Peter S. Black

Pete is a partner in McCoy Leavitt Laskey’s Maine office, focusing on fire and explosion cases, as well as other litigation and claims resolution.

He joined the firm in 2023 after spending almost nine years as Vice President and General Counsel for a regional energy company headquartered in New England.  In that role, Pete was responsible for legal, risk, insurance, safety and compliance of retail, wholesale and terminal operations throughout the Company’s five state footprint.  He oversaw defense of claims involving propane incidents and managed outside counsel.  Pete also has extensive trial and litigation experience prior to going in-house.  He was an Assistant Attorney General prosecuting white collar cases across the state of Maine for five years.  Prior to that, he was a partner at a large commercial law firm in Portland specializing in commercial litigation.  Pete has first or second chaired dozens of criminal and civil jury trials in state and federal courts throughout the country.  Additionally, Pete is a Colonel in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG), serving as a part-time reservist.  He is the state of Maine’s senior military attorney.  His military experience as taken him to Montenegro, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, where he has handled legal matters involving military and international law, in addition to overseeing legal work for operations throughout the United States.  

Pete graduated from the University of Georgia school of Law, where he served on the Law Review for two years, publishing his own article and editing the articles of law professors selected for publication.  After law school, he clerked for US District Court Judge Harold L. Murphy in the Northern District of Georgia.