Kennebunk, ME

Gene R. Libby

Gene has a rich history of litigation experience over the last 30 years. He has tried over 100 civil and criminal jury cases to verdict. His practice focuses on a wide variety of civil and criminal litigation representing individuals and small businesses, including divorce, real estate disputes, small business litigation, elder law, personal injury, professional negligence and criminal defense. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America since 2003 and named a New England Super Lawyer by his peers. In 2010, he was named one of the top 100 Maine trial lawyers by the American Trial Lawyers Association. He is rated by his peers AV® Preeminent (5 of 5), the highest rating available from Martindale-Hubbell, the country’s oldest and most respected legal directory. Gene served as District Attorney for York County between 1981-85. He continues to serve York County as General Counsel to the York County Commissioners and all County departments (Deeds, Probate, Sheriff, Corrections) since 1998. He has undertaken numerous high profile divorce cases representing doctors, lawyers and corporate executives. He successfully litigated the first Maine divorce case to interpret the State’s 1999 marital property statute. Warner v. Warner, 2002 ME 156, 807 A.2d 603. Gene has thirty years of experience in litigating a diverse mix of civil and criminal cases. Developing his original trial expertise as District Attorney, Gene now also devotes his time to a variety of litigation matters. He gained early notoriety after leaving public office by successfully challenging, in a case of first impression, the introduction of DNA identification evidence. This was only the second time nationally DNA evidence had been successfully challenged. The case, Maine v. McLeod, was featured in a number of national publications including, The American Bar Journal, Science Magazine,Nature Magazine, The Bureau of National Affairs (BNA),Criminal Practice Manual. Gene’s cross examination of the state’s forensic expert has been used as a model in the permanent edition of the BNA Criminal Practice Manual entitled, “Cross Examination of Experts.” Gene has also represented a diverse group of business clients including The Boy Scouts of America, Catholic Charities of Maine and York County Government. His successes include: Boy Scouts of America-in state counsel for all litigation matters; successful defense of several sexual misconduct allegations in state and federal courts, SCA v. Boy Scouts of America, Docket No. CV-02-157-PC; J. H. v. Boy Scouts of America, Docket No. CV-00-45-PH. Catholic Charities Maine-successfully challenged the City of Portland’s Domestic Partnership’s Ordinance establishing that the Ordinance could not regulate ERISA controlled health benefits; Catholic Charities Maine v. City of Portland, Docket No. 03-CV-55-PH (first and only case to interpret and apply IRC 410(d)). York County-successfully represented County in high visibility challenge by Judge of Probate to hold County Treasurer in contempt of court, York County Register v. York County Probate Court, et. al., 2004 ME 58, 847 A.2d 395. In 2001 Mr. Libby won a self-defense acquittal for his client charged with murdering an individual using a baseball bat. In 2003 Mr. Libby successfully represented a former State Police Officer charged with arson of his restaurant. He has spoken nationally at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers on cross examination of experts and is a frequent speaker in Maine on a diverse group of legal topics. Mr. Libby also represents severely injured clients in personal injury matters. He settled a million dollar case for a minor who lost his thumb when a tree limb fell on him while on the school playground.

Michael Bowser

Attorney Michael Bowser is a Board-Certified DUI Defense Specialist with nearly 30 years of experience in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. He has a proven track record in defending against criminal charges including drunk driving, drug offenses, sexual assault, domestic violence, and various traffic violations. He is also a highly regarded personal injury lawyer, known for his trial skills and success in securing significant verdicts and settlements. He earned his Juris Doctor from Franklin Pierce Law Center in 1994 and has presented oral arguments before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Michael E. Saucier

Michael joined Libby O’Brien Kingsley and Champion, LLC as a trial lawyer with extensive experience at the federal, state and county level, including over 100 jury trials and 60 appellate cases before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He is a fellow in the American Board of Trial Advocates, a group certifying members with significant trial experience and high ethical standards. Michael practiced in the Maine Attorney General’s Office, Criminal Division, and in the York County, Maine District Attorney’s Office prior to entering private practice. Michael’s practice has included civil rights defense of police officers and municipal officials, and state, county and local entities and school administrative districts. His areas of expertise have included the successful defense of employment practices, discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims, and the defense of municipal ordinances, road reconstruction litigation, planning board appeals and property takings claims. He also handles product liability matters, specialty health care matters before state licensing boards and state and federal courts, and toxic tort and environmental cases, including asbestos litigation. Michael has given presentations on various topics in employment liability, including retaliation, discrimination based on age, disability and pregnancy, and an employee’s use of medical marijuana, as well as civil rights and municipal liability and evidentiary issues. Michael recently ended a nine-year service (the maximum three consecutive three-year terms) on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Evidence. He is the co-author of the Commentary to the Maine Juvenile Code, Vol. 8 Maine Revised Statutes Annotated (1980). He recently authored “Qualified Immunity for Private Actions” which appeared in For the Defense, the publication of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) in July 2014. He has served as the Chair of the Committee to Monitor the Implementation of the Juvenile Code, the Maine Criminal Law Advisory Commission, and the Maine Juvenile Justice Advisory Group. Michael has also served as the National Chair of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, Washington D.C. In 1996, he received the Award of Excellence in Law from the Boston College Alumni Association.

