Bernstein Shur Welcomes Six New Attorneys

Firm Continues to Grow in ME and New Hampshire

September 15, 2021 – Bernstein Shur is pleased to welcome Elliot Brake, Matt Miller, Jessica O’Rourke-Suchoff, Carolyn Bird, Jana Caty, and Samuel Ascanio to the firm’s offices in Portland and Manchester.

Elliot Brake joins Bernstein Shur as an associate attorney in the firm’s Portland office, working with the firm’s Business Law Practice Group. Prior to joining Bernstein Shur, Brake worked as a Judicial Law Clerk to Justice Thomas E. Humphrey at the ME Supreme Judicial Court and as a Judicial Extern with the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Brake previously worked at Bernstein Shur as a Summer Associate, providing pro bono legal services for the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project.

Brake earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Maine School of Law, and his B.A. from the University of Vermont. Brake was the Executive Editor of the ME Law Review. He is licensed to practice in the state of ME and resides in Portland, ME.

Matt Miller joins Bernstein Shur as an associate attorney in the firm’s Manchester office, working with the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Prior to joining Bernstein Shur, Miller worked as a Law Clerk to Magistrate Judge Andrea Johnstone at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. During law school, he served as a Legal Resident in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and in the Environmental Protection Bureau of the N.H. Attorney General’s Office. Before law school, Miller worked in public relations for Vermont’s community college system and in the New Hampshire and Washington offices of U.S. Congresswoman Annie Kuster.

Miller earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of New Hampshire School of Law (UNH), his M.A. in English from the University of Vermont, and his B.A. from Providence College. At UNH Law, he served as a Senior Editor of the Law Review and graduated from the prestigious Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program. Miller was admitted to practice in the state of New Hampshire upon graduation. Miller resides in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Jessica O’Rourke-Suchoff has joined Bernstein Shur as an associate attorney in the firm’s Portland office. O’Rourke-Suchoff will work with the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Prior to joining Bernstein Shur, O’Rourke-Suchoff interned with The Jackson Laboratory legal team where she developed disclosure compliance trainings for researchers receiving federal grants. O’Rourke-Suchoff also worked as a Research Assistant and an Assistant Instructor at Princeton University. O’Rourke-Suchoff was a member of Bernstein Shur’s 2020 Summer Associate Program.

O’Rourke-Suchoff earned her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law, her Ph.D. and M.A. in Comparative Literature from Princeton University, and her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. She resides in Alna, ME.

Carolyn Bird has joined Bernstein Shur as an attorney and Vice President of the firm’s subsidiary, Monument Title Company, operating out of the Portland office. Prior to joining Bernstein Shur, Bird served as the Register of Probate in Sagadahoc County in Bath, ME. She also worked as Title Counsel with Merrymeeting Midcoast Title LLC in Brunswick, ME, owned and operated a solo law practice in Wilton, Connecticut, and worked as a litigator in Chicago.

Bird earned her J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law, and her B.A. from the University of Chicago. She is currently licensed to practice in the state of ME and resides in Bath, ME.

Jana Caty has joined Bernstein Shur as an associate attorney to the firm’s Portland office. Caty is working with the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Prior to joining Bernstein Shur, Caty worked as a litigation attorney at a Portland-based firm handling a wide variety of civil matters throughout the state of ME. Caty also worked as a Law Clerk for the ME Superior Court in Bangor, ME.

Caty earned her J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law, and her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of ME, Orono. She is licensed to practice in the state of ME and resides in Westbrook, ME.

Samuel Ascanio has joined Bernstein Shur as an associate attorney in the firm’s Portland office, working with the firm’s Business Law Practice Group. Prior to joining Bernstein Shur, Ascanio worked as a Corporate Associate at Cooley LLP in Boston, Massachusetts, where he represented global venture capital funds, drafted, and negotiated financing documents, advised public and private companies with corporate governance matters, and represented companies in capital markets transactions.

Ascanio earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School, and his B.A. from the University of ME, Orono. He was an Articles Editor of the Boston College Law Review. He is currently licensed to practice in the commonwealth of Massachusetts and resides in Portland, ME.

About Bernstein Shur

Founded in 1915, Bernstein Shur is a New England-based law firm advising clients across the U.S. and around the world.  The firm’s 125+ award-winning attorneys and professionals provide practical and innovative counsel, and practice in more than 30 key areas across a variety of industries.

Bernstein Shur is known for simplifying complex issues and winning through steadfast persistence.  The firm is ME’s exclusive member of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading network of independent law firms.  Find out more at  www.bernsteinshur.com.