Maine litigator Joshua Dunlap has been confirmed to the U.S .Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, becoming the only active Republican-appointed judge on the Boston-based court. The Senate approved his nomination Tuesday in a 52-46 party-line vote.
Dunlap will fill the seat vacated by Judge William Kayatta Jr., a Barack Obama appointee who previously mentored Dunlap when both worked at the Maine law firm Pierce Atwood. Dunlap has spent nearly his entire career at the firm, where he co-chairs its Appellate and Amici team and focuses on commercial litigation at both the trial and appellate levels.
Opponents of his nomination focused on his advocacy in state policymaking efforts involving abortion access for minors, arguing that installing him on the bench could threaten reproductive rights. Supporters, including colleagues at the firm, described him as a calm, measured attorney with deep experience handling complex constitutional and administrative matters.
“He is very confident in his abilities but carries himself with great humility,” said Pierce Atwood managing partner Dave Barry, who called Dunlap an “outstanding” legal mind.
Dunlap’s appellate background includes work alongside special masters appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court in interstate water disputes, including cases involving the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin and water rights among Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. He also worked with nationally-recognized Maine litigator Ralph Lancaster, who was repeatedly appointed by the high court to oversee similar environmental and boundary conflicts along the East Coast.
Dunlap has played a central role in high-profile litigation tied to a multi-continent energy transmission project that has drawn legal challenges from environmental groups. He was part of the Pierce Atwood team that convinced the Maine Supreme Court to block a statewide referendum aimed at halting the project in 2021, and he later helped persuade a jury that construction could continue under a vested rights theory after a second ballot measure succeeded.
He has also represented municipalities and corporate entities in litigation before the First Circuit concerning the boundaries of the Penobscot Nation reservation. In that case, the court ruled that the tribe’s reservation did not include the Penobscot River itself but did include certain islands.
During his confirmation hearing, senators questioned Dunlap over written testimony he previously submitted to the Maine Legislature in support of requiring parental consent for minors seeking abortions, as well as his support of a bill allowing wrongful death suits for the death of an “unborn viable fetus.” Dunlap said those proposals aligned with laws in other New England states and affirmed that he would apply binding precedent if confirmed.
Born in Waterville, Maine, Dunlap attended Pensacola Christian College and later earned his law degree from the University of Notre Dame. He clerked for Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr. on the Tenth Circuit before returning to Maine. Colleagues say he spends his free time outdoors with his family.
