The Team
Joseph Goodman
Lead Counsel
I attended high school at The Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Thereafter, I attended the University of Maine where I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. While at the University of Maine, in addition to my studies, I was a member and officer in a fraternity and a varsity wrestler. In 1983 I won the Maine State wrestling championship.
After college, I spent two years working for the Purity Supreme Supermarket chain in Massachusetts in their Management Training Program. I then attended Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts where I received my Juris Doctorate Degree. In addition to my studies I participated in the Suffolk Volunteer Defenders program in my third year of law school. In this program, I provided criminal defense representation for indigent clients in the Quincy District Court in Massachusetts.
After graduating from law school, I became the Law Clerk for Chief Bankruptcy Judge Ray Reynolds Graves of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern Division of Michigan. After my clerkship ended I returned to practice law in the State of Maine and I was admitted to practice in Maine in May of 1992 and also admitted to the United States District Court for the District of Maine in December of 1992 and to the United States Bankruptcy Court of the District of Maine in December of 1992.
My current practice includes representing clients in State Court and Federal Court. I also practice consumer bankruptcy law including the representation of clients in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 proceedings as well as Chapter 11 and 12 proceedings. I have also helped clients with all aspects of their financial lives, including other forms of debt relief in addition to Bankruptcy. I have a civil litigation practice representing individuals and business owners in various disputes in both State and Federal Court, including matters on appeal. I have represented clients in front of administrative agencies including but not limited to The Sate of Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. Additionally, I have clients that I represent in personal injury and family law matters. I represent both private parties and contractors in construction litigation and landlords in eviction proceedings.
I am a past or present member of the following organizations:
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers;
Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers;
Cumberland County Bar Association;
American Bankruptcy Institute
During my career as an Attorney, because my practice includes criminal defense, bankruptcy, family law, and many types of litigation, I have helped clients through their most difficult problems. I have shown tireless dedication to helping clients in crisis. In addition to my local practice I have traveled as far as upstate New York to represent a criminal defendant in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York where I was admitted Pro Hoc Vice.
I was born in 1964 in Bangor, Maine. I currently reside with my wife and 4 children in Portland, Maine.
Education
- University of Maine; Portland, Maine
- University of Maine at Orono; Orono, Maine
- Suffolk University; Boston, Massachusetts
Bar Memberships
- Maine Bar Association
- United States District Court for the District of Maine
- United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maine
Continuing Legal Education
- Maine State Bar Assoc.
Bankruptcy Practice Under BAPCA - Federal Bar Assoc., ABA, Criminal Justice Section
15th Annual National Seminar on Federal Sentencing Guidelines - Maine State Bar Assoc.
Consumer Bankruptcy Reform 2005 - National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
DWI Means Defend with Ingenuity - US District Court of Maine
2005 Federal Sentencing Seminar - Standing Chapter 13 Trustees Office
Chapter 13 Creditors’ Update - National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Presenting a Gold Medal Defense - Federal Bar Assoc., ABA, Criminal Justice Section
13th Annual National Seminar on Federal Sentencing Guidelines - US District Court of Maine
ECF Training for Filing Users - Standing Chapter 13 Trustees Office
Chapter 13 Debtors/Creditors Practice Meeting - Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Tools of the Trade: Criminal Defense in the Ashcroft Era - Maine State Bar Assoc.
Legal Year in Review - American Bankruptcy Institute
Ninth Annual Northeast Bankruptcy Conference - Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Defending in a Hostile World - Maine State Bar Assoc.
Federal Practice from Start to Finish - National Business Institute, Inc.
Personal Injury Settlements in Maine - Maine Courts
Federal Sentencing Guidelines - Standing Chapter 13 Trustee Offices
Chapter 13 Rules and Procedures - American Bar Assoc.
How to Build and Manage a Personal Injury Practice - Maine Assoc. of Criminal Defense Lawyers
In the Trenches (Criminal Law) - American Bankruptcy Institute
Northeast Bankruptcy Conference - National Business Institute, Inc.
Impact of Bankruptcy on the Dissolution of Marriage in Maine - American Bankruptcy Institute
Northeast Bankruptcy Conference
Honorable James Goodman
Of Counsel 1964-2019
Mr. Goodman’s practice focused on restructuring creditors’ rights and bankruptcy. In his capacity as Trustee, bankruptcy attorney, Judge and mediator/arbitrator, he had broad experience in negotiating settlements of large, complex corporate disputes and has been involved in numerous liquidations of large industries which include social and environmental issues. Mr. Goodman was Of Counsel in the firm’s Portland office; served as United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Maine, 1981-2001, and Chief Judge of the United States for the District of Maine, 1990-97. He was selected as the liquidating trustee in the Bethlehem Steel Chapter 11 cases, which were pending the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, and LTV Copperweld, which was pending in the Northern District of Ohio. In addition, Judge Goodman had been involved in numerous bankruptcy cases representing creditors such as JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, HSBC and American Stock Transfer: National Steel, Agway, Inc., Budget Rent-A-Car, Conseco Inc., Coho Energy, Adelphia Business Solutions, Spectrasite, Hayes Lemmerz, Weirton Steel, Maxxim Medical, Kellstrom Industries, Kmart, Classic Cable and U.S. Diagnostics.
He presided over courts in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the District of Massachusetts, the District of New Hampshire, the Southern District of Florida, the District of Puerto Rico and the middle district of Louisiana in cases involving a wide variety of industries including airlines, automotive, public utilities, real estate, retail, telecommunications, farming, agricultural cooperatives, poultry-processing, restaurant, shipbuilding and transportation.
Prior to his appointment as a Judge, Judge Goodman acted as a Trustee in more than 5,000 bankruptcy cases, including poultry processing plants, agricultural entities, heavy construction equipment, radio and television stations, automobile agencies and many preferential transfers, officers and directors liabilities’ suits and objections to claims.
He was involved in teaching programs in Mexico, Poland, Latvia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Thailand and has taught at programs in the United States to visitors from Belarus, People’s Republic of China, The Ukraine, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong and South Africa. Many of these teaching programs were prepared in conjunction with his work with organizations such as USAID, Meridian International, World Bank, American Bankruptcy Institute, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Deloitte Touche and the Recovery Group.
He practiced commercial and insolvency law in Maine for 20 years prior to judicial appointments.
He was involved as a mediator and arbitrator in numerous cases for the Courts in the Southern District of New York and the District of Delaware, Wilmington.
Education
Boston University School of Law, L.L.B., 1961
Tufts University, 1958
Bar Memberships
Maine Bar Association
Professional Activities
- Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy
- Former Member and Governor of National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges
- Former Member of Commercial Law League
- Former Director, Member of the Executive Committee, and Vice President for International Development for the American Bankruptcy Institute
- Former Member of the Board of Directors of Insol International
- Member of the Advisory Board of the St. John’s University School of Law, Bankruptcy LL. M. program