Portland law firm snags bankruptcy team from cross-town rival

File photo / Jim Neuger Scott Anderson, managing partner of Verrill, said the Portland-based law firm is focused on growth. He was photographed in July 2022 for an "On the Record" interview with Mainebiz.

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By Renee Cordes

Portland-based law firm Verrill has snapped up four bankruptcy attorneys and three staff members from cross-town rival Bernstein Shur, with Verrill's managing partner predicting further consolidation in Maine's legal market.

Verrill's new hires include: Robert Keach, formerly co-chair of Bernstein Shur's business restructuring and insolvency practice, who has joined Verrill as counsel; partner Lindsay Zahradka Milne, currently representing Portland-based IT firm Tilson in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case; partner Letson Boots, who represents debtors and creditors in Chapter 11 reorganizations, asset sales and acquisitions and bankruptcy-related litigation; and associate Jennifer Novo, who represents debtors and creditors a range of bankruptcy-related matters.

"They have a very well-structured group of senior to junior lawyers and paralegals that really sets up this group for long-term success," Scott Anderson, Verrill's managing partner, told Mainebiz in a phone interview. "It's the kind of structure we look for in all of our practice group, and they have it on Day One."

The team and their staffers started at Verrill on Monday, June 30.

"They're getting settled and Lindsay is extraordinarily busy with Tilson," Anderson said on Tuesday afternoon.

In a statement emailed to Mainebiz, Bernstein Shur — led since February by CEO Kaveri Subbarao — said it wishes its former employees all the best and hopes to collaborate with them in the future.

"As always, our focus is on ensuring a smooth and thoughtful transition — for our clients, our teams and our firm," the firm said. "These types of changes are a natural part of a dynamic, growing organization like ours. We’re having a great year so far and are building upon that success, and we’re also actively recruiting in a number of practice areas."

Bernstein Shur declined to say how many bankruptcy attorneys it employs after the departures, only that "the practice remains strong and we are growing."

Verrill's hiring surge

Verrill has been bulking up in both Portland and Bangor, hiring several defectors from Eaton Peabody before the Bangor-based law firm stopped providing legal services as of June 30.

Anderson told Mainebiz that Verrill has an agreement to operate out of Eaton Peabody's former downtown home in the Queen City at 80 Exchange St. through the end of the year and hopes to stay in that location for the longer term.

"We expect to be at 80 Exchange St., where we are now, or on one of the other floors," he said. "That's where we want to be."

Anderson predicts further changes in Maine's legal landscape and possibly across New England as well.

"I think that will continue as everybody looks at their lawyer groups and is trying to come up with plans for their retiring lawyers," he said. As for Verrill, "we're very much focused on continuing to grow."

Verrill was ranked Maine's fourth-largest law firm in the 2025 Mainebiz Book of Lists, while Bernstein Shur was ranked No. 2. Rankings were based on the number of Maine-based attorneys on staff at each firm.