AUGUSTA – Eaton Peabody, a statewide law firm with offices in Bangor, Augusta, Blue Hill, Brunswick and Dover-Foxcroft, has announced the formation of Eaton Peabody Consulting Group LLC.

Eaton Peabody Consulting Group will provide a range of services including political and government relations consulting, marketing, public relations, fund-raising and capital campaign management and trade association management. The new subsidiary will be based in the firm’s Augusta office.

Edith A. Smith of Winthrop has joined Eaton Peabody Consulting Group as its executive director. A 1981 graduate of Bowdoin College, Smith has more than 20 years of experience in political consulting, marketing, public relations, fund-raising, capital campaign management and association management. She formerly was president and chief executive officer of Maine Directions, a consulting firm providing consulting and marketing expertise to small Maine businesses and trade organizations. She also served for five years as executive director of the Maine Funeral Directors Association.

Smith’s recent political and legislative activities include a successful campaign to defeat the physician-assisted suicide referendum; assisting with the passage of Maine’s first end-of-life care legislation, including Medicaid coverage for hospice services; increasing Medicaid funding for dental services; and maintaining Medicaid coverage for ambulance services.

Eaton Peabody Consulting Group will work closely with the Government Relations Practice Group of Eaton Peabody, which includes attorneys Bill Ferdinand, Doug Smith, Joe Cassidy and former legislator and congressional staffer Angela Aloupis.