Since starting with Rudman Winchell in 1993, Brent A. Singer, Ph.D, has devoted the bulk of his practice of law to transactional and corporate matters, including the law of nonprofit organizations, on the one hand, and employment law and litigation, on the other. With respect to employment law and litigation, Brent has assisted or handled well over a hundred cases in state or federal court, or before the Maine Human Rights Commission, almost always for employers, dealing with allegations by former or current employees of violations under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the FMLA, and the Maine Human Rights Act, as well as alleged violations of ERISA or other disputes over employee benefits. Brent likewise advises clients regularly on issues concerning the termination, or potential termination, or other discipline, of employees; drafts and reviews employment contracts on behalf of both employers and professional employees; and advises both employers and employees on the enforceability and effect of non-compete agreements.

Back in 1998, Brent was also the principal author of the winning briefs before the United States Supreme Court in the first case that the Supreme Court ever heard under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Bragdon v. Abbott, 524 U.S. 624 (1998). With respect to nonprofits, Brent assists them in their formation, developing bylaws, corporate governance, complying with employee benefits laws and regulations, and matters concerning exemptions from income tax and state property and sales tax. In his corporate practice, Brent regularly assists buyers and sellers in private corporate transactions consisting of the sale of assets, stock, or interests in limited liability companies. Brent also assists clients in the formation of corporations and limited liability companies, and the preparation of organizational and governing documents for such businesses.

In his appellate practice, Brent has written numerous briefs for cases before the Maine Supreme Court and the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and he has appeared many times before those courts. He has also drafted and argued many summary judgment and other dispositive motions in both Maine and federal courts. Representative cases in which Brent was principally responsible for briefing (and for oral argument, where indicated) include:

Sample Cases

Bragdon v. Abbott, 118 S. Ct. 2196 (1998)
Voisine v. Berube, 2011 ME 137 (oral argument)
Hearts With Haiti, Inc. v. Kendrick, 856 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2017)(oral argument)
Pastula v. Lane Construction Corp., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74199 (D. Me.)
White v. Fleet Bank of Maine, 2005 ME 72
City of Bangor v. Penobscot County, 2005 ME 35 (oral argument)
Cheung v. Wambolt, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13484 (D. Me.)
Quint v. A.E. Staley Mfg. Co., 246 F.3d 11 (1st Cir. 2001)
Beaver Plant Operations, Inc. v. Herman, 223 F.3d 25 (1st Cir. 2000) (oral argument)
Jordan v. Hawker Dayton, 62 F.3d 29 (1st Cir. 1995) (oral argument)

ERISA Cases

Quirk v. Village Car Co., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31990 (D. Me.)
Ballesteros v. Bangor Hydro-Electric Co., 497 F. Supp.2d 1 (D. Me. 2007)
Ballesteros v. Bangor Hydro-Electric Co., 463 F. Supp.2d 97 (D. Me. 2006)
Sidou v. UnumProvident Corp., 245 F. Supp.2d 207 (D. Me. 2003)
Harvey v. Machigonne Benefits Administrators, 122 F. Supp.2d 179 (D. Me. 2000)
McGlaughlin v. Reynolds, 886 F. Supp. 902 (1995)

For nearly 10 years, Brent served on the Board of Directors of the Housing Foundation, which has its principal office in Orono, Maine. The Housing Foundation owns and manages approximately 600 units of residential, affordable housing in several cities and towns, including Orono. Brent also served in the past on the Board of Assessment Appeals for the Town of Orono.

Brent was born in Denver, Colorado. He was a national merit scholarship semi-finalist and one of 40 recipients in 1977 of a prestigious, 4-year, Boettcher Scholarship. He earned a B.A. with distinction, an M.A., and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder, all in philosophy (though prior to changing his major to philosophy at the end of his sophomore year as an undergraduate, Brent ranked 3rd in his class in electrical engineering). He also lived in a milk truck for two semesters.

After earning his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1987, and prior to entering law school, Brent was an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Maine. In law school, Brent was a member of Harvard’s 1991 Ames Moot Court championship team. Before starting at Rudman Winchell, Brent worked for one year in Denver as a judicial clerk for Justice George E. Lohr of the Colorado Supreme Court where he helped draft decisions.

Brent was the number one singles tennis player on his team in high school, though he has not swung a racket now for over 25 years. His greater passion was for golf. At his best, Brent carried a 7 handicap at Penobscot Valley Country Club, in Orono, where he has been a member since 1987 (except while in Law School). Today, Brent is lucky if he breaks 90.

Until COVID, Brent worked out regularly at the New Balance Student Recreation Center on the campus of the University of Maine. He hopes that he will be able to return to that soon. Brent stretches out for almost an hour every day to avoid back and neck issues and to try to stay more flexible with age. He can’t say that it is “yoga,” but it has helped him immensely since he started having back and neck issues about ten years ago. Fortunately, those have gone away.

Brent is very happily married to Patricia Singer a/k/a Beautiful Sam—“Beautiful Sam” because they met at the Samoset Resort in Rockport in 2002, where they were also married years later. In her younger days, Beautiful Sam was an accomplished skydiver, with 100s of dives to her credit. At the time, she helped run one of the then-largest recreational skydiving schools in the world, in Elsinore, California. Brent prefers not even to zip-line.

Beautiful Sam and Brent have a cat named Roxi, a 2.6 pound Chihuahua named Squeak, and a fast and furry tailed friend named Gizmo a/k/a the Giz. Squeak has no teeth, but he has a big heart. Roxi and the Giz both have teeth

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