Noted local attorney feted at Portland luncheon

A luncheon to honor the legacy of longtime Verrill Dana attorney Roger Putnam was hosted July 25 by Verrill Dana and the University of Maine School of Law.

“The reason why we’re here is to honor a legend,” said Danielle Conway, dean of the University of Maine School of Law. “Every person here knows they wouldn’t be practicing law as ethically, effectively or efficiently as we are now if it wasn’t for people like Mr. Putnam.”

Putnam, a former senior partner, has been with Verrill Dana since 1958 and now serves as the firm’s special counsel on ethics. His active practice focused on general litigation, public utilities and legal ethics. Before joining the firm, he served as an assistant attorney general of the state of Maine.

Established in 2012 as a permanent endowment fund of the University of Maine School of Law Foundation, The Roger A. Putnam Fund supports an annual paid summer internship at the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic of the University of Maine School of Law. Three law students have received fellowships since the fund’s inception.

“That position really laid the foundation for my legal career moving forward,” said Danylle Carson, now an attorney at Boothby Perry, LLC, about her position as a fellow at the clinic in 2014. “You (Mr. Putnam) have set the standard I hope to achieve and replicate in my career. Your ethics and perseverance are something I aspire to.”

The Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic, a program of the University of Maine School of Law, is a legal service provider, in which clients are represented by student attorneys, law students specially licensed by the state and federal courts to provide services to low-income clients. The student attorneys practice under the supervision of fully licensed attorney faculty members.

Hires, promotions, appointments

Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth has appointed Andrew Chadwick the executive chef of Sea Glass, the hotel’s ocean view restaurant, General Manager Michael Briggs announced. Chadwick will develop and execute menus for Sea Glass Restaurant, and oversee all aspects of the resort’s dining options including lounge, room and pool service, weddings, social events and corporate meetings.

Chadwick joins Inn by the Sea after a distinguished culinary career as executive sous chef at the renowned Chatham Bars Inn on Cape Cod, where he managed all six of the resort’s restaurant.

Branching out

Bangor Savings Bank today marked the grand opening of the company’s newest branch in downtown Brunswick on July 28.

The location at 45 Maine St. is the final project in a $10 million investment into southern Maine, which began last year and also brought two new full-service branches to Portland. Bangor Savings now has 16 branches in Cumberland and York counties, and 54 locations throughout Maine.

Bank President and CEO Bob Montgomery-Rice welcomed community leaders, business partners and bank employees to the ceremony, including Brunswick Town Manager John Eldridge, Matt Barbour of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber and Maine Community College System President Derek Langhauser.

Montgomery-Rice also announced a $200,000 gift to The Foundation for Maine’s Community Colleges to support education opportunities for students throughout Maine. In recognition of the bank’s gift, the library at the L.L. Bean Learning Commons and Health Science Center at Southern Maine Community College in Brunswick will be named the Bangor Savings Bank Library.

Community service commission elects local men to board

John Portela of Brunswick was elected chairman when the Maine Commission for Community Service held its annual meeting this summer. Portela is a sandblaster at Bath Iron Works and was appointed to the seat designated for a labor representative in 2009. As a board member, Portela has volunteered for over 25 years in United Way leadership positions at the local, state, and national levels. He also has served under four gubernatorial administrations as a citizen member of advisory boards for health and worker compensation.

F. Celeste Branham of Brunswick was chosen as chairwoman-elect; Branham was first appointed to the Commission in 2011. She is vice president for Student and Community Services and director of the Partnership for Civic Advancement at the University of Maine Farmington, and holds the Commission seat reserved for a representative of higher education. Branham was, until recently, president of the Western Maine Community Action Agency for three terms, past president of the board of trustees of the Center for Preventing Hate, and serves as a member of the board of the Fulbright Association of Maine.

Roger A. Putnam was honored at a lunch this summer by Verrill Dana and the University of Maine School of Law. With Putnam are law student De’Ann Mills, third-year student at the University of Maine School of Law; Danielle Conway, dean of the University of Maine School of Law; and former Roger A. Putnam Fellow, Danylle Carson of Boothby Perry, LLC.