Peter J. Rubin

Peter J. Rubin, a renown Maine attorney and proud father, died peacefully at on Friday. He was 70.

A Maine native, Peter was born on April 10, 1945 and grew up in Bath, the son of Harold and Dorothy Rubin. After attending Hebron Academy, he went on to study at Duke University and graduated in 1967. Choosing to follow his parents into the law, Peter graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1970. While there, he was elected to the Harvard Law Review.

Peter is survived by his loving wife of 45 years, Donna Petlock Rubin of Scarborough; his daughter Kara Anne Rubin and her husband Michael Zigman of New York City; his son Joel Alan Rubin and his wife Tara Peris of Los Angeles; his four grandchildren, Rose and Eli Zigman and Kiran and Maya Rubin; and his sister, Adelle Rubin of Philadelphia.

After graduating from Harvard, Peter served as a clerk for the Honorable Edward T. Gignoux, U.S. District Court in Maine. He went on to join the Portland law firm, Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson in 1971. Peter would spend his entire law career with the firm, rising to become its president and the senior member of its litigation group.

In 1975, just four years in as an attorney, Peter argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning a unanimous decision in the case of Mullaney v. Wilbur, which addressed questions surrounding how defendants in Maine were prosecuted for manslaughter and murder.

Peter was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and the Maine Bar Foundation. He was an Advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a member of the Maine State and Cumberland County Bar Associations. He was routinely selected by legal publications as one of the top attorneys in the region and country and was published in the Harvard University and Maine Law Reviews.

While the law was of great importance to him, Peter prized his family above all else. He cherished his children and was immensely proud of them. While the demands of his profession were time consuming, he was there to be a Little League coach, a strong booster on the bleachers at years of swim meets, and he never missed one of Donna's piano recitals. He loved the countless rounds of golf played and the several trips to Europe and elsewhere he took with Donna. He cherished family vacations.

Joel and Kara gave Peter a new understanding of happiness and contentment when they brought Tara and Michael into his family. Rosie, Eli, Kiran and Maya were the sunshine of his recent years.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Harold J. and Peter J. Rubin Scholarship, a scholarship fund at the University of Maine School of Law that originally was named in honor of Peter's father. The funds are awarded to students who demonstrate the values of integrity, respect for the individual, and scholarship. Donations can be sent to the attention of Daniel J. Mitchell, Bernstein Shur, 100 Middle Street, Portland, Maine 04101.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, April 19, 2015, at Temple Beth El, 400 Deering Avenue, Portland, at 1:00 p.m. Shiva will be at home on Monday and Tuesday between 5 and 7 p.m.
Care for Peter and his family has been entrusted to the Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home of Portland.