10 Personal Injury Law Firms in Maine to Consider for Your Car Accident Claim
A car accident can change your week, your year, or your whole life. The bills start arriving while you are still sore. The other driver's insurance company calls before your own doctor does. Maine gives most injury victims six years to file a lawsuit, longer than almost any other state, but a long deadline does not mean an easy claim. Adjusters still ask for recorded statements and push early offers that look fair until the physical therapy bills show up.
Choosing a lawyer is where many people get stuck. Maine has a small legal community, and its injury firms range from century-old practices to newer teams that use data to value cases. This list looks at ten of them. For each, you will see where the firm works, what it focuses on, and a detail or two that sets it apart. Treat it as a starting point, not a verdict. The right fit depends on where you live, how badly you were hurt, and how you like to communicate.
1. Joe Bornstein's Office: Seven Locations Across Maine
Many injured victims first learn how comparative fault works when they consult at the law offices of Joe Bornstein, because that rule decides whether a claim survives at all. Under 14 M.R.S. § 156, a jury reduces your damages by your share of the blame, and if you are found equally at fault, you recover nothing. That is why early evidence gathering matters, and this firm has been doing it since 1974.
The practice handles only personal injury. It reports more than 25,000 injured clients and over $750 million recovered across five decades. Seven offices sit in Portland, Lewiston, Sanford, Augusta, Biddeford, Windham, and Bangor, and the firm takes cases from all 16 counties. If you cannot travel, staff will meet you at home, in the hospital, or by video.
The car accident practice covers drunk driving, hit-and-run, rear-end, and pedestrian collisions. Every attorney and case manager lives and works in Maine, and the firm belongs to the Maine Trial Lawyers Association and the American Association for Justice. It publishes a free guide on reading your Maine crash report and runs the Arrive Alive contest for high school seniors. You pay no fee unless the firm recovers money for you.
2. Berman & Simmons (Lewiston, Portland, Biddeford, Bangor)
Founded on Lisbon Street in Lewiston in 1914, this firm started out representing textile mill and shoe factory workers. Today it has four offices, 15 attorneys, and more than 40 staff. It reports over $1.5 billion recovered and leans toward serious or complex cases, including trucking crashes and wrongful death. Two practical details stand out: the firm posts a list of case types it does not accept, and it publishes a yearly statute of limitations chart that other Maine lawyers rely on.
3. Hardy, Wolf & Downing (Lewiston and Portland)
This firm opened in 1976 and keeps offices at 186 Lisbon Street in Lewiston and 222 Auburn Street in Portland. Car crash work is sorted by collision type: rear-end, head-on, rollover, distracted driving, and pedestrian. The firm says it has recovered more than half a billion dollars and stresses that it will try a case rather than accept a low offer. Directories also list workers' compensation, which helps if your crash happened on the clock.
4. Peter Thompson & Associates (Statewide)
Peter Thompson has practiced injury law for about 30 years. Main offices are in Portland, Bangor, Falmouth, Lewiston, Augusta, and Camden, with meeting locations from Kittery to Presque Isle and Machias. The team includes case managers, private investigators, and physician consultants, so medical questions get answered in-house. Home and hospital visits are routine. That reach matters if you live hours from the nearest city.
5. Gideon Asen LLC (Portland, Bangor, Auburn)
Ben Gideon and Taylor Asen focus on serious injury and medical negligence cases. The firm keeps offices at 217 Commercial Street in Portland, plus Bangor and Auburn. Its distinguishing claim is that it uses large-scale data analysis to value each case, which it says is unusual in the Northeast. It reports taking on multimillion-dollar matters other firms declined. If your crash caused a brain or spinal injury, this firm is built for that level of complexity.
6. Lowry Law (Portland and Bangor)
Known for its "call the 2s" ads, Lowry Law has operated since 1971. Offices are at 33 McAlister Farm Road in Portland and 15 Columbia Street in Bangor, and the firm also practices in Vermont and New Hampshire. Staff speak Spanish, and published results include a $1.25 million car accident recovery. Firms like this one check your own policy early, since Maine requires at least $50,000 per person in uninsured motorist coverage, money the other driver's adjuster will never mention.
7. Garmey Law (Portland)
Terry Garmey has been licensed in Maine since 1978 and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was one of three Maine attorneys chosen to represent the state in its case against the tobacco companies. The firm, at 482 Congress Street, handles motor vehicle cases along with product defects and medical negligence, and other Maine lawyers refer difficult matters to it. It works on contingency.
8. Mann Law LLC (Portland and Bangor)
Mann Law handles car, truck, rideshare, and pedestrian crashes from offices in Portland and Bangor. Its attorneys include people who previously worked with insurance companies, which helps when reading an adjuster's playbook. The firm's website explains Maine rules in plain terms, including the six-year filing window under 14 M.R.S. § 752 and the much shorter notice deadlines for claims against a city or the state.
9. Briggs & Wholey LLC (Rockport)
Midcoast Maine has few firms devoted entirely to injury law, and this is one of them. Alison Wholey Briggs is a registered nurse as well as a trial attorney, a life fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and a longtime board member of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association. That nursing background helps when a claim turns on medical records and future care costs. The firm takes cases statewide from Rockport.
10. Jabar LaLiberty LLC (Waterville and Portland)
Jason Jabar, a Colby College and University of Maine School of Law graduate, has been licensed since 2001. The firm sits at 1 Center Street in Waterville with a second office at 482 Congress Street in Portland, giving it a central Maine base that many statewide firms lack. It reports tens of millions recovered for injured clients. Fellow lawyers describe him as taking cases with difficult proof that others pass on.
What to Check Before You Sign an Agreement
Location, case size, and communication style matter more than any slogan. Ask how often you will hear from your lawyer, who will actually handle your file, and whether the firm has tried cases in your county. Read the agreement closely, including who pays case costs if the claim fails. Most Maine injury firms offer a free first meeting, so talk to more than one. Six years sounds like plenty of time, but witnesses move, and camera footage gets erased within weeks, so start early.