Brian L. Champion

Brian L. Champion is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia in Washington D.C. He is also admitted to The First Circuit Court of Appeals and The United States Supreme Court. Mr. Champion believes that the caring for one’s family and loved ones begins with careful and thoughtful planning. Besides planning for one’s death, careful planning includes advanced preparation for periods of potential incapacity, whether caused by an accident, disease or illness. The best way for one to do so is to have in place, at a minimum, a will, a durable power of attorney, and a health care directive or proxy. Mr. Champion works closely with clients to understand their concerns, thoughts, and desires so that the client and their families are prepared to meet life’s challenges. Mr. Champion represents individuals, trustees, and personal representatives in the administration of trusts and estates. He is also a member of the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine Trust & Estate Bar Sections. Mr. Champion is very aware the nearly 10,000 people turn 65 daily. This means, of course, there is a fast-growing Senior population who find themselves ill-equipped to address important and necessary legal issues. These issues often include needing a Will, or updating an old Will that no longer suits one’s needs. Also, many discover that they have not planned ahead to have someone help with things like paying their bills, or monitoring their bank account statements. This issue can easily be corrected by drawing up a Durable Power of Attorney, whereby a named agent can be authorized to act in place of the client. Lastly, all too often Seniors find themselves without someone designated to make health care and medical decisions for them, when they may not be capable of making them on their own. This problem is also easily solved ahead of time, by having drawn up a Medical Healthcare Proxy, or Health Care Directive. Mr. Champion assists his clients with all of these important issues. He does so by working closely with the client and listening carefully to their wishes. He then draws up the necessary documents, explains them to the client, and then has them property signed, witnessed, and notarized. Families often have their own small-to-medium-sized businesses. Mr. Champion assists them in forming limited liability companies or maybe a more traditional corporation to help protect and preserve their businesses. He prepares the necessary papers to file with the state, prepares by-laws for governance of the business, prepares buy-sell agreements to keep control over the client’s business, and transfers assets into and out of trusts. Clients often seek Mr. Champion’s assistance in preparing premarital agreements. Although Mr. Champion does not litigate cases, he works with litigators within the firm should someone require assistance in a court matter. Mr. Champion and Libby O’Brien Kingsley & Champion take pride in assisting their clients, including Seniors, by working through all of these issues with them, and by providing personalized and specialized attention to each and every client. We are a unique law firm in that we truly do care for each and every one of our clients.

Durward Parkinson

Durward’s practice areas include: real estate and zoning, alternative dispute resolution, commercial litigation and municipal and land use law. He has represented municipalities, real estate developers and neighborhood groups in several high profile litigation matters. He has lectured extensively on land use regulations and is the editor of the training manual for governmental officials on this topic. He also provides training for municipal boards on their legal responsibilities. Durward has argued over 20 cases before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court including the widely published Wells Beach case. In addition to his civil law practice, Durward is a trained and experienced mediator. He works on a fixed fee or hourly basis with no charge for travel time. He has completed both basic and advanced mediation training with Mediation Works Incorporated, Boston, MA and training offered by the ABA Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution. Durward’s alternative dispute resolution practice includes: mediation, arbitration and early neutral evaluation. His mediation practice also includes “deal making mediation” where the parties work towards finalizing a business transaction. He is a CADRES rostered mediator under Rule 16 and for early neutral evaluation. He is available for meeting facilitations for corporations, nonprofits and other groups.

William J. Gallitto III

As a member of the civil litigation practice group at Bergen Parkinson, William represents individuals, partnerships, corporations, and other business entities in a wide variety of civil litigation disputes. His practice primarily focuses on personal injury, employment, and estate/probate cases. William also has two niche specialty practice areas involving toxic torts (asbestos, mesothelioma and medical devices) and transportation/towing litigation cases. William’s distinct perspective as a litigator has been shaped by his work with judges, plaintiffs, and defendants. After graduating from law school, William served as a Judicial Fellow for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Superior Court, where he worked directly with a number of judges to draft written opinions, orders, jury instructions, memoranda, as well as conduct extensive legal research in a variety of civil and criminal cases. He also attended and assisted judges at pre-trial conferences, oral arguments and at trial. In addition to serving as a Judicial Fellow, William worked in Boston at one of New England’s largest plaintiff law firms, Thorton & Naumes, where he represented victims of toxic exposures, primarily victims of asbestos exposure who developed mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. William has tried a number of cases to decision, in both state and federal courts.

Tara’s practice focuses on civil and criminal litigation in a wide variety of cases including family law, employment law, property disputes, personal injury and criminal defense. Tara joins the firm after having spent the past two years serving as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Joseph M. Jabar, Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. She is admitted to practice in both Maine and Massachusetts.