WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree announced the formation of a five member committee to assist and advise them as they prepare to make a recommendation to President Obama on the appointment of the next United States Attorney from Maine.

“We are very pleased that these outstanding Maine attorneys have agreed to help us through a screening and interview process,” said Michaud and Pingree. “They will be recommending to us a number of the best qualified candidates. We will use their advice when we make our congressional recommendation to the President.”

Michaud and Pingree are looking for the committee to complete its work by the end of March. The members of the advisory committee are Virginia Davis, Walter McKee, Dr. Donald Zillman, Jeff Thaler and Leigh Stevens McCarthy.

Virginia Davis is currently the President of the Maine Bar Association and a partner with Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau and Pachios. Davis has specialized in environmental law issues for more than twenty years and was recently included in the 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. She holds a bachelors degree from Skidmore College, a masters from the University of Denver and graduated from Seton Hall Law School and has also served as counsel to the Natural Resources Council of Maine and the Maine State Housing Authority.

Walter McKee is a well-known criminal defense attorney with Lipman, Katz and McKee and was recently selected for inclusion in the 2008 New England Super Lawyers magazine as the only Maine attorney listed for criminal defense. McKee is a college graduate of the University of Maine and his law degree is from the University of Maine School of Law. He also served for eight years as a Captain in the J.A.G. Corps of the Maine Army National Guard.

Dr. Donald Zillman is currently the President of the University of Maine at Presque Isle, while also serving in a unique dual role as the Edward S. Godfrey Professor of Law at the University of Maine Law School. Dr. Zillman was the Dean of the Maine Law School from 1991 -1998 and has also held other leadership roles in the university system. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his Master of Laws from the University of Virginia and his Doctor of Laws from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the co-author of two new books including Beyond the Carbon Economy - Energy Law in Transition (Oxford University Press, 2008).

Jeff Thaler is a senior member of Bernstein Shur's Energy, Environmental, and Litigation Practice Groups, and has a wide-ranging practice that includes environmental and energy permitting, compliance, enforcement and litigation, as well as litigation for clients with commercial, medical and legal disputes, insurance coverage, personal injury, or toxic tort problems. He holds a bachelors degree from Williams College and graduated from the Yale University School of Law.

Leigh Stevens McCarthy is a partner with Rudman Winchell, specializing in immigration, trusts and estate planning. Before returning to school to obtain her law degree, McCarthy taught mathematics and for eleven years wrote a regular op-ed column for the Bangor Daily News. She earned her J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law, summa cum laude, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Maine Law Review. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court, District of Maine, U.S Court of Appeals, First District and the U.S. Supreme Court.

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