John K. Hamer
ATTORNEY
“I enjoy helping clients navigate employment laws, working with their unions, and assisting them in maintaining effective and happy workforces. Consulting municipal and employment attorneys early in the process can help you avoid problems rather than react to them.”
About
John focuses his practice on municipal and administrative law, labor and employment law, workers’ compensation, and appeals. John advises public sector clients and private citizens on a wide variety of issues, such as disciplinary and grievance matters, discrimination and accommodations under the Maine Human Rights Act, ADA compliance, family and medical leave issues, earned paid leave, wage and hour issues, collective bargaining, labor relations, employment policies and agreements, abatement appeals, zoning and development, administrative proceedings, and appeals. John likes to take a proactive approach to municipal issues and finds that by consulting municipal and employment attorneys early in the process it can help you avoid problems rather than react to them.
John has appeared before agencies ranging from local planning boards to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He had prosecuted 80K land use actions, defended municipal decisions in Rule 80B appeals, challenged state agency decisions in Rule 80C appeals, litigated labor arbitrations, defended prohibited practice complaints before the Maine Labor Relations Board, appeared before the State Board of Property Tax Review, assisted in local disciplinary and grievance proceedings and arbitrations, negotiated labor contracts, and appeared before the Maine Human Rights Commission.
Before joining Rudman Winchell, John served for more than eight years as Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Bangor. He spent three additional years working for the City on zoning and code enforcement issues.
John has served on the Board of Directors for both the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter and the Midcoast Actors Studio. He is a past president of the Downtown Bangor Partnership. He currently serves on the Board of the Northern & Eastern Maine Chapter of the Red Cross. John is a regular presenter at Rudman Winchell’s Annual Employment Seminar and has published articles in the Maine Bar Journal. He enjoys a Distinguished High Ethical Standing rating from Martindale Hubble.
John was born in Germany but grew up primarily in New Hampshire. He lives in Winterport with his wife, Anne-Marie, daughter, Zoey, and St. Bernard, Josie. John can be seen performing in community theater productions on a regular basis, alongside Zoey (on stage) and Anne-Marie (backstage).
areas of practice
- MaineCare Planning and Applications
- Asset Protection Planning
- Estate Planning
- Fiduciary Services
- Special Needs Trusts / Supplemental Needs Trusts
- Wills, Estate Planning and Trusts
Bar Admissions
- New Hampshire, 1994
- U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire, 1994
- Maine, 1995
- U.S. District Court, District of Maine, 1999
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1999
Education
- McGill University, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, 1990
- Vermont Law School, Masters of Studies in Environmental Law, magna cum laude, 1994
- Vermont Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1994