John Kelly is teaching a seven week “Trial Practice” course to second and third year law students this summer at the University of Maine Law School.

On June 6, 2011, John A. McArdle, III was a guest speaker at the University of Maine School of Law in Portland. Invited to speak at the Trial Practice Course, John spoke on the identification, establishment and use of case themes for trial. John drew from his background and experience in trial preparation and work to detail theme use in discovery, preparation for trial and at trial.

Tim Norton along with co-counsel Bill Robitzek successfully overturned the development approval for a 60 unit hotel development project on Great Diamond Island in Maine’s Casco Bay. After two years of litigation and two separate trials in the case of Friends of Great Diamond Island, LLC v. The Inn at Diamond Cove, LLC, attorneys Norton and Robitzek obtained a judgment from the Maine Superior Court overturning the amendments of the Association documents which would have allowed the project to proceed. The Court agreed with the Plaintiff’s contention that the voting procedures for the Amendment were fatally flawed, concluding that these defects were not “technical shortcomings” but rather were “substantive” and that the Court’s intervention was necessary to provide recourse to “members of the association who are aggrieved by the associations breach of its agreements with its members”.

Jennifer Archer received approval of an application for asylum on behalf of an individual persecuted by the Rwandan government for publicly condemning the gacaca system. This approval permits her client to remain within the protective boundaries of United States indefinitely.

R. Terrance Duddy and Timothy Steigelman, attorneys at Kelly Remmel & Zimmerman, gave a presentation on state and federal law to the Maine Harbormasters Association. Their presentation covered a wide range of legal issues that a Harbormaster may face on the waterfront, from town ordinances, to personal civil and criminal liability, and abandoned property and marine salvage.

Harbormasters are municipal officials who manage their town waterfronts, with duties including harbor management, mooring and dockage management, and assisting in emergencies on the water. Harbormasters are required by state law to take an annual training course. The KRZ advanced law presentation was part of the Harbormasters’ annual training course, and will help the Harbormasters better manage their waterfronts.

The State of Maine Harbormasters Association is an organization of Harbormasters from throughout the state of Maine. KRZ is a law firm in Portland, Maine that pursues a wide civil practice, including admiralty and maritime law.

On February 23, 2011, Tim Steigelman, an associate attorney at Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman, was a guest speaker at the University of Maine School of Law in Portland. Invited into a maritime law seminar, Tim spoke on high seas piracy and its effect on maritime law and admiralty. He drew from his academic and professional background to inject a practical view on maritime law into the academic discussion of piracy and national, international, and maritime business and industry responses.

Jennifer Archer successfully obtains asylum for woman from Angola. The Newark Asylum Office granted asylum to Jennifer Archer’s client, a woman from Angola that was brutally persecuted by Angolan soldiers who incorrectly believed her to be a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This grant of asylum will allow Ms. Archer’s client to remain legally the United States, protected from her persecutor, the Angolan government.

John McArdle, III will become President of The Maine Trial Lawyers Association on March 11, 2011. KRZ is proud that John will assume the presidency of the MTLA and that he is the third KRZ attorney to have that honor and recognition by his peers. As longstanding MTLA Board member John looks forward to further promote access to justice and the continuing education of attorneys in Maine among other priorities during his MTLA presidency.

Jennifer Archer was awarded the 2011 Maine Bar Fellows New Lawyer Award, the first attorney in Maine ever to receive this award. The award is reserved for a lawyer licensed to practice in any jurisdiction for less than 10 years who has demonstrated an “uncompromising dedication to integrity and high personal and professional ethical standards,” exemplified the “ideals of increasing access to justice,” “[m]ade outstanding and recognized contributions to the legal profession and to the public good through Pro Bono service,” and demonstrated “a strong commitment to the objectives and purposes of the Maine Bar Foundation.” Jennifer donates hundreds of pro bono hours each year to the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP), representing asylum seekers through both the affirmative and defensive asylum process. She also gives back to the community as a Board Member of the ILAP Board of Directors and the Maine Board of Bar Examiners.

Attorneys Jennifer Archer and Timothy Norton successfully prosecuted an appeal to the Maine Supreme Court resulting in a decision vacating a judgment entered by the Superior Court on the tort of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress. In the case of Lyman v. Huber, the Maine Supreme Court accepted the arguments of Attorneys Archer and Norton related to the elements of proof of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress claims and substantially narrowed the circumstances under which such a claim may be maintained in Maine.