It is as though MDOT's hired guns, attorneys Rebecca Farnum and her sidekick Jason Donovan of Thompson and Bowie LLP, had purposely set out to insult the Maine Superior Court Judges of three counties. "So what if the rules say requests to consolidate 80C cases must be made to the judges of the courts where the petitions were filed? We're MaineDOT's attorneys! We don't need to follow the rules!"
That or something similar must have been rolling through the noggins of T&B's dynamic duo when they decided to go over those judges' heads and ask the Chief Justice of Maine Superior Court to rule on the motion instead.
Chief Justice Thomas Humphrey politely but firmly declined to accept their motion for consolidation on March 26th. With admirable restraint, Justice Humphrey identified for them the Superior Court judges of Knox, Waldo and Kennebec counties, explained to Farnum and Donovan that "...it is best to follow the customary procedure for filing and acting on these civil motions", returned their motions unread and bade them go practice their craft on the two judges at the courts where the plaintiffs filed.
In the interest of moving this case along, Ms. Farnum and Mr. Donovan are respectfully offered a link to Rule 80C of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure. Updated to January 2009.
An excellent resource for those lawyers who find themselves still baffled by the mysteries of civil procedure!
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