Maine procedural guides

Plain-English guides to the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, each one tied to the rules it relies on. Every rule named in a guide has its own page with the official text.

• Responding to a Maine complaint: 20 days, and no clerk's default in a debt caseMaine Rule 12(a) gives 20 days after service to answer, or 50 days if served outside the continental United States or Canada — and the clerk cannot enter default in foreclosure or consumer debt collection actions.
• Setting aside a Maine default judgment: debt collectors must show strict compliance firstMaine bars the clerk from entering default in debt buyer, credit card, student loan and foreclosure actions, and requires court review for strict compliance before judgment.
• The Maine motion to dismiss: twenty days to answer, ten after a denialMaine Rule 12(b) carries the familiar seven defenses, gives 20 days to answer, and 10 days after a motion is denied.
• Maine summary judgment: the statement of material facts decides it, and you cannot move to strikeMaine Rule 56 turns on the statement of material facts, not the brief — facts with record citations are deemed admitted unless properly controverted, the court has no duty to search the record, and motions to strike are forbidden.
• Maine execution: an appeal stays it without a bond, and a default against an absent defendant waits a yearMaine Rule 62(e) stays execution for the whole appeal with no bond required, and Rule 62(b) bars execution for one year on a default against an absent defendant with no actual notice.
• The Maine motion to compel: you do not file one — you write the clerk a letterMaine Rule 26(g) forbids filing any written discovery motion without a judge's prior approval. You confer, then send the clerk a short letter asking for a hearing, and the court resolves the dispute there.
• Maine depositions: five per party, and an objection to the camera defers the whole thingMaine Rule 30 caps each party at five depositions without a court order, lists the recording methods exhaustively, and defers any deposition where a party objects to the method three days ahead.
• Maine injunctions: one judge decides, and oral consent is what releases itMaine Rule 65 bars presenting an injunction application to a second justice once the first has acted, unless the first consents — and that consent may be oral.
• Maine subpoenas: fourteen days to the parties, and seven for them to objectMaine requires notice of a discovery subpoena to every party at least 14 days before the response date and gives the parties 7 days to object and arrange a court determination.

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