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Your Scarborough Personal Injury Attorney
In Scarborough, Maine, the legal process after an injury caused by someone else’s negligence is shaped by rules specific to this state: a comparative-fault standard, a filing deadline that differs sharply depending on who’s being sued, and a damages framework with its own limits. How Maine actually divides fault, what deadline applies to a specific claim, and what can be recovered are all covered further down this page. None of these rules are unique to Scarborough; the same statutes apply across Maine, though which court hears a specific claim still depends on the county.
Shared Fault and What It Means for a Scarborough Claim
Whether a claimant was partly responsible for how an injury happened is a real factor in Maine, but not necessarily a fatal one: 14 M.R.S. §156 still allows recovery, reduced by the claimant’s own fault share, as long as that share stays under 50%. The insurance company on the other side often raises comparative fault specifically to try to push a claimant’s share toward or past that line.
The Clock on a Scarborough Personal Injury Claim
Maine gives an injured person an unusually long window to file a personal injury lawsuit: 6 years from when the claim accrues, under 14 M.R.S. §752, one of the longest general civil statutes of limitations in the country. That length is easy to misjudge, though, since it doesn’t apply the same way to every defendant. It’s a real trap for anyone assuming Maine’s long 6-year SOL applies across the board: a claim against a town, county, school department, or state agency instead falls under the Maine Tort Claims Act’s 365-day written notice requirement (14 M.R.S. §8107), a deadline that can pass while the general SOL still has years left on it. Maine’s tolling statute (14 M.R.S. §853) pauses the filing clock entirely for someone under a legal disability when the injury occurred, including a minor, whose 6-year window doesn’t begin until they reach 18, someone mentally ill, someone imprisoned, or someone outside the United States at the time.
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Economic, Non-Economic, and Punitive Damages in Maine
How much a personal injury claim in Maine can recover depends partly on who’s being sued: no statutory ceiling applies to a claim against a private defendant, but 14 M.R.S. §8105 caps a claim against a governmental entity at $400,000 per occurrence, inclusive of costs and prejudgment interest. Meeting Maine’s punitive damages bar takes more than showing the defendant was careless: Tuttle v. Raymond requires clear and convincing evidence of actual malice, express or implied. A wrongful death claim adds its own separate caps under 18-C M.R.S. §2-807: punitive damages there are capped at $500,000, and loss-of-consortium damages at $1,000,000, adjusted annually for inflation from a 2023 baseline. Future medical care, not just past bills already incurred, is a recoverable economic damages category in Maine when the injury’s long-term effects can be established, typically through expert medical testimony on what ongoing treatment will actually cost.
Maine Is an At-Fault Insurance State
Where a Scarborough Personal Injury Claim Actually Gets Heard
Maine’s Superior Court is the state’s trial court of general jurisdiction and the only court where a jury trial is available; Cumberland County’s Superior Court sits in Portland. Maine’s District Court has civil jurisdiction concurrent with the Superior Court for most claims that don’t seek equitable relief, but sits without a jury, and its small claims division is capped at $10,000, well below what a serious personal injury claim is typically worth. Most Superior Court civil cases in Maine, personal injury claims included, are required by Rule 16B to attempt mediation within 120 days of the scheduling order before proceeding further, a step only a smaller claim, one seeking under $30,000, is exempt from. An appeal from a Superior Court judgment skips any intermediate appellate court entirely in Maine, since none exists here: it goes directly to the seven-justice Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, the state’s court of final appeal. A civil case removed from District Court to Superior Court for a jury trial, something either party can request under Maine’s rules, starts the case over in Superior Court rather than simply transferring the existing District Court record.
Scarborough's Nearest Full Hospital
Scarborough has no inpatient hospital of its own; MaineHealth operates an ambulatory-surgery campus in town, but a serious injury still requires transport to a full emergency department, most likely Maine Medical Center in Portland, roughly 10 miles away.
Cumberland County’s Superior Court, on Newbury Street in Portland, is where a Scarborough personal injury claim large enough for a jury trial would actually be heard, not in Scarborough itself.
Nearby coverage: the Saco personal injury resource, personal injury representation from Biddeford, personal injury attorneys serving Old Orchard Beach, personal injury attorneys serving South Portland.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I was partly at fault for my own injury in Maine?
You can still recover damages under Maine’s comparative negligence rule (14 M.R.S. §156), reduced by your own share of the fault, as long as your fault isn’t equal to or greater than the combined fault of everyone else involved.
What happens if I miss Maine’s personal injury filing deadline?
With rare exceptions, missing the deadline under 14 M.R.S. §752 (or the 365-day notice window for a government claim) bars the claim entirely, regardless of how strong the underlying case might otherwise be.
Can I recover punitive damages in Maine?
Only on clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with malice, a demanding standard from Tuttle v. Raymond that ordinary negligence doesn’t satisfy; a wrongful death claim carries its own separate punitive cap of $500,000 under 18-C M.R.S. §2-807.
Does Maine require any other mandatory coverage beyond liability and UM/UIM?
Yes, at least $2,000 in medical payments coverage is also mandatory under 24-A M.R.S. §2159, on top of the 50/100/25 liability limits and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.
Can a personal injury case get a jury trial in Maine?
Only in Superior Court. Maine’s District Court has civil jurisdiction over many of the same types of claims but always sits without a jury, and its small claims track is capped at $10,000.
Does talking to an attorney before settling with an insurance company actually make a difference?
Often yes, since an insurer’s early settlement offer is negotiated using the same comparative-negligence and damages-cap rules an attorney would apply, and a quick offer is frequently lower than what the claim may actually be worth once fully evaluated.
Evidence Doesn't Wait for a Deadline
The insurance company on the other side typically starts building its own position early, while evidence is still fresh and witnesses still remember details clearly, the same window a claim benefits from moving on too. Reaching out now doesn’t obligate you to anything. A real attorney will hear out your situation and help you see what options are actually available, often the simplest way to keep from losing one you didn’t know was already narrowing.
Looking beyond Scarborough? Our statewide Maine personal injury page lists every city we cover.
