule (summarized in a Fact Sheet released by the Department) to update the regulations defining and delimiting the exemptions for executive, administrative, or professional employees. According to the Department, the new regulations issued… Read more »
Tyler Smith successfully defends town in employment dispute
In August 2019, Tyler Smith successfully defended a Town in a lawsuit for judicial review brought by a former town employee. The Plaintiff argued that his separation from employment was accomplished through means that were pretextual, arbitrary and capricious, and without any rationale basis. After written briefing and oral argument, the Court rejected these arguments… Read more »
Maine’s New Law Banning the Use of Handheld Phones and Devices While Driving Goes Into Effect on September 19, 2019
In an effort to stem the increase in accidents and fatalities resulting from distracted driving, “An Act to Prohibit the Use of Handheld Phones and Devices While Driving,” PL 2019, c. 486, will go into effect on September 19, 2019. The new law will generally prohibit drivers in Maine from using handheld phones and devices… Read more »
Sobriety Checkpoints in Maine
As summer begins, motorists can expect to see an uptick in sobriety checkpoints, also known as OUI checkpoints. Police officers will set up a roadblock to stop motorists and determine if the motorist is impaired. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Maine Law Court have each held that a properly conducted sobriety checkpoint is an… Read more »
Attorneys Tyler Smith and Timothy O’Brien Win Appeal in Whistleblower Lawsuit
Attorneys Tyler Smith and Tim O’Brien recently won a victory for a client in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in Lee v. Town of Denmark, 2019 ME 54. The plaintiff brought claims against our client for whistleblower retaliation, unpaid wages, and defamation. Attorneys Smith and O’Brien filed a successful motion for summary judgment in the… Read more »
Proposed legislation would reduce Maine estate tax exclusion amount
In the Maine Legislature in the first regular session for 2019, the House of Representatives proposed legislation that would reduce the Maine Estate Tax Exclusion Amount from its current $5.6 million (indexed for inflation) back down to only $2 million per person for those individuals dying after January 1, 2020. It would also remove the… Read more »
Law Court hands down important decision regarding public access to beaches
In a prior article, I wrote about a Maine Supreme Court case about seaweed ownership. The Court recently handed down its decision in Ross v. Acadian Seaplants, holding that the waterfront property owner owns the seaweed growing in the intertidal zone. The Law Court reasoned that taking seaweed is not “fishing” and accordingly not within… Read more »
Savings clause to the Maine Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act is triggered by discovery of the fraud, not discovery of the transfer
So holds the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, in today’s decision in State of Maine v. Tucci, 2019 ME 51, — A.3d —. Tucci was found to have fraudulently transferred property in 2009. More than six years later, the State of Maine filed a lawsuit against Tucci alleging that the transfers… Read more »
Docks and the law
Maine has no shortage of lakes and ponds—so many, in fact, that there are several thousand that do not even have a name. Naturally, swimming, boating, and kayaking/canoeing are popular activities, especially at the lakefront camp. Those water-dependent activities rely on docks and other improvements. But whether a property owner may construct a dock on… Read more »