Counsel

Erik maintains a state-wide municipal law practice as part of the firm's Municipal Law and Finance practice group. He serves as general counsel to Dover-Foxcroft, Gardiner, Greenville and Old Town, among others, and represents private clients in the municipal arena, primarily in the area of land use permitting. He maintains a state-wide economic development practice, assisting municipal and non-municipal clients with tax increment financing, business park development, wind farm projects, state and federal development incentives, and related matters.

During his second Army tour (1984-1987), Erik served as government appeals counsel with the Army Legal Services Agency. He helped to inaugurate the Army's U.S. Supreme Court practice, authoring or editing briefs in opposition to certiorari petitions. He is a former City Solicitor for the City of Bangor (1991-1999). As City Solicitor, Erik served as legal counsel to the Bangor City Council and numerous city boards and committees. He represented the City before the local board of assessment appeals; Maine's State Board of Property Tax Review; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Maine Department of Environmental Protection; Maine Human Rights Commission; and numerous other state and federal agencies as well as in Maine and federal courts. Erik played a major role in the codification of the City's ordinances in 1998. He also represented Bangor's in-house community and economic development department and the City-owned Bangor International Airport on city economic development and redevelopment issues. He has taught numerous legal education courses on municipal law topics, and has served on legislative study commissions in the areas of tax exempt housing and regulatory takings. In 1998-1999, he served as a member of Maine's Court Unification Task force. In 2003, as a pro bono project, Erik drafted and helped obtain passage of 30-A MRSA 125, conferring economic development powers and bonding authority on Piscataquis County. In 2007, this statue was amended to include all 16 Maine counties.