Civil and Appellate Litigation
DRG represents businesses, property owners, individuals and families in civil disputes throughout Maine. The practice spans commercial, property and significant personal matters, with each case built around the same questions: What does the client actually need? Where is the leverage? What is the most effective path to that outcome?
Civil disputes rarely fit within tidy categories. A contract problem may include a property dimension. A personal matter may implicate a family business. DRG's Litigation Group handles the full course of civil litigation, from early strategy and demand through discovery, motion practice, trial and appeal. The group also draws on the firm's transactional attorneys when a dispute arises from a transaction or relationship they understand.
The firm handles selected personal and family civil litigation matters, bringing the same preparation, judgment and discretion to disputes that are personal rather than commercial.
Not every dispute should be litigated to judgment. DRG evaluates opportunities for resolution throughout the case, including mediation before and during litigation. At the same time, we prepare each case with trial in mind because serious preparation creates the leverage needed to pursue a favorable resolution.
Appeals
Appeals require a different discipline from trial work. The record is fixed, the audience is a panel rather than a jury, and the case turns on standards of review, preservation of issues and the quality of the written argument.
Effective appellate work therefore begins at trial. Issues must be raised and preserved, the record must be developed with review in mind, and arguments must be framed in light of the standard of review that will govern them.
DRG handles appeals in Maine courts, including briefing and oral argument, drawing on first-chair trial and appellate experience. The firm also serves as appellate counsel in matters tried by other firms, where a fresh reading of the record and legal issues can sharpen the appeal.