Catherine R. Connors

Partner

Portland, Maine
Phone: 207·791·1389
cconnors@pierceatwood.com
www.pierceatwood.com

Practice Areas

Catherine R. Connors

Partner - Portland, Maine Office

Direct Dial: 207·791·1389

cconnors@pierceatwood.com

Experience

Cathy 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.

Representative successful litigation includes:

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 nullivanction 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 paint manufacturers)
Fiacco v. Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 528 F.3d 94 (1st Cir. 2008) (upholding summary judgment for defendant in intentional infliction of emotional distress claim based on speech activities)
State of Maine v. Johnson, 498 F.3d 37 (1st Cir. 2007) (reversing EPA NPDES delegation order)
Griswold v. Town of Denmark, 2007 ME 93, 927 A.2d 410 (upholding water extraction permit)
Dowling v. Salewski, 2007 ME 78, 926 A.2d 193 (establishing definition of real estate title opinions and associated statute of limitations, as counsel for the amicus Real Estate Section of the Maine State Bar Association);
California Dept. of Water Resources v. Calpine Corp., 337 B.R. 27 (SDNY 2006) (holding that debtor could not reject contracts in bankruptcy without regulatory approval);
Northern Laminate Sales v. Davis, 403 F.3d 14 (1^st Cir. 2005) (affirming personal jurisdiction over defendant under New Hampshire law);
Verizon New England, Inc. v. Public Utilities Commission, 866 A.2d 844, 2005 ME 16 (vacating utility commission order restricting advertisement on First Amendment grounds);
Coyne v. Peace, 863 A.2d 885, 2004 ME 150 (upholding emergency doctrine);
AutoEurope, L.L.C. v. Connecticut Indemnity Co., 321 F.3d 60 (1^st Cir. 2003) (affirming summary judgment in favor of insured, including attorneys' fees);
Penobscot Nation v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 254 F.3d 317 (1^st Cir.), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 1127, related case, 2000 ME 68, 770 A.2d 574, cert. denied, 534 U.S. 1019 (enforcing state freedom of access act against challenge under Maine Indian Settlement Acts);
Consumers for Affordable Health Care, Inc. v. Office of Superintendent of Insurance, 809 A.2d 1233, 2002 ME 158 (affirming conversion of nonprofit medical and hospital service organization to domestic stock insurer);
Conservation Law Foundation v. FERC, 216 F.3d 41 (D.C. Cir. 2000) (rejecting challenge of hydrofacility re-licensing);
Central Maine Power Co. v. Public Utilities Commission, 734 A.2d 1120 (Me. 1999) (striking down a Maine Public Utilities Commission consumer education rule as an unconstitutional prior restraint);
Colford v. Chubb Ins. Co. of America, 687 A.2d 609 (Me. 1996) (reversing $26 million verdict);
State v. Kargar, 679 A.2d 81 (Me. 1996) (reversing felony conviction);
Ziegler v. American Maize-Products Co., 658 A.2d 219 (Me. 1995) (reversing judgment and prevailing in $300 million-plus shareholder dispute);
U.S. ex rel. Springfield Terminal Ry. Co. v. Quinn, 14 F.3d 645 (D.C. Cir. 1994) (reversing dismissal of qui tam claim);
Finks v. Secretary of State, 647 A.2d 402 (Me. 1994) (representation of Senator Susan Collins in residency challenge);
State v. Harper, 613 A.2d 945 (Me. 1992) (vacating murder conviction).

Since 1995, Cathy has also worked for the State Department, United States Aid to International Development, the World Bank and other donor agencies to draft legislation, create regulatory bodies and support the rule of law in developing nations.

Civic Activities

Cathy leads Pierce Atwood's partnership with the Gay's, Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD). She is a fellow of the Maine Bar Foundation and was appointed by the Governor as a member of the Maine Board of Bar Examiners from 1998-2006, chairing the Board in 2005. She is currently a member of the First Circuit Advisory Committee on Rules.

Cathy is a member of the Board of the Animal Welfare Society in West Kennebunk, Maine.

Honors and Distinctions

Cathy is listed in the 2010 edition of Woodward/White's The Best Lawyers in America for Appellate Law and is the sole Maine attorney listed in "Superlawyers.com" for Appellate Law. She was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers in 2005. She has also received the highest Martindale-Hubbell legal ability and general ethical standards rating (AV).

Publications

Cathy is the author of 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.

Cathy has published extensively. Representative publications include:

"Free Markets and Their Umpires: The Appeal of the U.S. Regulatory Model" (World Policy Journal, Summer 2005) (co-author with Isabel Bjork);
"Regulatory Benchmarking" (World Energy Forum, Rome, October 2003);
"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).

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Education

Cathy received her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Northwestern University (Phi Beta Kappa; 1981). She received her J.D. cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law (Order of the Coif 1984), where she served on the editorial board of the Northwestern University Law Review. After law school, she served as a Law Clerk for then Chief Judge John F. Grady of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. She joined Pierce Atwood in 1986.

Bar Admissions

Cathy is admitted to practice in the states of Maine and Illinois; the U.S. District Court, District of Maine; the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois; the U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit; and the United States Supreme Court.

Representative Matters

Counsel for California Dept. of Water Resources in Calpine Corp. Chapter 11 Case (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.)
Government Assistance
State v. Kargar
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