My Legal Practice
Welcome to my website.
My name is John Geary. I was first admitted to the Maine Bar in April, 1984, and have been practicing for more than 30 years as a sole practitioner.
In addition to being licensed to practice before all courts in the State of Maine, I have also been admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maine, and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Although I have a general practice, I limit my practice to a few specific practice areas. Click on the ‘My Legal Services’ tab above to see a list of the specific legal service I offer.
My Legal Services
I maintain a general practice but I do concentrate my legal practice to the specific practice areas listed on the ‘tabs’ below.
A description of my ‘General Business’ practice area is displayed by default.
For more description about any other specific practice area, please click on its tab.
My General Business Practice Area includes the following:
Providing general business planning services as well as proactive or reactive services. Sometimes, but not always, pro-active or reactive services overlap with my Civil Litigation practice area.
Non-exhaustive examples of planning services include the following:
- Consulting about and providing services related to business entity formation:
- corporations,
- general partnerships,
- limited partnerships, and
- limited liability companies.
- Acting as Clerk for corporate clients and as Registered Agent for other entity forms.
- Consulting and advising sole proprietors.
- Drafting or reviewing various types of contracts, including leases.
- Preparing and filing Trademark or Service Mark applications, both state and federal.
- Assisting with disputes between or among shareholders or partners.
Non-exhaustive examples of pre-litigation, pro-active or reactive services include:
- Drafting demand letters of various types, including demands for payments on outstanding balances; demands for payment of rent arrearages; notices to quit; notices to cure; notices to cease and desist; notices to cease trespass.
- Negotiating for payment of accounts receivable or accounts payable.
- Drafting Bills of Sale; promissory notes; financing statements.
- Filing UCC instruments.
- Preparing applications before municipal boards.
- Representing clients for zoning changes, subdivision approval or the like.
My General Business Practice area also involves prosecuting or defending, as the case may be, civil litigation, many examples of which are describe at my Civil Litigation Practice Area page.
My General Civil Litigation Practice Area Involves:
Prosecuting or defending civil lawsuits in Maine courts, both state and federal. Examples include:
- Contract disputes;
- Trespass actions;
- Alleged Improvident Transfers of Real Property;
- Alleged Fraudulent Transfer;
- Real estate boundary or title disputes;
- Personal injuries (e.g. automobile accidents);
- General tort claims (e.g. negligence or fraud claims); and,
- Disputes between or among shareholders or partners.
Other of my practice areas also include litigation:
- See my Probate practice area;
- See my Landlord-Tenant practice are.
My Probate Practice Area Involves:
Assisting clients with both planning and practical applications relating to Probate law.
Planning strategies generally involve both advising about and drafting of the following instruments:
- Last Wills,
- Living Wills,
- Durable Medical Powers of Attorney,
- Advance Directives (Living Wills and Durable Medical Powers of Attorney), and,
- Durable Financial Powers of Attorney.
Practical applications generally involve advising about and representing clients in Probate Court for any of the following reasons (which are offered as examples):
- Petitioning for a name change;
- Petitioning for approval to adopt a child;
- Petitioning for probate of a will and for appointment of a personal representative of the decedent’s estate;
- Petitioning for administration of a decedent’s estate when there is no will and for appointment of a personal representative;
- Filing Notices of Claims against a decedent’s estate on behalf of a creditor;
- Prosecuting a claim against a decedent’s estate that has been disallowed by the Personal Representative;
- Petitioning for appointment as guardian and/or conservator of a minor or of an incapacitated adult;
- Challenging in any of the above situations the petition of a third party;
- Defending on behalf of the alleged incapacitated person a petition for guardianship and/or conservatorship;
- Questioning the administration of a trust by a beneficiary;
- Petition on behalf of a beneficiary for the removal of a trustee.
My Real Estate practice area includes
Offering prompt, professional legal services to both buyers and sellers (but not in the same transaction). If you are buying or selling real estate in Maine, I want your business and price my services accordingly.
The services I offer to buyers are described below. Click on the ‘Seller Services’ tab below for a description of those services.
I provide the standard array of legal services for buyers: e.g., contract review and title examination.
But I have also been successfully supporting a ‘niche’ loosely described as the ‘cash closing’. In it’s purest form a cash closing is one in which the buyer has sufficient funds on hand to complete the purchase. But the term is really more expansive. It includes any contract for the sale of real property when the buyer does not need to secure financing from an institutional lender or through a mortgage broker. Examples include direct owner financing, private financing (family assisted purchases) and land installment contracts.
