Bangor lawyer nominated for high court

AUGUSTA – A longtime Bangor attorney has been nominated to replace Justice Paul L. Rudman on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Gov. John E. Baldacci announced Wednesday that he has asked Warren M. Silver, 57, to serve on the state’s high court.

Rudman, 70, announced on April 1 his intention to resign from the bench in July.

“Warren Silver is highly regarded in the Maine legal community. I am proud to bring his nomination forward,” Baldacci said in a brief statement.

A longtime political supporter of Baldacci and the Democratic Party, Silver served as treasurer of the Baldacci inaugural and transition commission.

Silver’s nomination is subject to review by the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee and to Senate confirmation. He said he hopes to begin working as a judge in August.

“I’m really looking at this as an opportunity to serve the citizens of Maine,” Silver said Wednesday from his Broadway office in Bangor. “It’s something I really have strong opinions about and know well and think that I can have some kind of an impact.”

Silver is also well-known as being the attorney, friend and sometimes spokesman for Stephen King. Efforts Wednesday to reach King were unsuccessful, but his attorney said the best-selling writer “would be in the market for a new lawyer.”

“He wants what’s best for me,” Silver said, acknowledging he had discussed his nomination with King. “He agreed with me that this was a wonderful opportunity, so, we’re going to have to work on new representation for him and his wife, Tabitha [King].”

Silver is well-respected in the state’s legal community, according to John Hobson, 51, the Portland attorney who took over Silver’s job as chair of the governor’s judicial advisory committee once the Bangor attorney said he would like to be considered for the job.

“Warren’s a well-known trial attorney and someone who has a razor-sharp intellect,” Hobson said Wednesday in a phone interview. “I’m overjoyed that he’s going on the court. He’s ideal for the judiciary, but it’s a bit of a sacrifice for somebody to do this – to go from private practice to the judiciary.”

As a Maine Supreme Court justice, Silver will make $104,929 a year, according to James “Ted” Glessner, administrator for the courts.

“Even those who have opposed Warren in hard-fought cases have nothing but the highest praise for him,” Hobson added. “That speaks volumes about an individual.”

Bangor attorney Timothy Woodcock, 52, is one of those people. He has opposed Silver in court and, as a Republican, sits across the political aisle from the nominee. Woodcock said Wednesday that he wholeheartedly supported Silver’s nomination.

A graduate of Presque Isle High School and Tufts University, Silver received his law degree from the American University College of Law in 1973 and set up his practice in Bangor four years later. He said he intends to work from what is now Rudman’s office in the Penobscot County Superior Courthouse and will continue to reside in Bangor.

“I never thought that I would be a judge,” Silver said Wednesday. “When the governor spoke to me about this the first time, I said no. Then I started thinking about it. I’m 57 years old. It takes the sun, the moon and the stars to line up for one of these opportunities to occur. So I started thinking about what I want to do with the rest of my legal life, and I want to do good public service.”

Silver said that his role models include the late Bangor attorney Lewis Vafiades, who died in 2001 at the age of 81, U.S. District Judge George Singal, formerly of Bangor, and Maine Supreme Court Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley.

The nominee said he supports Saufley’s efforts to modernize and consolidate the courts, including the recent recommendation that the new Penobscot County Courthouse be built on an Exchange Street site instead of expanding at the Hammond Street location.

“I think that regionalization is a good thing because I think it is cost-effective. I think that’s one of the most important things we can do is deliver justice in a cost-effective manner,” Silver said. “I think that a new courthouse for Bangor is a wonderful economic boon for Bangor. … I know the particular spot is an issue but as long as it stays in downtown Bangor, that’s the important thing to me.”

Silver has served on the board of governors of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association and is chairman of the state supreme court’s civil rules committee. He also is on the board of directors at the Bangor Museum and Center for History.

His wife Evelyn Silver is the senior adviser to University of Maine President Robert Kennedy. Both his sons, who graduated from Bangor High School, are pursuing legal careers. Daniel Silver, 27, is a clerk for a U.S. District Court judge in New York, and Andrew Silver, 24, is completing his first year of law school.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.