Bernstein Shur Attorney Arnie Macdonald Appointed Chair of Campaign for Justice

Law Firm’s Pro Bono Chair Named to Lead Legal Initiative

Arnie Macdonald

Bernstein Shur, one of northern New England’s largest law firms, announced that shareholder Arnie Macdonald was appointed chair of the ME Bar Foundation’s Campaign for Justice.

The Campaign for Justice is a combined annual campaign for six of the state’s civil legal aid providers, one of the first of its kind in the country. The Campaign supports essential legal services for ME’s residents living in poverty with civil legal matters. These services improve living conditions, health, security and food safety for thousands of ME families as well as work to advance laws affecting the poor in ME. By helping newly-arrived refuges, victims, and the sick, homeless and disenfranchised, the Campaign supports people in their most desperate times and preserves hope and fairness. In 2013 the Campaign raised $506,000 for legal assistance to those living in poverty.

“I am honored to chair such an impressive effort here in our state,” said Macdonald. “ME lawyers have led the nation both in establishing a collaborative Campaign and in supporting it so generously. Equal treatment under the law is fundamental to our freedom and to the success of our culture, but we must work hard every year to preserve it.”

A resident of South Freeport, ME, Macdonald is a member of Bernstein Shur’s Business Law, Construction Law, and Real Estate Law Practice Groups and chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. His practice focuses on business and finance in matters related to formation, intellectual property, real estate, franchising, succession planning and governance, mergers and acquisitions both domestic and international, and low income housing finance. Macdonald earned his JD from the University of Denver School of Law and his BA from Bowdoin College.

About Bernstein Shur
Widely regarded as one of New England’s most entrepreneurial law firms, Bernstein Shur has more than 100 attorneys in offices in ME and New Hampshire. Founded in 1915, the firm provides practical and innovative counsel in the areas of business law, litigation, and municipal law to clients throughout the region and around the world. Bernstein Shur is ME’s exclusive member of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading association of independent law firms. More information is available at www.bernsteinshur.com.

About the Campaign for Justice
The ME Bar Foundation’s Campaign for Justice was created in 2004 as a way to unite the fundraising efforts of six ME legal aid providers and increase legal assistance to ME families. Those legal aid providers are Pine Tree Legal Assistance, ME Volunteer Lawyers Project, ME Equal Justice Partners, Legal Services for the Elderly, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, and the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic of the University of Maine School of Law. The Campaign’s chairs rotate annually among the leadership of the ME Bar, and its volunteers—over 100 annually—are members of the ME legal community.