Catherine R. Connors

After serving as a Law Clerk for then Chief Judge John F. Grady of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Cathy joined Pierce Atwood in 1986, where she practices primarily in the area of appellate litigation - both civil and criminal - in the federal and state courts, including petitions for review of administrative decisions. She has argued over 100 appeals, primarily in the United States Courts of Appeals and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Cathy also leads Pierce Atwood's partnership with the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.

Within the area of appellate litigation, Cathy's practice runs the gamut from representation of corporations to individuals, such as Senator Susan Collins, and criminal defendants. The breadth of subject areas she has addressed is equally broad, including administrative appeals, bankruptcy, defamation, election law, energy, environmental law, the False Claims Act, family law, insurance, real estate and torts.

Practice Experience

• Administrative Appeals
  Ex. State of Maine v. Johnson, 498 F.3d 37 (1st Cir. 2007)
• Bankruptcy
  Ex. California Dept. of Water Resources v. Calpine Corp., 337 B.R. 27 (SDNY 2006)
• Defamation
  Ex. Fiacco v. Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 528 F.3d 94 (1st Cir. 2008)
• Energy
  Ex. CLF v. FERC, 216 F.3d 41 (D.C. Cir. 2000)
• Election Law
  National Organization for Marriage v. Daluz, 654 F.3d 115 (1st Cir. 2011) (representing amicus Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders)
• Environmental Law
  Ex. CLF v. Hannaford Bros. Inc., 139 Fed.Appx. 338 (2d Cir. 2005)
• The False Claims Act
  Ex. U.S. ex rel. Springfield Terminal Ry. Co. v. Quinn, 14 F.3d 645 (D.C. Cir. 1994) (plaintiff)
  Ex. U.S. ex rel. Loughren v. Unum Group, 613 F.3d 300 (1st Cir. 2010) (defendant)
• Family Law
  Ex. Adoption of Patricia A. Spado, 2009 ME 76; 912 A.2d 578, 2007 ME 6
• Insurance
  Ex. AutoEurope, L.L.C. v. Connecticut Indemnity Co., 321 F.3d 60 (1st Cir. 2003)
• Real Estate
  Ex. Dowling v. Salewski, 2007 ME 78, 926 A.2d 193
• Torts
  Coyne v. Peace, 863 A.2d 885, 2004 ME 150

Recent Experience

• Board of Overseers of the Bar v. Warren, 2011 ME 124
  Affirming quash of subpoena on privilege grounds
• Bradbury v. GMAC, LLC, -- F.Supp.2d --, 2011 WL 553570 (D.Me. 2011) Rejecting remand efforts of putative class action regarding mortgage foreclosures on Rooker-Feldman and abstention grounds
• U.S. ex rel. Loughren v. Unum Group, 613 F.3d 300 (1st Cir. 2010)
  Vacating judgment against insurer under the False Claims Act and remanding for a new trial
• Adoption of Patricia A. Spado, 2009 ME 76; 912 A.2d 578, 2007 ME 6
  Vacating default judgment on petition to nullify same sex adult adoption and subsequently reversing nullification of adoption
• Nestle Waters North America, Inc. v. Town of Fryeburg, 2009 ME 30, 967 A.2d 702 Reversing denial and ordering issuance of permit of water loadout facility
• Rhode Island v. Lead Industries Ass'n, 951 A.2d 428 (2008)
  Reversing jury verdict in $2 billion+ public nuisance abatement claim against lead pigment manufacturers

Honors & Distinctions

Cathy has been named the only 2012 Maine Appellate Practice Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America and a First Circuit litigation star in Benchmark Appellate.  She is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Appellate Law and is recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers for Commercial Litigation. She was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers in 2005 and has an AV® rating in Martindale-Hubbell.

Professional Activities

Member, First Circuit Advisory Committee on Rules

Fellow, Maine Bar Foundation

Maine Board of Bar Examiners, 1998-2006 (chair in 2005)

Publications

Maineappeals.com, a blog about appeals and appellate law in Maine. The blog discusses developments in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and First Circuit Court of Appeals, including recent cases, rule changes and other events.

Transmission Preemption - Federal policy trumps state siting authority, Public Utilities Fortnightly (November 2010) (co-author with Deborah L. Shaw)

Developments and Trends in the World of Electronic Discovery section of "Electronic Records Management and E-Discovery" (2010) (co-author with Mark E. Porada)

Free Markets and Their Umpires: The Appeal of the U.S. Regulatory Model, World Policy Journal. (Summer 2005) (co-author with Isabel Bjork)

Culture and Crime: Kargar and the Existing Framework for a Cultural Defense, 47 Buffalo L.Rev. 829. (1999) (co-author with Nancy Wanderer)

Creation of A National Disaster Court: A Response to Judicial Federation in Action, 78 Va. L. Rev. 1753. (1992) (co-author with Ralph Lancaster)

Appalachian Electric Revised: The Recapture Provision of Federal Power Act After Nollan and Kaiser Aetna, 40 Drake L. Rev. 533. (1991)

Back to the Future: The Nuisance Exception to the Just Compensation Clause, 19 Cap. U.L. Rev. 1. (1990)

Civic Activities

Board Member, Animal Welfare Society, West Kennebunk, Maine

Member, Town of Kennebunk Dog Advisory Committee