Justia Maine Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Town of Lebanon filed a land use complaint against East Lebanon Auto Sales (the LLC) and Linda Corbin, the sole member of the LLC, alleging that property owned by the LLC in Lebanon constituted an illegal automobile graveyard and illegal junkyard and that the property had an improper subsurface wastewater system. The district court issued a judgment against the LLC and Corbin in the amount of $2000 plus attorney fees. On appeal, the Supreme Court (1) vacated the decision of the district court as to Corbin individually, concluding that the record contained no evidence that suggested that Corbin abused the privilege of incorporating or that an unjust result would occur if only the LLC were held liable on the Town's complaint; and (2) affirmed the judgment of the district court in all other respects, finding the remaining issues raised by the LLC to be without merit. View "Town of Lebanon v. East Lebanon Auto Sales, L.L.C." on Justia Law

After defendant Price-Rite, a fuel delivery business, failed to fulfill its prepaid delivery contracts, the state filed a five-count complaint charging Price-Rite with four violations of the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA). Following a jury-waived trial, Price-Rite moved for judgment as a matter of law, arguing for the first time that judgment should be granted to it because the state had not complied with the ten-day notice requirement of Me. Rev. Stat. 5, 209. The court denied the motion, finding that the failure to provide notice was inconsequential. The court then held that Price-Rite had violated the UTPA and imposed a civil penalty on Price-Rite's owner and CEO for the UTPA violations. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not err in denying Price-Rite's motion for judgment as a matter of law, and (2) the trial court's finding that the owner and CEO intentionally violated the UTPA was not clearly erroneous. View "State v. Price-Rite Fuel, Inc. " on Justia Law