Eaton Peabody, law firm with major MDI presence, announces its closure

MOUNT DESERT, May 30, 2025 - The 108-year-old law firm Eaton Peabody, which is embroiled in some of MDI’s most contentious cases, announced last night it was closing.

“Eaton Peabody announces the difficult decision of its Shareholders to close its office locations and cease performing client work on or before June 30, 2025, followed by a wind up of the firm’s business,” it stated on its website.

“We sincerely thank all of our loyal clients for working with Eaton Peabody for more than eight decades, and express our gratitude to the employees who have been working through the difficult early phases of this process.

“Many of our attorneys have made, and others will shortly make, transitions to other firms and positions. Current clients with active matters will receive communication directly from the attorney with whom they are working regarding options for moving their legal work, and clients are encouraged to reach out directly to those attorneys with questions. Updates will be posted to this page, including information on new firm affiliations for former attorneys after the final closure of the firm to assist with contact related to past representation.”

Eaton Peabody is the outside counsel for the Town of Mount Desert, which is fighting an appeal of seven wealthy homeowners in Northeast Harbor suing to stop an affordable housing project in the village.

It also represents the Walsh Family Enterprises, which helped create the Association to Protect and Preserve Local Livelihood, businesses in Bar Harbor suing the town over its effort to limit cruise ship passenger visitation.

It had a municipal executive search business which was responsible for the hiring of two town managers for Bar Harbor and one for Southwest Harbor who withdrew a week after I reported his criminal record for assaulting his wife.

Eaton Peabody’s land-use expert, Andy Hamilton, represented Acadia Wilderness Lodge in Tremont which proposed the biggest development in that town’s history - more than 120 campsites and 54 RV stations, in 2021.

After much legal maneuvering and a lawsuit, the town and developer reached a settlement on 45 campsites.

Eaton Peabody was “good copy,” as we would say in my line of work.

But it didn’t always help my pocketbook.

I had to hire the Boston Globe’s First Amendment lawyers whom I knew when I worked there to challenge an effort by Planning Board chair Bill Hanley and Hamilton, when they attempted to prevent me from covering a fractious meeting on affordable housing in Northeast Harbor.

They backed off, but Boston lawyers are not cheap. The legal bill was four figures.

In February, all seven attorneys formerly in Eaton Peabody's startup practice left the firm to start a firm of their own in Ellsworth called Viridian Law.

The 13-member team, led by Jeff Spaulding as managing director, also included a corporate and securities analyst, four paralegals and an additional staff member.

"Our practice is very much statewide and beyond the state, too, so we wanted our firm to reflect that area of focus and continue working with those clients but do it on our own terms," Spaulding told Mainebiz in a phone interview.

Eaton Peabody was ranked No . 6 among Maine-based law firms in the 2025 Mainebiz Book of Lists based on 42 attorneys in Maine at the time of the survey.

Hours after Eaton Peabody’s announcement, Verrill, a Portland-based law firm, announced it will open a Bangor office in response to Eaton Peabody’s closing, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Verrill Managing Partner Scott Anderson said the firm is opening the office in Bangor to “help meet the ongoing legal needs in the area.” Anderson also said lawyers from Eaton Peabody will join Verrill in the new office.

“We deeply value the experience and talent that our new colleagues joining us from Eaton Peabody bring, and we are excited to welcome them to our team,” Anderson said in a statement. “We look forward to sharing more information about our new Bangor office and the exceptional talent joining us in the coming weeks.”

Eaton Peabody was originated by George F. Eaton in 1917. He was joined in 1937 by George F. Peabody. In 1939, George F. Eaton and George F. Peabody made their partnership official by forming the law partnership of Eaton & Peabody, focusing their practice on civil and business law.