Preti Flaherty

Preti Flaherty is a New England law firm headquartered in Portland, Maine. It is one of Maine’s four largest law firms with 90 attorneys and 6 offices. The firm’s additional offices are located in Augusta, Maine (the state capital), Concord, New Hampshire, Boston, Massachusetts, Bedminster, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. The Augusta, Concord and Boston offices each offer a similar grouping of practice areas as the firm overall. The firm’s legislative and regulatory practice is managed from Augusta, ME and Concord, NH and its energy practice is managed from the Augusta, ME office. The Concord, NH office’s primary focus is corporate work, with a concentration in bankruptcy, but those attorneys are also involved in employment work and litigation.

Preti Flaherty

Preti Flaherty provides legal services in practice areas including Business, Environmental, Energy, Climate Strategy, Employment, Legislative and Regulatory Services, Intellectual Property, International Law, Litigation, Real Estate and Land Use, Tax, Trusts and Estates and beyond.

The firm is an active member of Terralex, a global network of independent law firms with members in more than 100 countries, which further enables attorneys to serve clients' international interests by tapping into a pool of experienced and respected attorneys around the world.

Preti Flaherty is well-known in Maine for its Legislative Group and registered lobbyists, including Founding Partner Severin M. Beliveau and Ann R. Robinson, who is Chair of the practice group. Ann served as Co-Chair of Governor Paul LePage's transition team, with specific responsibility for policy and regulatory review, and continues to serve in an advisory capacity. She was also recently appointed to Governor LePage's Judicial Selection Committee, a group that advises on judicial nominations.

Harold C. Pachios, also a Founding Partner, practices Business Law, International Law and Legislative Law. In 1993, Pachios was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. He served as the firm’s Managing Partner for eight years.

Preti Flaherty is the result of the 1972 merger of Preti, Peabody, Johnson & Smith, corporate and commercial firm, and Berman, Berman, Wernick & Flaherty, a Maine-based trial practice firms. The successor firm of Preti & Flaherty merged in 1978 with Beliveau & Beliveau, a broad-based general practice firm with a heavy concentration in governmental services and regulatory work. The firm became known as Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios with offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine. The firm added 5 attorneys and a Bath, Maine office in 1999 when it merged with Haley & Champion. In February 2001, Preti Flaherty opened its Concord, New Hampshire office. In 2006, the firm changed its name to Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios, LLP.

Jonathan S. Piper has served as the firm’s Managing Partner since 2007.

Subsidiaries

In July 2007, Preti Flaherty partnered with Boston’s The Minahan Companies, led by Alfred A. Minahan, to create a public affairs subsidiary, Preti Minahan Strategies. Preti Minahan Strategies integrates crisis management and public affairs services with Preti Flaherty’s legal services.

Awards and Rankings

Preti Flaherty has earned multiple awards and rankings for providing legal services across a broad range of practice areas. The most notable recognition includes:

  • 19 attorneys were selected for inclusion in the 2010 Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Business Lawyers, a legal directory of leading attorneys and law firms in the United States. Preti Flaherty was recognized as a leading U.S. law firm with top rankings in five different practice areas, including Energy & Natural Resources, Litigation, Corporate/M&A, Real Estate Law and Environmental Law.*
  • Preti Flaherty Ranked Among 2010 "Best Law Firms" by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers.
  • Twenty-eight Preti Flaherty attorneys were selected for inclusion as 2010 New England Super Lawyers. Eight of the 28 attorneys are listed as New England Rising Stars.
  • Thirty-four Preti Flaherty attorneys from its offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine, and Concord, N.H., were selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, published by Woodward/White.
  • Preti Flaherty’s Litigation Group was ranked in the 2011 Maine Chapter of Benchmark: Litigation as a "Highly Recommended" law firm. In addition to the firm ranking, attorneys Jonathan Piper, Daniel Rapaport, Gregory Hansel and Neal Pratt are listed as "Litigation Stars."
  • 19 Preti Flaherty attorneys have earned Peer Review Ratings of AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. 34 attorneys have earned BV Distinguished Peer Review Ratings by Martindale-Hubbell.
  • Preti Flaherty was recognized by one of Maine’s most important trade organizations when the Maine International Trade Center named the firm “Service Provider of the Year” in 2008 citing its “dedication to helping clients thrive in a global economy.”.

Blogs

Energy Policy Update: a blog by Energy Attorney Todd J. Griset

Preti Minahan Strategies Blog: a blog by John Hahesy, Director of Issues Management and Media Relations

IP & Technology Law Blog: a blog by Intellectual Property Attorney Alfred C. Frawley

Preti Sports Law Blog: a blog by Preti Flaherty’s Sports Law attorneys