WATERVILLE — Marden, Dubord, Bernier and Stevens, P.A. LLC, a full-service law firm serving the Central Maine community and state since 1964, has added  three new attorneys to its staff.

Lauren Kaiser of Winthrop, Jonathan Liberman of West Bath and Sarah Catherman of Vassalboro, bring their youthful energy, insight and experience to support the firm’s eight partners, according to a news release.

Kaiser is a 2020 graduate of the University of Maine School of Law. While in law school, she was an editor of the Maine Law Review, competed on the Maine Trial Team and held leadership positions in the Women’s Law Association, the Juvenile Law Society, and the Maine Association for Public Interest Law. She also practiced as a student attorney at the Kennebec County District Attorney’s Office and the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic.

As a student, Kaiser was selected to participate in the Charles A. Harvey Jr. Trial Practice Immersion Fellowship Program which provided her with intensive trial practice experience. She began working for Marden Dubord during her final year in law school. She is admitted to the Maine Bar and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine. Her primary focus has been in insurance defense but she also takes on a variety of criminal and civil cases. Lauren grew up in Winthrop where she resides.

Liberman is a 2007 graduate of Syracuse University and the University of Maine School of Law in 2010. He is admitted to the Maine Bar and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine. He was first introduced to Maine courts as a law student intern with the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office in 2009, where he conducted his first jury trial and argued his first case to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

After law school, Liberman served as an assistant district attorney in Maine’s 6th Prosecutorial District (Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties) where he was promoted to deputy district attorney in 2016 and later served as district attorney from 2017 through 2018. He returned to the Cumberland County DA’s Office in 2019 serving as an assistant district attorney. In his 10 years as a prosecutor, Liberman has tried many cases to Maine juries, ranging from minor motor vehicle offenses to serious felonies such as sexual assault and vehicular manslaughter. In 2019, he was appointed to the Advisory Committee on the Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure where he works with other experienced lawyers and judges to revise the rules that govern criminal cases in Maine. At Marden Dubord, he is primarily involved in insurance defense litigation and criminal defense. He resides in West Bath with his wife and children.

Catherman earned her law degree cum laude from the Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law in 2014. During law school, she was the recipient of multiple academic scholarships and a Public Law and the Legal Process Book Award, served in leadership positions within the Criminal Law Society and Icelandic Legal Exchange Program, and was one of just four students selected to represent the college in a short-term exchange program with the University of Iceland’s Law School.

Upon graduating, Catherman was an active member of the Virginia State Ba. She served several years as a magistrate in central Virginia before leaving the judicial branch to join a general practice law firm. While in private practice, she focused primarily in the areas of criminal litigation and estate planning but also involved herself in the areas of real estate law, guardianships/conservatorships, and bankruptcy. In June, she returned to her home state of Maine and joined Marden Dubord. She plans to involve herself in general practice matters including estate planning and probate, real estate and business law, and criminal defense. Catherman plans to reside in Waterville with her spouse and child.

“I am invigorated by having these individuals available as a resource to confer with as well as to refer new and current clients to. I’ve had the chance to work closely with Sarah recently and enjoy her calm and confident demeanor,” said Bob Marden, according to a news release from the firm.

“The addition of Jon Liberman and Lauren Kaiser provides us with much greater depth and firepower to handle our ever-increasing volume in the insurance defense area. These are top notch lawyers with outstanding skills and litigation experience and are a tremendous addition to our team,” adds Bill Druary of the firm’s insurance defense team.

 

Dirigo Labs hires Susan Ruhlin as accelerator managing director

WATERVILLE — Central Maine Growth Council recently announced the appointment of Susan Ruhlin as the accelerator managing director for Dirigo Labs.

The accelerator, which intends to launch in early 2022, aims to be a catalyst in establishing a vibrant startup hub in the central Maine region.

Ruhlin will be responsible for the day-to-day logistics and operations of Dirigo Labs and will work directly with entrepreneurs, businesses and local students to provide education of the Dirigo Labs’ suite of services, including preliminary startup consultation, talent retention and recruitment, and manage performance metrics during the project period.

As the vice president of operations for Introspective Systems, a Portland technology startup and Top Gun graduate company that develops software for microgrid controllers and energy storage systems, Ruhlin was instrumental in shaping business strategy, fundraising and general operational oversight for the software startup. Ruhlin spent eight years working as the program manager for Top Gun, Maine’s first startup accelerator at the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs.

The accelerator’s framework will provide guidance on a wide range of initiatives, catering to a high demand for advanced startups and increase the quantity of skilled labor in order to maximize product launch capability. Applications for the accelerator will open in late fall, with an anticipated launch in early 2022. The cohort of innovation-based startups will participate in an entrepreneurship-focused curriculum and targeted mentoring sessions. It aims to leverage the academic expertise from the accelerator’s partner institutions, student interns and the region’s general business community.

For more information about Dirigo Labs and Central Maine Growth Council, please visit centralmaine.org.

For more business news, visit centralmaine.com.

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