(Courtesy Erin Rhoda / The Courier-Gazette)
Kelly A. Gould of Lincolnville, left, and James Lee Nickelson of Camden, right, were inducted into the Maine State Bar Association Wednesday at Knox County Superior Court. Between them is attorney Elizabeth Gifford Stuart.
ROCKLAND - Two attorneys were inducted into the Maine State Bar Association Wednesday at Knox County Superior Court.
Fellow attorneys, family and friends watched on as Kelly A. Gould of Lincolnville and James Lee Nickelson of Camden took the oath at the association's induction ceremony Wednesday morning. Justice Samuel W. Collins Jr. presided.
The Rev. Mark Glovin of Rockland's First Universalist Church, Maine Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm, Maine District Court Justice Patricia Worth and Knox County Probate Court Judge Carol Emery joined Collins in welcoming the pair.
Gould grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Morehead State University in Kentucky with a major in sociology. She attended California State University at Sacramento to earn a master;s degree in social work and then graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law in May 2007. She has worked in the California State Legislature as a senior policy consultant in labor law.
Gould is married to Randy Helmhotz and is th emother of Carrie, 10, and Caitlin, 22.
Nickelson was an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin, where he majored in aerospace engineering. He worked at NASA for three years, before attending Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1998. He then moved to Colorado for four years to practice with three different law firms, mainly specializing in litigation and intellectual property work. Afterward, he moved to Connecticut and worked for three years as in-house counsel at United Technologies Research Center. Now, while living in Camden, he does long-distance work for Schubert, Osterrieder & Nickelson in Texas.
Nickelson is married to Becky Anderson and is the father of 20-month-old Eliza Nickelson.
At the induction, Collins encouraged the two to do pro bono work and explained a little of the history of distinguished lawyers in Maine.
The Maine State Bar Association is a professional and public service organization of more than 3,100 member lawyers licensed to practice in Maine. It works to promote its members' professionalism and advance their skills and knowledge, helping them meet the legal needs of all Maine people and advance Maine's system of justice, according to its Web site. Headquartered in Augusta, the MSBA is a voluntary association that serves as an advocate for lawyers, the courts, and the public.