Richard Olson

Portland Maine Business Lawyer, sailor, xc and downhill skier, triathlete, crossfitter-sort of

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@unquirer I heard this directly from
a Portland council member when I complained about a mini crime wave in my corner of the old port. Drug use, vandalism. Portland’s fantasy is that they can get Cumberland county to write blank checks for the enabler/therapeutic culture.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@fem_mb Yes. The city council’s policies have been designed to make this city Brazil. It’s only fit for the rich (who usually aren’t residents) and the poor at least 2/3 are not from here.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@dieworkwear Great post. I love that you mentioned Porteous in Maine. Many memories.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@magi_jay @hughhewitt There’s a choice. Vote for David Costello

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@AlexGodofsky @asymmetricinfo Exactly.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@LawTubeSean The protests from 2020 to now show the genius of Gandhi and MLK. Trained non violent protest wins. Protest tourism for views is bad for all.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

This could be the “have you no decency” moment if our generation. I stand with Mark Kelly on this.

[Senator Mark Kelly @SenMarkKelly]

Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution – including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out. I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that.

My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head– all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder. Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.

Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.

If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.

[Senator Mark Kelly @SenMarkKelly]

Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution – including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out. I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that.

My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head– all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder. Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.

Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.

If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@hughhewitt Good post, but I think your math understates the damage from inflation which compounds like the interest on your credit cards. Annually for SS, but daily in real life.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@asymmetricinfo @PaulMSherman This is a good discussion, but it highlights how varied the practice of law is. At the higher levels of practice and compensation someone who is materially slower is going to get ground down or left behind. In some settings slower doesn’t matter and can be a virtue.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@grahamformaine Not my candidate, not my faves, but glad to see books with ideas and sad to see the hateful comments.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@Atul_Gawande @TATIANASCH41881 Lots of talk about how the political shot was cheap or inappropriate, but we’ve never had such a war on research and for those of us with cancer, where hope matters, the war is personal.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@jadler1969 @asymmetricinfo Success in law means different things, but there are no time accommodations in practice. “Slower” people can make up for slowness with other strategies. They can be adequate practitioners, but they will have trouble getting top tier comp. The competition gets too tough.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@mkhammer @hughhewitt Perfectly said.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@grahamformaine @aobrien2010 This is a disappointing oversimplification.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

Thanks for posting. My firm, my colleagues and I were proud to be part of that group.

[Dylan Tusinski @dylantusinski]

Nearly 650 Maine lawyers and 100 law firms took out a full page ad in the @PressHerald today decrying the intimidation of lawyers & clients "whose interests do not align with those of the government."

[Dylan Tusinski @dylantusinski]

Nearly 650 Maine lawyers and 100 law firms took out a full page ad in the @PressHerald today decrying the intimidation of lawyers & clients "whose interests do not align with those of the government."

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@dr_coops Thank you so much for these posts.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

Well said.

[Jonathan Haidt @JonHaidt]

I have been critical of elite universities for their lack of viewpoint diversity and have been working to improve them since 2014, out of love for the academy. Universities have largely failed to reform on their own. Outside pressure is needed, and I agree with some of the demands made.

But what the Trump administration has demanded of Harvard sets a precedent for a degree of government control that is incompatible with free inquiry and free expression. And if @TheFIREorg says that the approach is unlawful and lacking due process, that’s good enough for me:
https://t.co/zRGkrmBEWg

I have long stood up against intimidation when it came from the left on campus and it created a climate of fear. I oppose it as well when it comes from the right, off-campus, and creates a new climate of fear.
I want universities to have vibrant cultures where nobody is afraid to speak up.

[Richard Olson @rpolaw]

@aobrien2010 That’s the best headline and video of 2025.