PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Long-time local lawyer Jeff Ashby is now running his own law practice in a renovated historic home in Presque Isle’s Gouldville neighborhood.
The Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday morning at the Ashby Law Office as Amish workers were finishing installation of new metal roofing on the 128-year-old home at the corner of Park and Dyer streets.
“If people have a legal issue that comes up, they should speak to me, and the chances are that we’ll either do it or we’ll find someone who can,” Ashby said.
“We need more attorneys here,” he added, referring to a shortage of readily available legal services in rural areas.
Lawyer Jeff Ashby inside his new law office, a renovated circa 1890 home at the corner of Dyer and Park streets in Presque Isle. (Anthony Brino)
Originally from Fort Fairfield, Ashby has been practicing law in central Aroostook County for 26 years since graduating from the University of Maine School of Law and joining the Harding Law Office in Presque Isle in 1992.
He worked there until 2002 when he took the job as Presque Isle manager for Pine Tree Legal Assistance, which provides free civil legal aid to low-income Mainers.
“We worked exclusively for low-income individuals, helping people get benefits, protection from domestic violence, housing work representing tenants.”
Ashby left Pine Tree Legal after 15 years in 2017 to work as the compliance officer for Northern Light Health A.R. Gould Hospital. This past August, he decided to follow a long-time interest of staking out with his own legal practice.
Now, Ashby said, he’ll be practicing mostly family law, as well as personal injury and criminal law. Family law involves divorces, custody, adoptions, guardianship and estates, he said.
The new business comes in tandem with a major renovation of the property that houses the law office, a formerly neglected home built in 1890.
Ashby said he and his wife Desiree live next to the law office and recently decided to purchase and rehab it.
“We thought it would be a good thing for us to own this building. We originally thought it was going to be a rental property,” Ashby said. “I started thinking about how good it would be for a private practice law firm.”
The couple put in a lot of their own work in painting and remodelling, while also working with contractors Jesse Waltman and Aaron Conroy, and the Amish metal dealer John Miller on the renovation.
“The house needed a great deal of work,” Ashby said.
