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2023 Suffolk Univ. L. Rev. Online Ed. 1 (2023)

handle is hein.journals/sfkunvlwrv2023 and id is 1 raw text is: 8 SUFFOLK U. L. REV. ONLINE Book Review - Richard J. Maiman, A Man for All Branches: Judge Frank M. Coffin of Maine (Tower Publ'g ed. 2022). Reviewed by: Tim Fadgen' Former First Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge and Maine native Frank M. Coffin defined judges as lawyers who were once advocates, whose job now is to decide among advocates, and who, in the process of deciding, will advocate their position to their colleagues.2 Judge Coffin was far more than once an advocate also a Member of Congress, Maine Gubernatorial candidate, and executive branch official, not to mention dedicated journal keeper, writer, sculptor, and painter. These and other aspects of Coffin's remarkable life are the subject of Richard Maiman's recent book, A Man for All Branches: Judge Frank M. Coffin of Maine. The author is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Southern Maine with a deep interest in the work of judges and lawyers. His previous book, Divorce Lawyers at Work,3 written with Lynn Mather and Craig McEwen, identified themes of collegiality and community as important elements of New England family lawyers' daily work. These themes are the heart of A Man for All Branches, which explores the attributes that made Judge Coffin a model, not just for the practice of law or judging, but for living what he referred to as a balanced life.4 Achieving such balance is a challenge not only in life, but also for the author, given Coffin's life spanned the major social and cultural milestones of the twentieth century, and this proved to be a test Maiman has more than met. The book is roughly divided into three parts. The first presents Coffin's birth and early life in Maine, his academic success, first at Bates College and later at Harvard Law School. After a brief but auspicious stint as a Maine lawyer, Coffin entered politics, helping to revive the Maine Democratic party. He was elected a Democratic member of Congress for Maine's Second District and then ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1960. The second part of the book begins with Coffin's move to the executive branch. President Kennedy appointed him to the Development Loan Fund, then part of the United States foreign aid apparatus, which later merged into what would become today's United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This experience opened his eyes to the many turf wars often embedded within the machinery of government. Actors charged with implementing policy became bogged down in protecting their respective portfolios. These, along with his later role as the United States Permanent Representative to the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD in Paris, taught Coffin the importance of pragmatism and collegiality in resolving disputes. He continued in this capacity until a First Circuit Court of Appeals vacancy opened in 1964, and Senator Edmund Muskie was determined that it be filled by a Mainer. 1 Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of Auckland; Member of the Maine Bar. 2 FRANK M. COFFIN, A LEXICON OF ORAL ADVOCACY 4 (Nat'l Inst. for Trial Advoc. ed. 1984). 3 LYNN MATHER ET AL., DIVORCE LAWYERS AT WORK: VARIETIES OF PROFESSIONALISM IN PRACTICE (Oxford Univ. Press ed. 2001). 4 RICHARD J. MAIMAN, A MAN FOR ALL BRANCHES: JUDGE FRANK M. COFFIN OF MAINE 461 (Tower Publ'g ed. 2022). 1

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