KRZ is again included in the 2021 rankings of “Best Law Firms” released annually by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers®.  Firms included in the 2021 Edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” are recognized for professional excellence with consistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must first have a lawyer recognized in The Best Lawyers in America©, which recognizes the top 5% of private practicing lawyers in the United States. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.

KRZ is regionally ranked in six separate practice areas including: Admiralty & Maritime Law, Family Law, Plaintiffs Personal Injury Litigation, Plaintiffs Medical Malpractice Law, Real Estate Litigation and Real Estate Law.

Additionally, five KRZ attorneys are individually recognized by Best Lawyers® including: Barry Zimmerman (recognized since 1989), John N. Kelly (recognized since 2001), R. Terrance Duddy (recognized since 2006), Timothy H. Norton (recognized since 2008), and U. Charles Remmel, II (recognized since 2011).

The U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in the field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process.   The 2021 rankings are based on feedback and evaluations from clients and 8.3 million evaluations of more than 110,000 individual leading lawyers.

KRZ is proud to announce that three attorneys were selected for inclusion in the 2020 list of New England Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys. Each year, no more than 5% of lawyers in New England are selected as Super Lawyers.

Attorney Chuck Remmel was selected as a Super Lawyer honoree in the area of Business Litigation. Attorney Remmel has been selected to Super Lawyers each year since 2011. Attorney R. Terrance Duddy was selected as a Super Lawyer honoree in the areas of Transportation/Maritime. Attorney Duddy has been selected to Super Lawyers each year since 2007. Attorney Lauri Boxer-Macomber was selected as a Super Lawyer honoree in the area of General Personal Injury. Attorney Boxer-Macomber has been selected to Super Lawyers each year since 2015. Before that, Attorney Boxer-Macomber was chosen as a Rising Star in 2013 and 2014.

Additionally, Stephen Koerting was recognized as a Rising Star honoree in the areas of Transportation/Maritime for the second consecutive year. Rising Stars recognizes attorneys who are either 40 years old or younger or in practice for 10 years or less. Each year, no more than 2.5% of the lawyers in New England are selected as Rising Stars.

The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazines and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country. Super Lawyers Magazines also feature editorial profiles of attorneys who embody excellence in the practice of law. For more information about Super Lawyers, visit SuperLawyers.com.

Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman is pleased to announce that Attorney Shea H. Watson has joined the firm.

Shea is a 2019 magna cum laude graduate from the University of Maine School of Law. While in law school, Shea clerked for two law firms in Maine, completed an externship for Magistrate Judge John H. Rich III for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, and interned with the Legal Aid Society in Manhattan as a public defender and with the legal and compliance team of a publicly traded company. Shea also represented Maine Law in admiralty and employment moot court competitions, was an editor for the Ocean & Coastal Law Journal, and served as a Teaching Fellow for first-year courses. Prior to joining KRZ, Shea served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Joseph M. Jabar, Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Shea will bring strong advocacy and litigation skills to our firm and our clients. KRZ is honored that Shea has chosen to begin her legal career with the firm.

On May 19, 2020, KRZ Employment Law Attorney Erik Peters presented a webinar on legal and practical considerations as businesses reopen during the COVID pandemic. Erik and Andrew Kraus of Opticliff Law discussed integral information for employers to be aware of during this process including any concerns employers might have and important resources for employers. SCORE Portland, a resource partner of the Small Business Administration, hosted the event.

Over the past twelve months, KRZ celebrated the outstanding careers and retirements of long-term professional staff members Beth Webster and Pam Pillsbury. Both Beth and Pam joined KRZ shortly after its inception in 1980 and remained vital members of the KRZ family for the entirety of their careers until their well-deserved retirements.

Pam Pillsbury joined KRZ in 1985 and served as a Legal Assistant to several attorneys over the course of 34 years until her retirement in April 2019. Beth Webster joined KRZ in 1983 and served as Office Administrator for 37 years until her retirement in March 2020.

Our professional staff is one of the greatest assets of the firm. Pam and Beth are the epitomes of our exemplary professional staff members at KRZ.  The entire firm thanks Pam and Beth for their immeasurable contributions and seven combined decades of dedicated service to KRZ and our clients.  We wish Pam and Beth the very best in their retirements.

On March 4, 2020, KRZ Attorney Stephen Koerting led the Advanced Maritime and Tort Law session at the Maine Harbormasters Association’s 35th Annual Conference and Training held at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. More than 50 Harbormasters from all over the State of Maine attended the session. KRZ is honored to be a long-term and ongoing resource for Maine’s Harbormasters who serve the public on the state’s expansive lakes, great ponds, and coastal waters.

The year 2020 marks 40 years since the founding of Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman. KRZ is honored and privileged to have provided quality service to thousands of diverse clients in a variety of practice areas for the past four decades. KRZ continues to operate out of the same Old Port office where it started in 1980. All of the firm’s founders remain actively involved in the firm and many of the attorneys and support staff spent have been with the KRZ family for dozens of years.

The entire KRZ team is grateful to each and every client, employee, colleague and supporter, past and present. Without them, KRZ could not have obtained this achievement and would not be in the position the firm proudly finds itself in today.

KRZ anticipates hosting a celebratory event later in 2020 to recognize this achievement and to thank our clients and colleagues in the community. More information about this event will follow.

Terry Duddy and Stephen Koerting were admitted to the federal bar for the Eastern District of New York on a pro hac vice basis as plaintiff’s counsel in a Jones Act maritime injury case. Appearing pro hac vice permits attorneys licensed in other jurisdictions to argue or try a particular case in whole or in part as counsel for a party.

Although KRZ is located in Maine, our attorneys frequently represent clients in a variety of legal matters throughout the country.

Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman Attorneys Lauri Boxer-Macomber and Terry Duddy were recently invited to guest lecture at the University of New England. On January 15, Attorney Boxer-Macomber spoke on legal and social reform within the fields of transportation and traffic law. She touched on topics such as the evolution of bicycle laws, recent vulnerable road user legislation, the history of the term “jaywalking,” speed cameras, distracted driving, trends in crash reporting, autonomous vehicles, and micromobility. The following week, on January 22, Attorney Duddy spoke on maritime law and the historical interplay between social and legal reform in that area of law.

Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman is pleased to announce Attorney Erik Peters has joined the firm.

Erik resides in Freeport, Maine with his family and has been practicing law for over two decades. He enjoys both plaintiff and defense work and advocating for clients inside and outside of the courtroom. Erik primarily practices in the fields of employment, commercial, and personal injury law.  He is also known for his strong civil litigation skills.

Erik’s prior legal experience includes serving as counsel for one of the country’s largest insurance companies, working for the State of Texas, and practicing at another well-respected Maine law firm.  He has successfully run his own business and represented clients in multi-million dollar personal injury cases throughout New England. Erik has also represented people and companies in labor and employment law matters in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He holds the highest rating of “AV® Preeminent™” from the Martindale-Hubble lawyer rating firm.