Preti Flaherty

Preti Flaherty is a New England law firm headquartered in Portland, Maine. It is one of Maine’s four largest law firms ^[1] with more than 100 attorneys and five offices. The firm’s additional offices are located in Augusta, Maine (the state capital), Concord, New Hampshire, Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. ^[2] The Augusta, Concord and Boston offices each offer a similar grouping of practice areas as the firm overall. The firm’s legislative and regulatory practice and its Energy practice is managed from Augusta, ME office. The Concord, NH office’s primary focus is corporate work, with a concentration in bankruptcy, but those attorneys are also involved in employment work and litigation. The Boston office is home to many of the firm's Intellectual Property attorneys.

Preti Flaherty provides legal services in practice areas including Business, Environmental, Energy, Climate Strategy, Employment, Legislative and Regulatory Services, Intellectual Property, International Law, Litigation, Real Estate and Land Use, Tax, Trusts and Estates and beyond.

The firm is an active member of Terralex,^[3] a global network of independent law firms with members in more than 100 countries, which further enables attorneys to serve clients' international interests by tapping into a pool of experienced and respected attorneys around the world.^[4]

Preti Flaherty is well known in Maine for its Legislative Group and registered lobbyists, including Founding Partner Severin Beliveau and Ann R. Robinson, who is the former Chair of the practice group. Ann served as Co-Chair of Governor Paul LePage's transition team,^[5] with specific responsibility for policy and regulatory review, and continues to serve in an advisory capacity. She was also recently appointed to Governor LePage's Judicial Selection Committee,^[6] a group that advises on judicial nominations.

Harold C. Pachios, also a Founding Partner, practices Business Law, International Law and Legislative Law. In 1993, Pachios was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. He served as the firm's Managing Partner for eight years.

Preti Flaherty is the result of the 1972 merger of Preti, Peabody, Johnson & Smith, an outstanding corporate and commercial firm, and Berman, Berman, Wernick & Flaherty, one of Maine’s top trial practice firms. The successor firm of Preti & Flaherty merged in 1978 with Beliveau & Beliveau, a broad-based general practice firm with a heavy concentration in governmental services and regulatory work. The firm became known as Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios with offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine.

In 1999, the firm merged with Haley & Champion and added five attorneys and a Bath, Maine office. In February 2001, Preti Flaherty opened its Concord, New Hampshire office and, in March 2005, opened an office in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm closed its Bath office in 2006 and has since opened satellite offices in Washington, District of Columbia, Bedminster, New Jersey and Salem, Massachusetts. In 2013, the firm was joined in its Boston office by the seven attorneys of the former Weingarten, Schurgin, Gagnebin and Lebovici, LLP.

John M. Sullivan is the firm's managing partner.

Subsidiaries

In July 2007, Preti Flaherty partnered with Boston's The Minahan Companies, led by Alfred A. Minahan, to create a public affairs subsidiary, Preti Minahan Strategies. Preti Minahan Strategies integrates crisis management and public affairs services with Preti Flaherty's legal services.^[7]

Awards and rankings

Preti Flaherty has earned multiple awards and rankings for providing legal services across a broad range of practice areas. The most notable recognition includes:

• In 2015, Brian Quirk was recognized as the Top Criminal Defense Attorney in the state of New Hampshire by Business NH Magazine.^[8]
• 19 attorneys were selected for inclusion in the 2013 Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Business Lawyers, a legal directory of leading attorneys and law firms in the United States. Preti Flaherty was recognized as a leading U.S. law firm with top rankings in six different practice areas, including Energy & Natural Resources, Litigation, Corporate/M&A, Real Estate Law, Environmental Law and Labor and Employment.^[9]*
• Preti Flaherty Ranked Among 2013 "Best Law Firms" by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers.^[10]
• Twenty-eight Preti Flaherty attorneys were selected for inclusion as 2013 New England Super Lawyers. Nine of the 28 attorneys are listed as New England Rising Stars.^[11]
• 41 Preti Flaherty attorneys from its offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine, and Concord, N.H., were selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, published by Woodward/White.
• Three Preti Flaherty attorneys were named "Lawyers of the Year" by Best Lawyers 2013. Severin Believeau, John Doyle, Jr. and David Van Slyke were selected for this honor.^[12]
• Preti Flaherty was named Maine Law Firm of the Year by Benchmark Litigation.^[13]
• Preti Flaherty’s Litigation Group was ranked in the 2013 Maine Chapter of Benchmark: Litigation as a "Highly Recommended" law firm. In addition to the firm ranking, attorneys Jonathan Piper, Daniel Rapaport, Gregory Hansel, Christopher Nyhan and William Saturley are listed as "Local Litigation Stars," and attorneys Sigmund Schutz, Jeffrey Talbert and John Sullivan are listed as "Future Litigation Stars." ^[14]
• 20 Preti Flaherty attorneys have earned Peer Review Ratings of AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. 30 attorneys have earned BV Distinguished Peer Review Ratings by Martindale-Hubbell.^[15]
• Preti Flaherty was recognized by one of Maine’s most important trade organizations when the Maine International Trade Center named the firm “Service Provider of the Year” in 2008 citing its “dedication to helping clients thrive in a global economy.”^[16]

Blogs

Energy Policy Update: a blog by Energy Attorney Todd J. Griset

Preti Minahan Strategies Blog: a blog by John Hahesy, Director of Issues Management and Media Relations

IP & Technology Law Blog

External links

• Preti Flaherty

Notes