James T. Kilbreth
Of Counsel
James T. Kilbreth
Of Counsel
Phone: 207.772.1941 Fax: 207.772.3627 Email: ofcounsel@dwmlaw.com
84 Marginal Way, Suite 600 Portland, ME 04101-2480
About
James Kilbreth focuses his practice on complex commercial, regulatory, and constitutional litigation and higher education issues. Jamie was the lead lawyer for the State of Maine in its litigation against the tobacco industry, securing a $1.5 billion recovery, the largest in State history. He was active in defending Maine’s first-in-the-nation ranked choice voting system, including the representation of Congressman Jared Golden in a suit challenging the constitutionality of his election under RCV. He also successfully sued the administration of former Governor LePage to implement Medicaid expansion on behalf of Maine Equal Justice and 70,000 potentially eligible people, represented Maine Audubon in its successful opposition to a proposed super Walmart that threatened one of the most important bird habitats in New England, and represented a class of retired state employees fighting pension cutbacks.
Jamie previously served as Chief Deputy Attorney General of the State of Maine, where he supervised all major civil and criminal actions of the office and personally handled several major cases. Before that he was the Deputy Attorney General in charge of all the state’s civil litigation. Prior to his work at the Attorney General’s office, he worked at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C.
In addition to his Martindale-Hubbell AV rating, Jamie has been recognized by a number of independent attorney rating publications: Best Lawyers in America in the categories of Commercial Litigation, Environmental Law and Natural Resources Law; Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business under Environment and Litigation: General Commercial; New England Super Lawyers in the category of Business Litigation (2007-2024), where he was named among “The Top 100” attorneys (2008); and as a 2013 Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation.
Education
American University Washington College of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 1976
Northeastern University, M.A., 1974
Harvard University, B.A., cum laude, 1970
Memberships
Maine Bar Foundation
Fellow
Maine State Bar Association
Maine Equal Justice Partners Legal Panel
Maine Trial Lawyers Association
American Bar Association
Member
Community/Public Service
Advisory Committee of Legal Aid Providers
Chair
Maine Audubon Society
Past Trustee and Past President
Morton A. Brody Distinguished Judicial Service Award
Selection Committee
Business and Consumer Docket
Advisory Committee
Governor’s Judicial Selection Committee
Former Member (2003-2009)
Maine Bar Foundation
Former Director
Maine Citizens for Clean Elections
Board Member (2015-present)
Friends of the Legal Resources Centre
Advisory Trustee
Representative Clients & Matters
Mockler v. Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, LLC
Brunswick Technologies, Inc. v. Vetrotex Certainteed Corp.
Gorman, et al. v. Coogan, et al.
Executive Risk Indemnity, Inc. v. Speltz & Weis, LLC
Neely v. Bar Harbor Bankshares
The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers of New York, et al. v. Speltz & Weis, LLC a/k/a Wellspring Management Services, LLC, et al.
Jackson Brook Institute v. Maine Ins. Guar. Ass’n
Goldenson v. Steffens
Woodhouse v. Maine Com’n on Govermental Ethics and Election Practices
Maine Equal Justice Partners v. Commissioner
Baber v. Dunlap
Recognition
Howard H. Dana, Jr. Award (2020)
Pro Bono Equal Justice Hero Award, awarded by Maine Equal Justice
Top 100 (Awarded by New England Super Lawyers)
New England Super Lawyers, Business Litigation, Environmental Litigation, Antitrust Litigation 2007-2018
Best Lawyers USA – Commercial Litigation; Environmental Law; and Natural Resources Law
Benchmark Litigation, Local Litigation Star – Antitrust, Environmental, General Commercial, Insurance, Product Liability, Securities 2007-2017
Chambers USA, Maine
Martindale Hubbell, AV Preeminent