Former assistant Maine AG and Verrill attorney Roger Putnam dies at 96

Courtesy / Verrill Roger Putnam, a longtime Verrill attorney and World War II veteran has died. He was 96.

Write a Comment

By Jessica Hall

Longtime Verrill attorney and former Maine assistant attorney general Roger Putnam has died at age 96.

Putnam died Feb. 19 at the Maine Veterans' Home in Scarborough, with his family surrounding him.

In 1958, Putnam joined the Portland law firm that today is known as Verrill.

"Roger was a dedicated, capable and accomplished attorney, loved and respected by clients and colleagues, and had a prodigious work ethic," said K.C. Jones, Verrill managing partner, in a written tribute.

"Roger was the last of a generation of Portland lawyers who had a significant role in building their firms and shaping the legal landscape in the state. He was truly a giant in the bar and in the history of the firm.”

Putnam was born Oct. 20, 1925, in York. He received his education in the public schools of York and in Portsmouth, N.H., and attended the University of New Hampshire. During World War II. Putnam served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in France, Germany and the Philippine Islands.

After the completion of his military service and his return to UNH, he attended Boston University Law School. He went on to serve as assistant attorney general of Maine until 1958, when he became a partner at the firm of Verrill Dana Walker Philbrick & Whitehouse in Portland.

His long service to the firm placed him second in the firm's attorney longevity, behind only Harry Verrill, whose service extended for 73 years, the firm said.

Putnam’s practice concentrated in the areas of trial advocacy, administrative law, utilities, and legislative representation before the state legislature in Augusta. He also served as special ethics counsel for the firm.

He was active in Republican politics and held leadership roles in the legal community, in and out of the firm. He was a fellow of the Maine Justice Foundation, Maine State Bar Association, and American Bar Association. He served as chair of the judicial ethics committee of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and as president of the Maine Equal Justice Project.

Putnam received many honors and accolades during his career, including both the Muskie Access to Justice Award and the Howard H. Dana Jr. Award of the Maine Bar Association.

In 2012, Verrill established the Roger A. Putnam Fund at the University of Maine School of Law, which funds a paid summer internship at the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic. In 2014, Verrill created the Roger A. Putnam Community Service Award to annually recognize one person from the firm who embodies the firm's spirit of community service. Putnam was the first recipient of the annual award.

Putnam is survived by his wife, Linda, and his four children, seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and two stepdaughters. He was predeceased by his parents and by his first wife, Elizabeth, the mother of his children.