Walt McKee Judges Harvard Law School Trial Competition
Walt McKee recently served as a judge at Harvard Law School’s trial competition. The competition saw law schools from across the United States competing for the “Crimson Cup,” awarded to the top trial advocacy team.
The competition involved four rounds over three days, with each team presenting prosecution and defense cases twice. The top two teams faced off in a final round on Sunday afternoon.
Walt’s work as a judge follows his time serving on the teaching faculty of the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Program. The Program brings together the nation’s top trial lawyers, who are invited each year to instruct at the highly intensive program.
Walt McKee Teaching at 2023 Harvard Law School Trial Program
McKee Law is pleased to announce that attorney Walt McKee has been invited again this year to serve on the teaching faculty of the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Program. McKee taught at the same program at Harvard Law School in 2022.
The Harvard program is held each January and provides trial advocacy instruction to Harvard Law School students. McKee joins a teaching faculty of the nation’s top trial lawyers, who are invited each year from around the country to instruct at the highly intensive program.
“It is a great honor and privilege to be able to teach the next generation the skill and art of trial advocacy. I am impressed with Harvard’s program and its students, who are top notch.”
McKee has tried over 200 criminal and civil jury trials, and over the past nearly 30 years has been a frequent instructor at legal education programs throughout Maine. He has for the past decade been listed in Best Lawyers in America and is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. McKee serves on the Boards of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association and the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and is a past Chair of the Maine Ethics Commission.
Great News!
Walt McKee has been appointed to the Criminal Law Advisory Commission. The Commission is composed of attorneys and Judges with Broad expeirence with the criminal justice system, as well as the chairs of the Legislature's Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety. The Commission is tasked by statute to conduct a "continuing study of the criminal law of Maine," and provides sought after advice and counsel to the Legislature in all matters related to criminal justice. Walt was appointed to the Commission by Attorney General Aaron Frey. McKee will serve a two year term and will be eligible for reappointment thereafter.
McKee’s experience in criminal law is extensive, having represented thousands of defendants over the past 28 years in state and federal court. He serves as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure as well as the Governor’s Judicial Nomination Advisory Committee. He is a past president of the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is the long time Chair of its Legislative Committee. He is the past Chair of the Maine Ethics Commission.
Congratulations Walt!
Ten Years in a Row
Walt McKee has for the 10th year in a row received the prestigious AV Rating from Martindale Hubbell for 2021, has been selected for 2021 for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America®, and has been named as a 2018 New England “SuperLawyer.”
Walt’s AV-Preeminent rating from Martindale Hubbell is considered to be the height of professional excellence and is earned through a strenuous peer review process. Attorneys receive the AV-Preeminent rating only when they have demonstrated the highest level of professional excellence for legal knowledge, communication skills, and ethical standards. The Best Lawyers in America designation is based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Best Lawyers is widely considered to be the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice in the United States.
Walt has also been named a New England SuperLawyer for 2021. SuperLawyers is a national lawyer rating service that rates the country’s top lawyers for their degree of peer review recognition and professional achievement based on independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Walt is also Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the premier organization of select trial lawyers in the United States.
Walter McKee Appointed to Advisory Committee on Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure
By order of the Supreme Judicial Court, Walt McKee was appointed in May 2021 to the Advisory Committee on Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure. The Committee is charged with reviewing and changing the Rules that affect every single criminal case in Maine and recommending changes. His appointment recognizes his vast experience with the Rules over the past 28 years of handling thousands of criminal cases in every county in Maine, as well as his extensive jury trial experience, having tried more than 200 jury trials in his career to date.
Matt Morgan appointed Commissioner on Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services
Congratulations to Matt Morgan! This past week Matt was confirmed by the Maine Senate following his appointment by Governor Mills to serve as a Commissioner on the Maine Commission on Indegent Legal Services (MCILS).
MCILS was established by the Legislature in 2009 to provide high quality representation to Maine citizens who are entitled to counsel at state expense under the United States Constitution or under the Constitution or statutes of Maine. The Commission's mission is to protect the rights of Maine's indigent citizens in courts throughout the State by providing oversight, support, and training to assigned private counsel and to contract counsel.
Matt's appointment was in recognition of his tireless efforts to promote excellence in the representation of Maine's poor, work where Matt "walks the walk" by representing indigent defendants every day in Maine's state and federal courts. Hat's off to Matt with this impressive appointment!