Edward S. Godfrey

The case involved the estate of Annie L. Knox, whose will left the residue in trust to Ricker College for its general purposes; after Knox's death, Ricker College entered bankruptcy and closed, prompting the executor to seek court direction on the bequest. The referee applied the cy pres doctrine to redirect the funds equally to Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby Colleges and awarded attorneys' fees, a decision affirmed by the Superior Court. The Maine Supreme Court held that cy pres was inapplicable because the will demonstrated a general charitable intent that could still be carried out by Ricker's trustees without an operating college, and the referee's equal division of fees lacked proper documentation of each attorney's contributions. The court therefore vacated the judgment and remanded for further proceedings on the disposition of the bequest and fees.

propertyprocedure

In Wilson v. Strong, the plaintiffs sued the defendant for breach of an unsigned lease agreement for a lobster storage facility they had built to his specifications, after he failed to occupy the premises or pay rent. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs after the trial court, over the defendant's objection, instructed on promissory estoppel even though the complaint alleged only a legal claim for breach of contract. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment and remanded the case, holding that under M.R.Civ.P. 8 the complaint must give fair notice of the claim and that a promissory estoppel theory, being equitable rather than legal, was not asserted in the pleadings and could not be inferred from the facts alleged. The court further noted that pretrial memoranda and orders framed the issue solely as a legal contract dispute and that Rule 15(b) amendments were not properly invoked here.

procedureproperty

The case involved a dispute over whether Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. was required to pay prejudgment interest exceeding the $50,000 limit of an automobile liability insurance policy issued to Carlos Valldejuli in connection with John T. Nunez's personal injury claim. The court declared that Nationwide was not obligated to pay such interest beyond the policy limits. The reasoning was that the policy's liability limitation applied to all sums the insurer must pay, including prejudgment interest, consistent with the policy language and the majority rule from other jurisdictions, while the relevant statute was silent on coverage extent.

business & regulatorytorts & liability

The case involved a plaintiff who was injured in Maine by the accidental discharge of a revolver manufactured in Connecticut and purchased secondhand in Massachusetts; after moving to Maine and later returning to Massachusetts, he sued the manufacturer in federal court in Maine on theories of strict liability and breach of implied warranty more than five years after the injury. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court, responding to certified questions from the First Circuit, declined to address long-arm jurisdiction because it presented a federal constitutional issue. On the borrowing statute, the court held that it did not bar the action because the manufacturer had never resided in Massachusetts, so the phrase “while all the parties have resided therein” was not satisfied and Massachusetts’ shorter limitation periods did not apply. The court further ruled that the warranty claim was timely under Maine’s applicable statute of limitations and that the strict-liability claim was governed by existing precedent.

torts & liabilityprocedure