Susan W. Calkins

The case involved Fleet National Bank seeking to collect on three promissory notes totaling over $1 million that Michael A. Liberty and related partnerships had signed in 1991 and 1992 before an attesting witness. All notes were in default by 1996, and Fleet filed suit in 2002 along with a motion for attachment. Liberty argued that the six-year statute of limitations enacted in 1993 for negotiable instruments barred the action, while Fleet contended the twenty-year statute applicable to witnessed promissory notes controlled. The court held that the twenty-year limitations period applied, granting the attachment motion. It reasoned that the 1993 statute did not repeal the prior law by implication, given the absence of any legislative history or text indicating such intent and the presumption against implied repeals.

business & regulatoryprocedure

In Longo v. Goodwin, the parents of a child disputed modification of parental rights and child support after Goodwin filed a 1998 motion seeking supervised contact due to abuse allegations and a higher support amount, leading to an interim 1998 support order; the motion remained unresolved until 2001 when Goodwin sought to withdraw it. Longo objected, moved to set aside the withdrawal, sought to invalidate the 1998 interim order in favor of the prior 1996 order, and requested a trial on support, arguing he should be able to pursue retroactive changes. The District Court allowed the withdrawal over objection and denied Longo's motions. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, reasoning that Longo had made a judicial admission agreeing to the support change, never filed his own motion to modify the amount, and could not invoke the retroactivity statute as a non-moving party, while remanding solely for issuance of a final support order to replace the interim one.

family law