Maine Trial Lawyers

BANGOR – Bangor attorney Sam Lanham took the helm last month as president of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association, and will guide the association as it pursues its mission of preserving access to the civil justice system.

The association’s new slate of officers includes president-elect Don Briggs of Rockport, secretary R. Terrance Duddy of Portland, treasurer Valerie Stanfill of Lewiston and past president John O’Neil of Portland.

“I am so proud to serve with these officers who represent the best of this profession and its mission to preserve access to our judicial system in Maine,” Lanham said.

“Our court system is vital to our democracy; it is the only branch of government where each party, no matter how wealthy or powerful, stands equal before the law.”

The new officers took their positions during the association’s annual meeting in Freeport in April. They serve one-year terms.

Lanham is a partner in the firm of Cuddy & Lanham in Bangor. A graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law, Lanham clerked for Justice David Nichols of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

He has litigated cases in state and federal courts in seven states and the District of Columbia.

During the 1996 presidential campaign, he served as H. Ross Perot’s national trial and ballot access counsel. In that capacity, he orchestrated the Presidential Debates litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arising from Perot’s exclusion from those debates.

Lanham represents clients in Maine and across the nation in pharmaceutical suits.

He is on the board of governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

He served for 10 years on the international board of directors of Up With People, and now serves on the board of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra.

Granite work honor

BANGOR – Chuck Downes of Bangor, owner of CD Lettering, has been awarded a certificate from the Stone Art School at the Vermont Granite Museum in Barre, Vt. Downes completed the advanced sandblasting techniques course, which included shape carving, raised letter carving, cemetery field work and blasting on boulders. Downes does granite work for monument shops in Greater Bangor.

Distinguished service award

BANGOR – Richard May of Old Town recently was awarded the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors 2006 J. Putnam Stevens Distinguished Service Award. Established in 1964 in honor of the organization’s past president, J. Putnam Stevens, the award is given to a member who has made a memorable contribution to society, to the community and to the life insurance profession. May is a 22-year veteran of the insurance and financial services business.