Harold H. Murchie

The case concerned a retailer's challenge to a sales tax assessment under Maine's Sales and Use Tax Law (R.S. Chap. 14-A), enacted in 1951 with amendments addressing legislative printing errors and the repeal of an original Section 34. The court examined whether the tax liability fell on the retailer or the consumer, particularly in light of the new Section 34 declaring the incidence of the tax to be a levy on the consumer while requiring retailers to add and collect it. The court decided that the plaintiff retailer was liable for the assessed tax of $29.43, holding that the statutory scheme imposes the collection and payment obligation on retailers for all retail sales unless an exemption is proven. The core reasoning rested on the explicit burden placed on sellers to demonstrate non-taxability, the law's design to make taxation the rule, and the absence of any exemption based on price or other factors applicable here.

taxesbusiness & regulatory

This case involves an appeal by defendant trustees from a decree awarding counsel fees to attorneys who participated in a prior suit seeking construction of John Cassidy's will. The sitting justice had set fees at about $10,000 each for the plaintiff's attorney, the guardian ad litem, and the trustees' attorney, plus disbursements, following a directive from the Law Court in the earlier proceeding. On appeal, heard anew on the record under equity procedures, the Law Court sustained the trustees' challenge and modified the awards downward to $5,000, $7,500, and $1,500 respectively. The court applied established factors for determining reasonable attorney fees—including attorney qualifications, time and labor involved, the amount at stake, and the results achieved—while emphasizing that fees in will-construction matters should ordinarily be moderate to avoid undue burdens on estates.

propertyprocedure