James J. O'Keefe

Having worked as an urban planner, as chair of the Portland Zoning Board, and inside state government, Phil is well acquainted with municipal and land use law. That experience, combined with his legal expertise, makes him extremely adept at counseling municipal officials and boards and obtaining land use approvals at local, state, and federal levels for real estate developers and property owners. And he’s just as equipped to help clients with legislative issues: he helped draft and pass...

Lee practices in the area of Real Estate Law. He has represented clients in all aspects of real estate and land use planning, including securing municipal, State and Federal regulatory approvals; acquisition and financing transactions; leasing; and title and conveyancing matters. He has worked on projects including the Bangor Mall, The Maine Mall, a large variety of other retail and residential developments. Lee has been selected for inclusion in the latest edition of The Best Lawyers in Amer...

Calm under pressure, dependable, and a true advocate for her clients, Mary is an experienced municipal and environmental law counselor. Having worked in the public sector for years before joining Bernstein Shur, she has a firsthand understanding of the issues faced by municipal and state employees and boards—and how to help her clients confront them. Her most recent public sector position was associate corporation counsel to the City of Portland, where she advised the city staff and cou...

Christopher Brooks focuses his practice on bankruptcy, commercial finance, and business/commercial litigation. Chris primarily works with national and local lending institutions, quasi-state and governmental agencies, trade creditors, developers, corporations, and other for-profit and nonprofit entities in financing transactions and the restructuring or collection of troubled and defaulted loans. With an eye on maximizing returns and mitigating risk, Chris regularly advises lenders and other ...

Elizabeth T. High is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Trusts and Estates. Elizabeth T., who practices law in Portland, Maine, has been recognized since 2003. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Elizabeth T. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Tudor Goldsmith is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Litigation - Trusts and Estates and Trusts and Estates. Tudor, who practices law in Portland, Maine, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Tudor is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Roy is a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group representing individuals and businesses in commercial litigation cases in Maine, Massachusetts and beyond. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for the past several years in the area of Commercial Litigation. He has a varied practice with experience litigating business tort, breach of contract, trade secrets, copyright infringement, products liability, real estate, land use, and tax disputes. In addition, he maintains an a...

Adam Cote is the Leader of the Energy Practice Group and a member of Drummond Woodsum Strategic Consulting. Adam has nearly 20 years of experience serving the legal needs of clients in renewable energy matters, with a focus on renewable energy development, the wholesale purchase of electricity, the development of renewable energy credit policies, renewable portfolio standards, energy storage, demand response and non-transmission alternative technologies. A former renewable energy business own...

Bob Mittel is the senior member of the firm. Following two years of service in the Army during the late 1960’s, he practiced with Pine Tree Legal Assistance until 1976, devoting the majority of his efforts to welfare and civil rights litigation in both state and federal courts. Since 1977, the majority of his work has been in the fields of intellectual property, compliance & defense work for debt collectors, and business and probate litigation. Bob has argued cases in a variety of s...

A straight-shooting, disciplined former naval officer and present-day real estate attorney, Bill gets projects done on budget and on time. Throughout his career, Bill has helped major real estate developers realize large-scale commercial projects in the Greater Portland area and throughout the state of Maine. His skill set includes acquisitions, sales, development projects, entity formation, financing, and leasing. He currently heads up Bernstein Shur’s Massachusetts Real Estate Initiat...