Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson Expands Litigation Department with Two Prominent Maine Lawyers

Kurt Olafsen and Louis Butterfield join firm

PORTLAND, Maine – Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson has expanded its Litigation Department with the addition of Kurt E. Olafsen and Louis B. Butterfield, a pair of prominent Maine lawyers with decades of legal experience.

The two lawyers are formerly principals in the Portland firm of Olafsen & Butterfield.

“Lou Butterfield brings years of in-depth practice in employment law counseling and litigation and Kurt Olafsen is a top-notch ‘first chair’ litigator with a wide range of experience in all types of commercial litigation,” said attorney Charles E. Miller, the firm’s managing shareholder. “Lou and Kurt will complement and enhance Bernstein, Shur’s already strong litigation presence in Maine and throughout Northern New England.”

Olafsen will focus his practice on business litigation and professional liability matters. He has tried numerous jury and non-jury cases in state and federal courts during a legal career spanning 23 years.

Olafsen received his law degree in 1980 from Cornell Law School in Ithaca, N.Y. and his undergraduate degree in 1974 from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Penn. After law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Collins J. Seitz, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He is a member of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association, and the Cumberland County, Maine State and American Bar Associations.

A Portland resident, Olafsen coaches the Portland High School Mock Trial Team and is a long-time youth baseball coach.

Butterfield is returning to Bernstein, Shur to chair the firm’s Labor and Employment Law Group, focusing on employment law, construction and commercial litigation. He has practiced in the area of employment law for 15 years, representing clients in a full range of employment issues.

Butterfield received his law degree in 1988 from the University of Maine School of Law in Portland, and in 1985 received his undergraduate degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Penn. He joined Bernstein, Shur as an associate in 1988, left in 1993 and formed Olafsen & Butterfield. He is a member of the National and Maine Employment Lawyers Associations; the Employment Rights Section of the American Trial Lawyers Association; the Associated Constructors of Maine; and the Cumberland, Maine State, and American Bar Associations.

A Portland resident, Butterfield serves as an Advisory Trustee for Greater Portland Landmarks, as a warden with Trinity Church in Portland, and as a member of the Back Cove Neighborhood Association.

Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson is one of northern New England’s largest law firms with 80 attorneys in offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine and Manchester, New Hampshire. The firm provides legal services in all major subject areas, including corporate and commercial law, litigation and trials, municipal and governmental affairs, education law, construction law, employment law and tax and estate planning. Bernstein, Shur also has an active practice in bankruptcy, health law, environmental law, technology and commerce, legislative law, intellectual property, public utilities and other regulated industries. For more information, visit the Bernstein, Shur web site at www.bssn.com.

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