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Robert M.A. Nadeau

Image of Robert M.A. Nadeau

York County Probate Court

Tenure

Present officeholder

Education


Robert M.A. Nadeau is a former judge for the probate court in York County, Maine. He was first elected to the bench in 1997 and re-elected to a fourth term in 2012.[1] His fourth term expired on December 31, 2016.[2] Nadeau was defeated in his bid for a fifth term in the general election on November 8, 2016.

Nadeau was ordered by the Maine Supreme Court to serve a 30-day suspension, without pay, beginning on October 3, 2016. For more on this story, see below.

Education

Nadeau received an undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1977 and a J.D. from Delaware Law School of Widener University in 1980.[3]

Career

In addition to serving as a judge for the probate court, Nadeau worked as an attorney in private practice in Biddeford and Sanford. Before being elected to the probate court, Nadeau worked in private practice for nearly 30 years, in various parts of Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. From 1981 to 1985, Nadeau was a captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. In addition to being an army captain, Nadeau served as a special assistant United States attorney from 1981 to 1983.[3]

Awards and associations

  • Member, National College of Probate Judges
  • Vice-President, Maine Probate Judges Assembly
  • Meritorious Service Medal, United States Army
  • Achievement Medal, United States Army[3]

Elections

2016

See also: Maine local trial court judicial elections, 2016

Maine held elections for probate court judges in 2016. The primary election occurred on June 14, 2016, and the general took place on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 15, 2016.[4] Bryan Chabot defeated incumbent Robert M.A. Nadeau and Bernard Broder in the York County Probate Court general election.[5]

York County Probate Court, General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Bryan Chabot 39.98% 42,388
Independent Robert M.A. Nadeau Incumbent 35.41% 37,539
Independent Bernard Broder 24.61% 26,085
Total Votes(42 of 43 precincts reporting) 106,012
Source: Maine Secretary of State, "Tabulations for Elections held in 2016," accessed January 18, 2017

Selection method

See also: Partisan elections

The Maine Probate Courts fall under the jurisdiction of the counties, not the state court system. There are 16 probate judges, each elected in partisan elections to four-year terms. Judges of the Maine Probate Courts serve part-time.[6] [7]

In order to serve on these courts, a candidate must be a resident of Maine and an attorney licensed to practice in the state.[6] [8]

Noteworthy events

Lawsuit (2016)

A lawsuit was filed against Judge Nadeau by Renee LeGrand. According to LeGrand, when Nadeau made changes to his hearing schedule in the summer of 2015, the delays caused her to lose temporary guardianship of her granddaughter. Her lawsuit did not seek money, but to reverse the changes to the schedule. LeGrand's attorneys alleged that Nadeau changed his schedule "in order to delay critical and non-critical court matters by many months, causing constitutional, financial and emotional injury to LeGrand and the other class members." They stated that Nadeau did this in retaliation against York County commissioners when they failed to increase his salary to his requested amount.[9]

Nadeau's former salary was $48,498. He asked the commissioners to increase his court schedule from two days per week to three or five, and to increase his salary to $90,000 or $120,000. In April, the commissioners declined to increase his court days, but raised his salary to $54,206. Nadeau pointed to the backlog in probate cases to back his request for the increase in days and salary. In a cross-complaint of the lawsuit against him, he accused York County of failing to adequately fund the court and impairing his supervisory authority.[9]

Nadeau filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him on grounds that as a probate judge, he is immune from such litigation. He also filed a motion to have the county pay for his attorney. After Justice Thomas Warren denied both, Nadeau said he was considering resigning. "It's not worth being a probate judge. It just isn't worth it," he said.[9] Nadeau was eventually provided legal counsel from the state.[10]

Nadeau wrote an email to the Portland Press Herald:

" If my resignation is what it will take to convince you and the Commissioners to properly and adequately fund the needs of the families, children, adult incapacitated and other persons dependent upon an overburdened York County Probate Court for service and to properly support the county's probate judge, (whoever) he or she may be, then that is what I am willing to do.[11] "
—Judge Robert M.A. Nadeau[9]

On March 29, Superior Court Judge Thomas Warren ruled in favor of Judge Nadeau. Warren's ruling said that LeGrand was not denied access to the probate court, as she had alleged. Although the schedule changes "were, at least in part, intended to cause harm in the form of delay affecting probate court litigants in order to send a message to County Commissioners," Warren decided that the changes were not enough to justify a substantive due process violation. He also noted that some of the schedule changes were positive, and as of February 2016, there was no backlog in cases except for a three-month delay for routine cases.[12]

The Maine Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability recommended that Nadeau be suspended and forfeit his salary for the remainder of his term, which expired in December 2016.[13] On July 21, the Maine Supreme Court issued an unanimous ruling ordering Nadeau to be publicly reprimanded and to serve a 30-day suspension without pay. The suspension went into effect on October 3. The court's ruling read, in part, "Our determination here that Judge Nadeau has again violated the code demonstrates that the prior corrective efforts have not been effective in dissuading him from engaging in intemperate conduct prohibited by the canons."[14]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Robert Nadeau Maine judge. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

  • Maine Probate Courts
  • York County, Maine

External links

  • Maine Probate Courts
  • Seacoast Online, "Court reprimands Judge Nadeau," March 16, 2006

Footnotes

  1. ↑ York County Probate Court, "Court website," accessed May 2, 2014
  2. ↑ Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions, "November 6, 2012, General Tabulations, Judge of Probate," January 20, 2014
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Information submitted on Judgepedia's biographical submission form on September 21, 2013."
  4. ↑ Politics1.com, "Maine," archived December 31, 2015
  5. ↑ Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, "Upcoming Elections," accessed May 6, 2016
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 State of Maine Judicial Branch, "Probate Matters," accessed July 23, 2014
  7. ↑ Maine.gov, "Maine State Constitution – Article VI, Section 6," accessed May 29, 2016
  8. ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Maine; Limited Jurisdiction Courts," archived October 2, 2014
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Portland Press Herald, "York County probate judge faced with lawsuit says he may resign," January 5, 2016
  10. ↑ Email from Robert Nadeau on May 5, 2016
  11. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  12. ↑ Journal Tribune, "Probate judge wins civil case over court rescheduling," April 1, 2016
  13. ↑ Portland Press Herald, "Committee recommends York County probate judge be suspended for rest of term," January 29, 2016
  14. ↑ Portland Press Herald, "Maine's highest court finds misconduct, disciplines York County probate judge," July 22, 2016