Thompson Bowie & Hatch LLC’s civil rights and municipal liability practice is one of the most comprehensive in New England. Our attorneys serve as defense counsel to more than four hundred cities and towns and scores of public officials. In addition to municipalities, the firm’s attorneys have also represented counties and their employees, as well as the State of Maine and its agencies and employees. In our capacity as counsel for such entities, we have been instrumental in shaping state and federal law.
Our attorneys are experienced in federal court practice, the forum in which most civil rights litigation occurs. In addition to considerable trial experience, we have also represented governmental entities and their employees in appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court in federal cases, as well as the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in state law cases. Areas of law in which we have been engaged include defending the use of deadly and non-deadly force by police officers; unlawful searches and seizures by law enforcement officers; a municipality’s right to alert communities of the public safety risk posed by resident convicted felons, including registered sex offenders; liability/immunity for acts or omissions of public officials; premises liability for government owned property; the defense of municipal legislative enactments; and the entire range of employment-related claims against governmental employers, including sexual harassment and discrimination based on age, gender, race and/or disabilities.
Thompson Bowie & Hatch LLC is a leader in this complex and ever-evolving area of the law. Commercial insurers, large self-insured pools, municipalities, counties, and state agencies have retained our attorneys to protect the interests of public entities and public officials/employees in litigation before the region’s state and federal courts. The results obtained, both at the trial and appellate level, are proof of the experience and expertise which we bring to these types of cases.
