Supreme Court Justices

Hon. Valerie Stanfill
Chief Justice

Capital Judicial Center
1 Court Street, Suite 40
Augusta, ME 04330
(207) 213-2951

Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the University of Maine School of Law.  Following a clerkship, she was a member of the law firm of Berman Simmons, P.A., until 1997.  She joined the faculty of the University of Maine School of Law, where she was a Clinical Professor and Acting Director of the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic.  After a brief stint in private practice, she was first appointed to the District Court by Governor Baldacci in December 2006.  Governor Mills appointed her to the Superior Court in January 2020 and then appointed her as Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court.  She was sworn in as Chief Justice on June 8, 2021.

While on the trial courts, she served on the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure, the State–Federal Judicial Council, the 2019 Task Force on Pretrial Justice Reform, the Judicial Branch Advisory Committee on Domestic Violence and Protection Orders, and the Judicial Branch Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics.  She was also the Judicial Branch member of the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse and the Maine Domestic Homicide Review Panel.

Hon. Andrew M. Mead 
Associate Justice

Penobscot Judicial Center
78 Exchange Street, Suite 350
Bangor, ME 04401-4913
(207) 561-2310

Associate Justice Andrew M. Mead attended the University of Maine and New York Law School. He was a member of the Bangor law firms of Paine, Lynch & Weatherbee and Mitchell & Stearns, and is a past President of the Maine State Bar Association. He served as the Chief Judge of the Penobscot Tribal Court from 1980 to 1990. He was appointed to the Maine District Court in 1990 and the Maine Superior Court in 1992. He served as Chief Justice of the Maine Superior Court from 1999 to 2001 and was appointed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 2007. He served as Acting Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from April 2020 through June 2021 and is currently the Senior Associate Justice. 

He has served as judicial liaison to the Maine Rules of Evidence Advisory Committee, Chair of the Judicial Education Committee, and Chair of the Task Force on Electronic Court Records. He currently serves as Chair of the Maine Justice Action Group and is a member of various court technology committees and groups. He is a former member of the University of Maine adjunct faculty. In November 2019, the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project established the Justice Andrew M. Mead Fellowship for Pro Bono Service.

Hon. Andrew M. Horton
Associate Justice

Cumberland County Courthouse
205 Newbury Street, Room 139
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 822-4175

Associate Justice Andrew M. Horton is a graduate of Harvard College and Georgetown University Law Center. For about twenty years, he practiced law with a Portland firm, focusing on commercial litigation and trials. In 1999, Governor King appointed him to the Maine District Court.  In 2007, Governor Baldacci appointed him to the Maine Superior Court, and he was reappointed by Governor LePage in 2014.  In 2020, Governor Mills appointed him to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

His judicial assignments have included proceedings in the Maine Business and Consumer Docket and the Portland Adult Drug Treatment Court. He has served as chair of both the Family Law Advisory Commission and the Judicial Branch's Domestic Violence Advisory Committee. He is the co-author of Maine Civil Remedies, a legal text, and Do Your Divorce Right, a guide to family court for people without lawyers. He has taught the remedies course at the University of Maine School of Law for a number of years.  He has been an elected member of the American Law Institute since 2001.

Hon. Catherine R. Connors
Associate Justice

Cumberland County Courthouse
205 Newbury Street, Room 139
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 822-4175

Associate Justice Catherine R. Connors is a graduate of Northwestern University, College of Arts and Sciences, and its School of Law.  After clerking for Chief Judge John F. Grady of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, she became an associate, then partner, in the Maine law firm Pierce Atwood LLP, focusing on motion and appellate practice. She was appointed by Governor Mills to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 2020.

Hon. Rick E. Lawrence
Associate Justice

Cumberland County Courthouse
205 Newbury Street, Room 139
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 822-4135

Associate Justice Rick E. Lawrence attended Yale University and Harvard Law School.  Before going to law school, he worked with the Proctor and Gamble Company in sales and with the Prudential Insurance Company initially in claims management and later in sales and service.  Upon earning his law degree, he was an associate at the Portland law firm of Pierce, Atwood, Scribner, Allen, Smith & Lancaster until 1993.  He then worked at the UNUM Life Insurance Company in insurance claims litigation.  In 1998, he worked at the UNUMProvident Life Insurance Company in insurance contract development and state regulatory approval of insurance products.

Governor Angus King appointed him as a judge of the Maine District Court in April of 2000.  He was reappointed to the District Court in 2007 by Governor John Baldacci, in 2014 by Governor Paul Lepage, and in 2021 by Governor Janet Mills.  While  on the District Court, he served as a member and then Chair of the Judicial Branch Access and Visitation Committee, Chair of the Judicial Branch Advisory Committee on Children and Families to Make Recommendations for a Guardian ad litem Program, a member of the Judicial Branch Limited English Proficiency Committee, a regional scheduling judge for Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin Counties from 2012 to 2020, an adjunct professor at Maine Law from 2014 to 2020, and the Deputy Chief of the District Court from 2020 to 2022.  He is a member of the Maine State Bar Association.  Governor Janet Mills appointed him to the Supreme Judicial Court, and he was sworn in on May 4, 2022.

Hon. Wayne R. Douglas
Associate Justice

Cumberland County Courthouse
205 Newbury Street, Room 139
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 822-4135

Associate Justice Wayne R. Douglas is a graduate of Bates College and the University of Maine School of Law.  After clerkships with Associate Justice Sidney W. Wernick of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and Judge Edward Gignoux of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, he joined the law firm of Pierce Atwood.  In 1995 he was appointed Associate Commissioner of the former Maine Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.  In 1998 he became Chief Legal Counsel to Governor Angus King.

Governor King appointed him as a judge of the Maine District Court in 2002, and he was reappointed to the District Court by Governor John Baldacci.  In 2015 Governor Paul LePage appointed him to the Superior Court.  Governor Janet Mills reappointed him to the Superior Court in 2022.

During his time on the trial courts, he presided over the York County Treatment and Recovery Court and the York County Mental Health Docket; acted as regional scheduling judge for the York County courts; and served on several committees including the Family Law Advisory Commission and the CADRES Committee.

In March 2023, Governor Mills appointed him to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.