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Verrill Dana One Year Later

Mainebiz has an article on the aftermath of John Duncan’s embezzlement.  Two things still stick out: of course Duncan’s outrageous actions, but also the firm’s failure to take action for four months.

John Duncan is now in federal prison in Brooklyn, hundreds of miles from the state where his theft still raises hackles in part because it was so unusual and the retribution so public. Of the more than 4,869 lawyers licensed to practice in Maine, 13 were publicly sanctioned in 2007, according to the American Bar Association. As a percentage of lawyers licensed, Maine’s rate of public disciplinary action has historically been among the country’s lowest.

By downeastlaw, ago

Bad lawyer or fall guy?

Kennebec Journal reports on a fine imposed on Fed Up With Taxes. Their lawyer is taking the blame.

The ethics commission on Monday fined Fed Up With Taxes $10,000 for failing to file two campaign finance reports on time.

The Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices voted 4-0 to impose the maximum fine on the political action committee.

Portland attorney William Dale, who was hired by Fed Up With Taxes to handle the campaign finance reports, told the commission he did all the filings himself.

He asked for a waiver of the fine.

“I have no excuse other than I forgot,” he said.

By downeastlaw, ago

Transmission line upgrade hearing

Portland Press Herald:

“Hearings to allow public comment on a $1.4 billion proposal to upgrade much of the state’s electrical-transmission infrastructure will begin Wednesday with a session in Waterville.The Maine Public Utilities Commission has scheduled two public hearings to allow residents to offer their opinions on a Central Maine Power Co. proposal to add 350 miles of high-voltage transmission lines.

A PUC spokesman said the agency will plan additional public sessions after November.

The proposed 345,000-volt transmission lines would stretch from the southern end of the state through 80 municipalities in the Portland, Augusta and Pittsfield areas. The lines would end near Bangor.

The Waterville public-comment session will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Waterville City Hall. Lewiston City Hall will host a session at 6 p.m. on Nov. 24.”

By downeastlaw, ago

Maine Law School Gets Large Gift

Portland, ME – The University of Maine School of Law is pleased to announce a generous gift of $100,000 from Doctors Victor and Anne McKusick of Baltimore, Maryland, to help support the Vincent L. McKusick Diversity Fellowship Fund. With an initial pledge of $100,000 from the law firm of Pierce Atwood LLP, the Maine Law School established this endowment fund late last year with the goal of increasing diversity among the student body and within the legal community in Maine. The Fund honors Vincent L. McKusick, former Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and Victor McKusick’s twin brother.

– MaineBusiness

By downeastlaw, ago

Another disbarment?

The Press Herald is reporting on another case of a lawyer stealing from their client.

A state ethics board has recommended that a Boothbay Harbor lawyer be disbarred for allegedly stealing at least $70,000 from a private trust that he controlled.

Information regarding the conduct of Franklin A. Poe also has been turned over to the financial crimes division of the state Attorney General’s Office, for a criminal review.

Poe was an attorney for Josephine Davis Day, who owned the Trailing Yew boarding home on Monhegan Island from the 1920s until her death in 1996, at age 99.

Poe prepared Day’s will and a trust that provided for the continuing operation of the Trailing Yew Inn. As the sole trustee, Poe was supposed to pay for the inn’s expenses, then divvy up profits to several beneficiaries. Instead, Poe was allegedly siphoning off profits for himself, and he stopped sending out payments entirely in 2003, according to court documents.

Because Poe never responded to the grievances filed against him, the state Board of Bar Overseers, under its rules, considered that an admission of guilt. Lawyers for the board are seeking to have Poe disbarred by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

By downeastlaw, ago

Permanent Disbarment for Lawyer

The Verrill Dana attorney who stole thousands of dollars from his clients has been permanently disbarred from practicing law in Maine.  This was the first lifetime disbarment in the state.

He will also mostly spend two years in jail.

A former Verrill Dana law partner will not appeal the lifetime disbarment handed down against him by Maine’s highest court.

The historic ruling permanently bans John D. Duncan from practicing law in this state, and effectively ends his law career. It is the most severe professional sanction ever imposed on a Maine lawyer, according to the state Board of Bar Overseers.

“He accepts the consequences,” Duncan’s lawyer, Toby Dilworth, said Monday.

“From the beginning of my representation of him, he has acknowledged his misconduct and taken full responsibility.”

– Press Herald

By downeastlaw, ago