Practice Areas

Industries

Real Estate and Commercial Development

Judith F. Woodbury

Partner

With experience searching real estate titles from the pre-electronic age to the present, identifying and resolving title defects, testifying as an expert witness and managing the real estate aspects of complex development and financing matters, Judy is steeped in so-called "dirt law." She enjoys tackling multifaceted real estate problems raised by surveyors and working out missing interests as much as designing easements that will govern the use of land for generations to come.

As the head of Pierce Atwood's Real Estate Group, Judy directs the provision of real estate and conveyancing support for all practice groups of the firm. She has managed the real estate aspects of significant, complex, multi-site projects in New England, including representation of parties in both the acquisition and sale of projects for which separation of functions is required, involving complex property divisions with reciprocal easements and agreements and interpretation of survey plans. Judy has worked for a national title insurance underwriter, is an agent for all the major title insurance companies and has made title insurance claims on behalf of clients.

Pursuant to gubernatorial appointment Judy served on the Maine licensing board for Professional Land Surveyors, approving applications, hearing complaints and writing rules, including ethics rules for surveyor conduct. Judy was also responsible for administering the statutory licensing requirements, including preparation and administration of examinations, rule-making, and disciplinary proceedings.

Judy's background in real estate law includes experience in commercial and residential acquisitions, sales and financing, including title abstracting and search services, residential and commercial closing services, and title insurance underwriting for commercial and residential transactions. She also served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maine, representing the Department of Human Services. Judy is a member of the Real Estate and Title Section of the Maine State Bar Association and is a past chair of the Section.

Recent Experience

Representation of Madison Paper Industries (Myllykoski) in the sale of the 15.4 megawatt hydro-electric dam on the Kennebec River in Winslow and Waterville, Maine to Hydro Kennebec LLC, owned by Brookfield Renewable Power Inc.
Our clients Mike and Tim White made the difficult decision to sell the family business, White Bros Co., which was started by their father and uncle. The deal faced numerous hurdles, including the completion of the purchase of a critical parcel in the middle of a major quarry to realize the full value of the quarry, and overcoming several delays for due diligence issues; but, the closing on the sale of the business to Lane Construction was completed on Feb 18, 2010, and the two younger White brothers are very pleased and relieved.
Representation of affiliates of the Cianbro Companies in connection with the acquisition, due diligence and complete redevelopment of the former Eastern Fine Paper mill site on a 40 acre site along the Penobscot River in Brewer, Maine, into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. Following the negotiation of numerous real estate issues with interested parties, the facility has been constructed and is constructing large-scale building components for an oil refinery and shipping them via ocean barging to the Gulf of Mexico.
Representation of Central Maine Power Company on real estate acquisitions for the Maine Power Reliability Program, one of the largest infrastructure projects in Maine's history. The project includes a proposal to build, rebuild, or re-rate transmission lines in 360 miles of corridor, as well as build, expand, or upgrade 13 substations. The Real Estate Practice Group is coordinating and supervising the due diligence and transactional work for the acquisition of more than six hundred parcels and easements in six counties in central and southeastern Maine.
Representation of seller for all aspects of the sale of twenty-one hydroelectric generating assets situated in Maine, California and along the eastern seaboard of the US. All of the Maine and several of the other sites have long histories, up to a century, of dams, log-driving and power generation, and required substantial research and negotiations to meet due diligence entitlements for clear titles and boundaries.
CMP engaged the Real Estate group for help with a new 2009 Bond Indenture which involved building a large and complex database for all its Maine property, lien searches for all the property and UCC searches and filings. The matter culminated with the rush to record the Mortgage Bond Indenture in 15 Registries of Deeds in all areas of the state in just two days. The Mortgage Bond Indenture is the largest instrument recorded to date in many of the 15 Registries; the recording was well received by the Registries due to efficient prior communication and preparation.

Honors & Distinctions

Judy has been recognized by Chambers USA every year from 2005 through 2011, being described ‘as a "thorough, focused and technical" attorney, with considerable expertise in title matters.' She received a "Service Recognition" from the Maine Society of Land Surveyors in 1996.