Kenneth P. "Ken" Altshuler

Neal Pratt is widely-regarded as a “go to” trial attorney for high-stakes litigation. With an extraordinary record of success over 30 years, Neal has unique experience handling “bet-the-company” litigation and other thorny legal disputes. He is renowned for his strategic planning skills and meticulous preparation, and often succeeds in achieving client goals without the need for protracted litigation. When a trial is necessary, however, Neal’s extensive track rec...

Melissa Hewey is an accomplished litigator with substantial experience across a broad range of practice areas, including insurance defense, school law, higher education law, employment matters, and complex commercial litigation. Melissa has represented a diverse set of clients, such as insurance companies, schools, colleges and universities, municipalities, law firms, hospitals, individuals, and businesses in a variety of industries. Melissa has tried a wide range of cases and argued signific...

David Backer, Leader of the firm’s Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group, concentrates his practice on counseling individuals, families, and closely-held businesses on an array of sophisticated estate planning, succession management, tax planning, and wealth preservation matters. David is recognized as a leading authority in Maine probate and trust law, and has garnered a national-level reputation for his understanding of complex tax and estate planning concepts and techniques. David...

Sam Anderson is a shareholder, co-chair of the firm’s Business Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group and member of the firm’s Board of Directors. Sam’s practice focuses primarily on representing businesses in chapter 11 reorganization proceedings, including recent cases before the Bankruptcy Courts for the Districts of Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Sam has a wide range of experience in representing businesses in chapter 11 proceedings, inclu...

After clerking for Maine Supreme Court Justice Robert Clifford for a year after law school, Mike dove straight into construction law, defending architects and engineers in construction cases at a small Portland insurance defense firm. Since joining Bernstein Shur a decade and a half ago, Mike has had the pleasure of representing the full panoply of participants on a construction project: developers, owners, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, lenders, and sureties in everything fr...

Seth W. Brewster is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation and Litigation - Antitrust. Seth W., who practices law in Portland, Maine, has been recognized since 2015. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Seth W. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Having worked in human resources and management in the private sector, Katy Rand brings hands-on experience to her practice. Her client work primarily involves employment law, with a focus on discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage / hour issues. Katy helps employers avoid litigation, counseling them on compliance and employee relations issues and, where appropriate, negotiating early resolution of disputes. She also has an active litigation practice, routinely advocating on behalf ...

Charles M. Katz-Leavy is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Land Use and Zoning Law and Real Estate Law. Charles M., who practices law in Portland, Maine, has been recognized since 2018. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Charles M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Emily Cooke’s practice focuses on commercial transactions, compliance, and corporate governance for a range of clients, including banks and other financial institutions, health care organizations, insurance industry participants, educational institutions, nonprofit entities, and small businesses. She negotiates third-party vendor contracts for banking services, negotiates master services agreements for outsourcing critical processing functions for national bank and insurers, and provide...

David Soley leads Bernstein Shur’s Real Estate Litigation Group, is the author of the American Bar Association’s nationally acclaimed Real Estate Litigation Handbook and is recognized by Best Lawyers in America for his work in Real Estate Litigation. Mr. Soley concentrates his practice in the areas of business, real estate and constitutional litigation. He regularly represents entrepreneurs and property owners in disputes over boundaries, titles, easements, mortgage priorities, pa...