Governor Paul R. LePage today announced the nomination of two current District Court Judges to the Superior Court and five first-time nominees to fill vacancies on the District Court. The seated District Court judges being nominated to the Superior Court are Judges Robert E. Mullen and Daniel I. Billings; Andrew B. Benson, Barbara L. Raimondi, Lance E. Walker, William J. Schneider, and Eric J. Walker are being nominated to serve as District Court Judges.
"As Governor, I have the utmost respect and have been impressed with the high quality work of the Judicial Branch. In choosing judges, my focus is on the qualifications, demeanor, and integrity of the candidates, not politics. These nominees reflect those priorities," said Governor LePage. "I am confident that my new nominees will live up to the high standards we expect from Maine judges."
Judge Mullen, a resident of Waterville, was appointed to the District Court by Angus King in 1996. He has served as Deputy Chief Judge for Maine District Court from 2002-2005 and 2010 to the present. Mullen worked in private practice prior to joining the Maine District Court. He is a graduate of the University of Maine Orono and the University of Maine School of Law.
Governor LePage appointed Judge Billings to the District Court in 2012. He is a resident of Bowdoinham, served as Governor LePage's Chief Legal Counsel since January 2011. Prior to that, he was a partner at Marden, Dubord, Bernier, and Stevens in Waterville. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine School of Law.
Andrew Benson, a resident of Athens, has served as Senior Homicide Prosecutor for the Office of the Attorney General since October 1999. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant district attorney supervising the Somerset County office of Prosecutorial District #4. He is a graduate of the University of Maine Orono and the University of Maine School of Law.
Barbara Raimondi, a resident of Auburn, has worked in the private practice of law at Trafton and Matzen since 1985. She is a graduate of Brown University, Connecticut College, and Boston University School of Law.
Lance Walker, a resident of Falmouth, has worked in the private practice of law at Norman, Hanson and DeTroy since 2001. He was a trial and appellate attorney concentrating on insurance-related litigation. Walker is a graduate of University of Maine and the University of Maine School of Law.
William Schneider, a resident of Durham, served as Maine Attorney General from 2011 to 2013 prior to joining the Governor's Office of Policy and Management in 2013. Schneider has also served as Assistant United States Attorney and Anti-Terrorism Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S. Department of Justice from 2002 to 2010. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the University of Maine School of Law.
Eric Walker, a resident of Belmont, has served as deputy district attorney since 2008 supervising Waldo, Knox, Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties of Prosecutorial District #6. He was responsible for all criminal matters in Waldo County, trying cases in both District and Superior Court, handling appeals to the Law Court and post-conviction actions in Superior Court. He is a graduate of Norwich University and New England School of Law.
Governor LePage also re-nominated on Friday, January 31, 2014 seven seated members of the bench. Re-nominations to the bench include four District Court Judges, Michael Cantara, Charles Dow,Valerie Stanfill and Rick Lawrence; two Superior Court Justices, Andrew Horton and Nancy Mills; and one Supreme judicial Court Justice, Andrew Mead.
All Gubernatorial Judicial nominations will be heard by Judiciary Committee of the 126th Legislature and public hearings will be scheduled in the near term by the Committee.
