Maine Appellate Practice - 6th Edition

Maine Appellate Practice – 6th Edition 

This publication was written to provide relatively contemporary guidance in implementing the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure and addressing other issues that may arise in the course of appellate practice before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The first edition was published in January 2003. 

Changes for this edition:
* This sixth edition is written to track the evolution of practice since adoption of the restyled Rules and to address recent developments in electronic and digital records management and utilization of remote hearings, with remote hearings practice anticipated to continue after the pandemic restrictions are past.

* Since adoption of the Restyled Rules, the only significant change in the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure has been 2021 Me. Rules 05, effective October 8, 2021. That order amended many of the Appellate Rules addressing filing and creation of a record on appeal to promote compliance with the Maine Rules of Electronic Court Systems as it is implemented in an increasing number of courts. As this book was going to press, amendments to Rules 2C, 7, 7A, and 10 were being considered, addressing drafting and electronic filing of briefs and motions.

While the focus of the book is appellate practice, several parts of the book provide useful guidance for practice in any adjudicatory proceeding, including proceedings before trial courts or administrative agencies.

            *  The Checklist for Preparing, Filing, and Maintaining an Appeal offers practical suggestions for conducting a trial or administrative proceeding in a manner that will promote success in the fact-finding proceeding and put the case in best posture for appeal, if an appeal is required.

            *  Chapter 4A addresses State and local administrative law practice, including proceedings before administrative agencies, intermediate appeals to the trial courts pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80B and 80C, and, occasionally, 80G, and appeals from the trial courts to the Law Court.

            *  Chapter 5 addresses motion practice, with a focus on summary judgment and dispositive motion practice, in the trial courts and on appeal, including the history of motion practice and current rules and best practices.

            *  Chapter 6, while addressing oral argument before the Law Court, includes many suggestions for practice in any oral advocacy, and comment 604 addresses best practices for participation in any remote hearing.

            *  Chapter 7, addresses appellate ethics, but includes discussion of ethics rules and precedents applicable to advocacy in any judicial proceeding.   

Maine Appellate Practice is divided into three sections.

~ The first section includes a History of the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, including the 2017 notes adopted by the Court describing rule changes in the Restyling of the Rules, and the 2001 notes adopted by the Court describing adoption of the original Rules; (ii) a short Checklist for Preparing, Filing, and Maintaining an Appeal; and (iii) a User’s Guide to the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure which provides a brief and general overview of appellate practice, the steps involved in an appeal, and the relevant rules regarding appeals.

~ The second section includes (i) the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure; (ii) advisory notes and restyling notes published with the original rules and with amendments to those rules; and (iii) commentary addressing issues that may arise in application of each individual rule.  The rules, advisory notes, and comments are current as of August 1, 2022.

~ The third section includes seven chapters addressing general legal and practice issues which arise in the course of appeals, often outside the context of any particular rule. 

~ This compilation of rules and commentaries include an encompassing index.

Published October 2022. ISBN: 9781737776789

Donald G. Alexander was appointed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 1998. He previously served on the Maine Superior Court and the Maine District Court and as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of Maine. He served in Washington, D.C. as an assistant to Maine Senator Edmund S. Muskie and as Legislative Counsel for the National League of Cities. Justice Alexander is a graduate of Bowdoin College and the University of Chicago Law School.

Alexander is the author of several practice books, including: The Maine Jury Instruction Manual (2022 ed.) first published in 1985; Maine Appellate Practice (5th. ed. 2018) first published in 2003; and The Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure with Advisory Notes and Comments (2017 ed.).

Alexander was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maine School of Law from 2007 to 2014 and a member of the faculty of the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop from 1980 to 2009. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Cleaves Law Library since 1998 and the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the Maine State Bar Association since 1992.

Alexander retired January 31, 2020.  His total judicial service, 41 years, 1 month, and 3 days, is the longest active service in the State courts.  Since retirement, Alexander has been appointed a Maine Commissioner of the Uni­form Law Commission, a member of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services, and the Chair of the 2021 Apportionment Commission.

Professor Nancy A. Wanderer of the University of Maine School of Law contributed as the author of Chapter 5 regarding brief writing, drawing upon her broad appellate experience as an educator and appellate advocate.

“Justice Alexander's Maine Appellate Practice is an important tool for anyone appearing before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court—whether for the first time or the hundredth. As a major force behind the drafting of the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, Justice Alexander's explanation of their content and the practice under them is unique and invaluable. His text is clear, concise and focused. All Maine litigators should have this volume on their shelves.”
- Catherine R Connors, Esq., Pierce Atwood, LLP

“Any attorney or party appealing to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court should read first Justice Alexander's book, Maine Appellate Practice. The book has information, suggestions and insights that cannot be found in the Court's procedural rules or its decisions—from such important details as where to sit in court, how and when to use graphic displays, and how to structure oral argument and reserve “question-exempt” and rebuttal time—to core matters such as how to write and speak so as to best persuade the Court. Justice Alexander's detailed advice on how to write appellate briefs should be required reading for law students, attorneys and pro se litigants.”
- Peggy L. McGehee, Esq., Perkins Thompson, P.A.