Jeff Thaler of Bernstein Shur Receives Prestigious Scolnik Award from MCLU

PORTLAND, Maine – The Maine Civil Liberties Union has presented its 2007 Justice Louis Scolnik Award to Jeffrey A. Thaler, an attorney and shareholder at Bernstein Shur in Portland known for his work in civil rights and environmental law. The award was given to Thaler at a MCLU dinner held at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport on April 26.

Established in 1989, the Scolnik Award honors members of Maine’s legal community who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the protection of civil liberties. The award is named for former Maine Supreme Court Justice Louis Scolnik, the founder and first president of the Maine Civil Liberties Union.
“It is a great honor to receive the Scolnik Award, and Jeff is a worthy recipient. His civil rights work has had a significant impact throughout Maine. We are truly proud of Jeff’s work in both the private and public arena,” said Charlie Miller, managing shareholder of Bernstein Shur in Portland.

“Jeff Thaler is being recognized because his work has been crucial to preserving the constitutional separation of church and state recognized in Maine law,” said Shenna Bellows, Executive Director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union. “Without Jeff’s efforts, the people of Maine could have been required to fund religious education.”

Thaler represented the MCLU at no charge for over nine years in the Bagley v. Strout school voucher lawsuit that was decided in November 2006. The case evolved into two state and two federal lawsuits and appeals, including two requests for U.S. Supreme Court review, all of which considered whether the state of Maine should be compelled to fund religious education for its citizens. Thaler was the MCLU’s lead attorney for all of these cases. His efforts finally reached fruition on November 29, 2006 when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a lower Court decision in the remaining lawsuit, Anderson v. Town of Durham, thereby upholding Maine’s decision not to fund religious education.

Thaler is recognized by Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA in the areas of civil litigation and environmental law. He also serves on numerous boards, including the Land for Maine's Future, Maine Trial Lawyers Association, World Affairs Council of Maine, and the Environmental and Energy Technology Council. He is a volunteer group facilitator at the Center for Grieving Children as well as a Big Brother to an 11-year-old-boy in Portland. As part of the Trial Lawyers Care program, he provided two years of pro bono legal services to a family who lost their father in the collapse of the World Trade Center.

A resident of Yarmouth, Thaler is a 1974 graduate of Williams College and received his law degree from Yale University School of Law in 1977.

Bernstein Shur is one of northern New England’s largest multi-service law firms, with close to 90 attorneys in Portland and Augusta, Maine and Manchester, New Hampshire. Established in 1915, the firm provides practical legal counsel to a diverse group of public and private clients throughout the region and around the world. Bernstein Shur’s commercial, litigation, and municipal practices are complemented by the services of the firm’s affiliates, which include Bernstein Shur Government Solutions LLC, a government consulting firm; Stratex LLC, an environmental and engineering consultancy; and Monument Title Company. For more information, visit bernsteinshur.com.

# # #
.