John Paterson Appointed to Newly Created Baxter Compensation Authority

OCT 30, 2001 -- John M.R. Paterson, a trial lawyer in Maine and a shareholder at the statewide firm of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, has been appointed by Gov. Angus King to serve on the newly created Baxter Compensation Authority.

The Authority was created earlier this year by the Maine Legislature to provide compensation to former students of the Baxter School for the Deaf who were victims of abuse in the 1960s and 1970s at that school. An attorney for more than 30 years in Maine, Paterson and the four other members on the Authority will use their expertise in various fields to provide a professional approach to the issues of the Authority.

"This is a very important, long overdue mission," said Paterson. "Accounts of the abuse were made public long after the right to sue had expired, so the Legislature and the Governor wisely created the Authority as a way of providing redress. It was the right thing to do and I am honored to serve on the Authority."

Paterson noted that the Legislature appropriated $5 million to compensate the students and operate the Authority. The Authority's first step is to develop and implement a claims process and hire a staff to process claims. Also, it will appoint a compensation panel charged with making decisions about the actual awards. The Authority itself will act as an appeals board to hear appeals from any former students who do not agree with the award determined by the compensation panel. Paterson said there will be three tiers of compensation: $25,000, $60,000 and $100,000, depending on the severity of the abuse suffered by the former student.

The Authority is required to establish the governing principles that will determine the amount of each award and also oversee and guide the compensation panel. In the event of an appeal to the Authority, its decision is final and no court appeal is allowed.

The former students may file claims until March 31, 2006 and the Authority is to complete its work by July 1, 2007.

Paterson, a resident of Freeport, is also Chair of the Professional Ethics Commission of the Board of Overseers of the Bar, which was created by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to help monitor the legal profession in the state.

Paterson joined Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson in 1981 and practices in the areas of business litigation, administrative and regulatory law, antitrust, media law, communications, First Amendment and health care. A 1966 graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, he received his law degree from New York University School of Law in 1969. Paterson is a member of the Maine State and American Bar Associations, and is the Maine chair of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys. Paterson is listed in the "Best Lawyers of America" for his First Amendment practice.
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