Justia Maine Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

A New Jersey court entered a default judgment against Gawayne Dawson and for Safety Insurance Group. Safety Insurance subsequently sought enforcement of the judgment in Maine. The district court entered the New Jersey judgment and issued a notice of registration of foreign order. The court then issued a writ of execution. Safety Insurance moved to amend the writ to include post-judgment interest. The district court concluded that the post-judgment interest rate of New Jersey, rather than Maine, should apply to the foreign judgment. Before the court could finalize the writ, Safety Insurance brought this appeal. The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed the appeal as interlocutory and remanded so that the court may enter a final judgment after receiving the appropriate documentation. View "Safety Ins. Group v. Dawson" on Justia Law

Roland Gerrish created a trust consisting of certain property. The trust instrument provided that Julie and Shirley Gauthier would be the remainder beneficiaries upon Roland’s death. When Roland died, Shirley and Roland’s widow, Jacqueline, disputed the maintenance of property. Shirley filed a complaint for equitable partition against Jacqueline and the Gerrish Corporation and then requested an entry of default. The court issued default judgment and denied Jacqueline’s and the Corporation’s motion to join Julie as a necessary party. The superior court entered an order denying the motions to set aside the default and to join Julie, concluding that all necessary parties were joined, and granted the relief requested by Shirley. Jacqueline, the Corporation, and Julie appealed. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment, holding that the court erred in concluding that all necessary parties were joined and in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing before issuing the default judgment. Remanded. View "Gauthier v. Gerrish" on Justia Law

When Mason Station, LLC failed to pay assessed property taxes on multiple properties in the Town of Wiscasset, the Town filed a complaint against Mason Station for taxes owed on those properties and on certain personal property. Mason Station failed to timely file an answer, and the clerk entered a default and default judgment against Mason Station. Nearly eighteen months after the judgment was entered, Mason Station moved to set aside the default and for relief from default judgment, alleging that several days before the entry of the default judgment in favor of the Town, the Town had obtained ownership of the properties for which taxes were owed through automatic foreclosure and that the foreclosed properties had an assessed value in excess of the total amount owed on the judgment. The trial court declined to grant Mason Station relief. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the denial of the motions to set aside default and for relief from judgment, as Mason Station offered no good excuse for failing to file a timely answer to the Town’s complaint and failed to perform its duty to take legal steps to protect its own interests in the original litigation. View "Town of Wiscasset v. Mason Station, LLC" on Justia Law

All parties in this case were practicing Maine attorneys or law firms that asserted various theories of entitlement to all or part of a $1.24 million attorney fee generated in a civil judgment in another matter. In both matters, the superior court denied the motion of Daniel G. Lilley and Daniel G. Lilley Law Offices, P.A. to consolidate the matters for trial and proceeded to dispose of the cases through summary judgment on some claims and dismissal or severance of others. The Supreme Court vacated the judgments except for a single claim, holding that, with one exception, the superior court erred in denying the motion to consolidate the claims. Remanded. View "Tucker v. Lilley" on Justia Law

Plaintiff, a construction company, filed a five-count complaint in superior court against Defendants, alleging breach of contract, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, and violation of the Prompt Payment Act. In the fifth count of the complaint, Plaintiff sought enforcement of a mechanic’s lien it recorded against Defendants’ property. Plaintiff then moved for summary judgment on its claims for breach of contract, violation of the Prompt Payment Act, and enforcement of the mechanic’s lien. The superior court granted summary judgment for Plaintiff on those three counts but made no mention of Plaintiff’s quantum meruit or unjust enrichment claims. Defendants appealed. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal as interlocutory, as there was no final judgment on any of Plaintiff’s causes of action where two of Plaintiff’s claims were still pending. View "Warren Constr. Group, LLC v. Reis" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Defendant, alleging breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, conversion, and related claims. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Me. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Plaintiff filed an opposition to the motion to dismiss, but the copy she filed had a photocopied rather than an original signature. By rule, Plaintiff was deemed to have waived all objections to the motion, and Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint was granted. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the complaint because Plaintiff’s tendered objection did not have legal effect, and therefore, the trial court was authorized to grant Defendant’s motion to dismiss without reaching the merits of the motion. View "Petit v. Lumb" on Justia Law

U.S. Bank National Association (the Bank) filed an amended complaint for residential foreclosure against Thomas Manning. The case progressed through its pretrial stages. Eventually, the superior court dismissed the Bank’s foreclosure complaint with prejudice as a sanction for the Bank’s failure to comply with the court’s discovery order. The Bank appealed, arguing that the court abused its discretion in dismissing the complaint under the circumstances and that the court erred at several points as the case proceeded through its procedural steps. The Supreme Court agreed with the Bank and vacated the judgment of the superior court, holding that the order dismissing the Bank’s complaint with prejudice was an abuse of the court’s discretion. View "U.S. Bank N.A. v. Manning" on Justia Law