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Maine law firm rankings reset: Who’s up, who’s down on annual leaderboard

Law firms ranked by Maine-based attorneys Graphic / Matt Selva, using data compiled by Stephanie Meagher The Big 10: Here's an overview of the state's largest law firms ranked by number of Maine-based attorneys (shown in purple) in the latest Mainebiz list. The blue bars reflect the total numbers of Maine employees.
By Renee Cordes

Amid a hiring spree that looks set to continue next year, Verrill has emerged as Maine’s largest law firm in new rankings just released by Mainebiz.

The Portland-based firm, led by Managing Partner Scott Anderson since 2022, moved up three places from last year to this year’s top spot, with 90 Maine-based attorneys on staff. 

That puts Verrill just ahead of Drummond Woodsum (last year's No. 1), which reported 87 attorneys in Maine in 2025.

Maine's top five firms are rounded out by Bernstein Shur, Pierce Atwood and Preti Flaherty.

Besides updating attorney and staff numbers, this year’s list features new leaders at the helm of some firms in a market that's very much in flux. They include Kaveri Subbarao Nauhaus, who succeeded Joan Fortin as CEO of Bernstein Shur, and David Kallin, who took the helm at Drummond Woodsum last month, succeeding E. William Stockmeyer.

'Nice to be on top'

The 2025 list, published in the Nov. 17 print edition of Mainebiz and the digital database for subscribers, ranks the state’s 12 largest law firms by number of attorneys employed in Maine. The data is from a survey conducted by Mainebiz researcher Stephanie Meagher.

While attorney numbers can fluctuate widely during the year, “it’s always nice to be on top,” Anderson told Mainebiz in a phone interview last week.

Scott Anderson of Verrill
File photo / Jim Neuger
Scott Anderson

“It’s nice to see that a lot of strategies that we’ve put into place to grow the firm are resulting in us really succeeding,” he said.

Verrill, ranked No. 4 last year with 74 Maine-based attorneys, has added a number of new hires this year from Eaton Peabody — a Bangor-based firm that wound down operations this summer.

In July, Verrill snapped up four bankruptcy attorneys and three staff members from Portland-based Bernstein Shur, which was displaced last year as Maine’s largest law firm.

Outside of Maine, Verrill added seven attorneys and three staff members in Connecticut formerly associated with Whitman Breed Abbott & Morgan, with offices in Greenwich and Westport.

Anderson said that while Verrill’s growth has been broad-based, one area that’s seeing significant activity is trust and estates. He attributes that to pure demographics — given the baby boomer generation of both attorneys and clients approaching retirement.

“If I was leaving law school today, I'd be a trust and estates lawyer and have a tremendous amount of work for the next 10 to 15 years," he said.

Bernstein Shur expansion goals 

Kaveri Subbarao Nauhaus in front of law books at Bernstein Shur
Photo / Jim Neuger
Kaveri Subbarao Nauhaus

For Bernstein Shur, which slipped a notch from No. 2 in 2024 to No. 3 in 2025, regional expansion is a goal, Nauhaus told Mainebiz in an "On the Record" interview published in the Nov. 17 Law Focus issue. 

"Our offices in Portland and Manchester, N.H., are launching pads — portals to bigger markets," she said, "We already bring world-class talent to solving regional and national challenges for our clients. Our goal is to broaden that impact and respond to our clients’ needs in areas beyond northern New England where they are eager to continue working with our team."

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