Vincent L. McKusick
Vincent Lee McKusick (October 21, 1921 – December 3, 2014) was an American lawyer who served as Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from 1977 to 1992. He was appointed by Governor James B. Longley and was the first Maine chief justice chosen from the practicing bar since 1820. He was born in Parkman, Maine, and died in Falmouth, Maine.
He studied at Bates College, MIT, and Harvard Law School, where he was president of the Harvard Law Review. He clerked for Chief Judge Learned Hand and for Justice Felix Frankfurter. He served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946, including time at Los Alamos on the Manhattan Project. He joined the Portland law firm Pierce Atwood in 1952 and worked there for 25 years before becoming chief justice. He married Nancy Elizabeth Green in 1951 and they had four children. His twin brother was Victor A. McKusick, a noted medical geneticist.
As chief justice, McKusick helped modernize Maine’s court rules and co-authored editions of Maine Civil Practice. Notable rulings from his time include Connecticut v. New Hampshire, Kansas v. Nebraska and Colorado, and Louisiana v. Mississippi. He also served in national judicial leadership roles and received several honors, including the Herbert Harley Award (1982) and the Neal W. Allen Award (1988). He retired in 1992 and stayed with Pierce Atwood as counsel, later working as a mediator and arbitrator on many cases. He helped with court reform work in Georgia and served on the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise committee. In 1993 Maine and his twin Victor received the state's Maine Prize for contributions to quality of life. He died at age 93 in 2014.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:15 (CET).