Since its founding in 1952, Jensen Baird has provided clients with practical solutions to complex problems. Through collaboration and communication, our attorneys build client relationships based on honest counsel and creative thinking. We have a proven track record of establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with clients, and pride ourselves on delivering prompt legal services in a cost-effective manner. With a broad range of specialties and legal expertise, we strive to address the entire range of our clients’ problems, while also providing expert guidance to help our clients avoid future issues.
Our goal has never been to be the largest firm in Maine, but rather to be the most respected for our ability to advise clients. As a mid-size firm, our team of dedicated attorneys is small enough for a close, in-depth client relationship, but large enough to succeed against the larger, sometimes faceless, firms. Consistently recognized by clients and peers in numerous rankings and periodicals, such as Best Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, and New England Super Lawyers, our attorneys work together, sharing expertise and resources to serve the needs of our clients. Jensen Baird specializes in Business Services, Estate Planning, Government Services, Litigation, and Real Estate, where our approach has earned us a reputation of respect–a reputation that is rooted in our 60 year history as a premier Maine law firm.
Over 60 Years of Legal Excellence
The story of Jensen Baird begins when Kenneth Baird and Saul Sheriff formed the partnership of Sheriff & Baird in 1952. When Mr. Sheriff died suddenly of a heart attack in 1960, a new partnership was forged with Raymond Jensen, a Bowdoin College and Harvard Law School graduate. On January 1, 1961, it became official when Baird and Jensen joined with Robert Donovan and Merton Henry, both Sheriff & Baird associates, to form the new firm of Jensen & Baird.
In 1971, Jensen & Baird merged with Chapman, Chapman & Gardner, a partnership of Clark Chapman, Sr., and his son-in-law, M. Donald Gardner, a Colby College and Boston University Law graduate. Following Mr. Chapman’s untimely death and Mr. Donovan’s appointment to the Maine District Court Judge in 1978, the firm became known as Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry. Merton Henry, a Bowdoin College and George Washington University Law School graduate, served as its managing partner for many years.
In 2021, the firm transitioned its name back to Jensen Baird. Drawing on the traditions of its founding members, Jensen Baird maintains a commitment to legal excellence and civic responsibility in the state of Maine.