F. Bruce Sleeper

Clients who need help in the areas of bankruptcy law, creditors’ rights, commercial and consumer law, landlord-tenant law, and banking law know that they will receive exceptional representation when they partner with Bruce. A member of the firm’s Business Services and Litigation Practice Groups, he contributes a highly specialized area of expertise and a depth of knowledge drawn from the indelible contributions he has made to commercial and consumer law in Maine over the course of his career.  He regularly represents clients in both state and federal courts in Maine, as well as the Bankruptcy Court in New Hampshire, and has also made cameo appearances in Bankruptcy Courts in Delaware, Rhode Island and Texas.

“Most of the clients I deal with are national in scope and institutional in nature.  My work for them is in specialized areas of legal expertise, not practiced by most attorneys in Maine.  Typically, I’m able to collaborate with other attorneys in the firm and try to emphasize the length and breadth of the experience we provide to clients.” 

Bruce has been a speaker and panelist in numerous programs presented by the Maine State Bar Association and others.  He served as a chair of the former Commercial and Consumer Law Section of the Maine State Bar Association.  He has been a member of the Council of Advisors on Consumer Credit for the Maine Office of Consumer Credit Regulation, and was on a panel which rewrote Maine’s collection laws in 1987.  He served on two task forces that, in 1999, reviewed and revised Maine’s newest version of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and also was involved in the adoption of Article 2A of that Code in Maine.  In 2009, he co-wrote legislation which updated Maine’s statutes dealing with court actions for repossession of collateral. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Local Rules Committee for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maine.

Bruce served as a member of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority from 1995 until 2000, having been appointed to that position by Maine’s Governor (now U.S. Senator) King, and having previously helped to prepare the legislation which created the Authority.  Bruce is a Portland-area native, attended Cape Elizabeth schools, has three grown children, and now lives with his wife in Portland.