In most such cases the parties want to close on the sale much sooner than the time it takes to close on conventional financing. I am able to close on a sale in days. That includes certifying title to the property, drafting all necessary documents and preparing for and conducting the closing. The only limiting factors are potential title issues, funds availability and the parties’ schedules.
And my services are affordable. I do not charge a premium to get things done when you need them done. If you need a cash closing and you are in a hurry, call me.
Planning to sell real estate you own in Maine?
Since most buyers obtain a mortgage, the buyer’s lender determines who the closing agent will be and when the closing will occur.
You will need to have a deed prepared.
At the closing you will need to provide (i) the deed that will be used to convey title to the property and (ii) the Maine Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration. And since most sellers do not have an established relationship with an attorney, instead of taking the time to hire an attorney to prepare the deed, sellers often agree to have the closing agent prepare the deed for them. That often means sellers over-pay because most charge $150 or more to prepare deeds for sellers.
I will do it for less and save you money.
I charge only $90.00 to prepare your deed and the required Maine Transfer Tax Declaration. And I make sure that it is delivered to and pre-approved by the closing agent before your closing occurs. All you need do is attend the closing. My fee will be included on the closing statement and, after the closing, the closing agent will mail me a check. It’s that simple.
Some sellers worry and want peace of mind.
For $300.00, in addition to preparing your deed and Maine Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration, I will provide any of the following services you may need:
- Review your Purchase and Sale Agreement before you sign it and explain provisions that you may not understand;
- Provide you with necessary disclosure forms if you are not using a real estate agent;
- Explain the tax consequences of the sale of your primary residence;
- Help you apply for withholding tax waiver or partial exemption if you will not qualify as a Maine resident at the time of your sale;
- Draft an escrow agreement if after Buyers’ inspections you agree to have repairs made from closing proceeds;
- Review the closing statement (HUD-1) before your closing and answer any questions you have;
- Provide you with a Limited Power of Attorney if you or a joint owner becomes unavailable to attend the closing;
- Advise you what documents you may be asked to sign at closing;
- Be available to consult by phone during your closing in case something unexpected occurs.
My Landlord-Tenant Practice Area Involves:
Consultation and representation of Landlords in all aspects of Landlord-Tenant law in Maine, including, but not limited to:
- drafting and/or reviewing leases;
- advising rights and obligations under Maine statutes;
- consulting about and prosecuting evictions, including:
- drafting and serving required notices;
- drafting and serving summonses and complaint
I can provide any type of legal document you may need at an affordable price.
Examples include:
- Last Will and Testament;
- Durable (Financial) Power of Attorney;
- Durable (Medical) Power of Attorney;
- Advance Directives (Living Will + Durable Medical Power of Attorney);
- General Contracts;
- Purchase and Sale Agreements;
- Deeds of Transfer;
- Mortgages;
- Promissory Notes;
- Land Installment Contracts;
- Corporate or Association By-Laws;
- LLC Operating Agreements
Need a legal document in a hurry and at a reasonable fee? Call me! (207) 782-4433.
My name is John Geary. I have been practicing law in Maine for over 30 years. I am a sole-practitioner and have always conducted my law practice without support staff. What this means to my clients is that I am accessible. When my phone rings, if I am available, I answer it. No one screens my calls or makes excuses for me. It also means I am affordable.
My existing clients take it for granted. Yet it often surprises my newer clients. I cannot remember how often newer clients have told me that their “former” attorney often took days or longer to respond to phone messages or emails. They are surprised and delighted that I return phone calls promptly and respond to email messages as soon as I read them.
Why? It’s simple, really. I respect and value my clients. They’ve honored me with their trust. I take that seriously. And, it simply makes good business sense. My law practice is my business. The income it produces is my livelihood. So I want my clients to be pleased with me and the services I provide them. I want them to use me again if the need arises. And I want them to refer others to me.
My clients often also tell me that I can explain complicated matters in ways that people untrained in legal issues can understand. That’s important to me because I see my primary role as adviser, not decision maker. Almost anyone can make the decision that is in his or her best interests when armed with sufficient information.
How can I help you?
If you wish to contact me, you have several options:
- You may contact me by ‘snail’ mail at 45 Ash Street, #7241, Lewiston, ME 04243.
- You may contact me by phone at (207) 782-4433.
- You my email me at johngeary @ johngearylaw.com (no spaces).
- If you are viewing this page on a cell phone, you may:
- Tap This Link to call me on my cell phone; or,
- Tap Here to send me a text message.
- Finally, you may contact me via the contact form below:
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