PORTLAND, Maine – The University of Maine School of Law recently announced that David Kallin is the 2008 recipient of the Shur-Frinsko Award for Municipal Law and Local Governance. The award is named after two prominent Maine lawyers, Barnett I. Shur and F. Paul Frinsko, in recognition of their achievement in the practice of law and their leadership in municipal law.
The Shur-Frinsko Award is given annually to a student at the law school who has demonstrated academic excellence and accomplishment in the area of municipal law, land use, and local governance, with commitment to and capacity for further contribution to the field.
Kallin is finishing his second year at the University of Maine School of Law. He graduated Cum Laude from Harvard University in 2002 with a B.A. in Biological Anthropology. "My interest in land conservation, and how that plays out on a local and municipal level, is part of what drew me to law school," states Kallin. "Maine Law has allowed me to follow that interest with courses in property, property theory, and land use law, and will be offering a course in the fall on state and local governance."
Kallin is co-chair of the Environmental Law Society and worked last summer for Maine Sea Grant and the State Planning Office on issues related to providing and increasing coastal access in Maine for all user groups. He wrote his Law Review comment on the use of conservation easements, including how they interact with local land use planning, and recently attended a conference at Colby College on preserving landscapes and livelihoods in northern Maine.
The Shur-Frinsko Award is made possible by the law firm of Bernstein Shur, the family of the late Barnett I. Shur, the Nelson & Small corporate family, the Walter Corey family, and a number of individual donors. Funds for this award are held by the University of Maine School of Law Foundation. Over the last 40 years, the University of Maine School of Law has developed a reputation for graduating leaders in law, business, and public service in Maine and throughout the nation. For more information, visit mainelaw.maine.edu.
Bernstein Shur is one of northern New England’s largest multi-service law firms, with more than 90 attorneys in offices in Maine and New Hampshire. Founded in 1915, the firm provides practical and innovative counsel in the areas of business law, litigation, and municipal law to clients throughout the region and around the world. Bernstein Shur is Maine's exclusive member of Lex Mundi, the world's leading association of independent law firms.