Brann & Isaacson Welcomes Joseph Caissie

Brann & Isaacson (B&I), a boutique law firm with offices in both Lewiston and Portland, Maine, is pleased to welcome Joseph Caissie as an associate. Joe has joined the firm’s State Taxation practice. 

Joe comes to B&I after nearly a decade spent in Alaska working in various capacities for the state government. After graduating near the top of his class from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2011, he served as a clerk for the Alaska Supreme Court. He then worked for the Alaska legislature, focusing on reforms of the oil severance tax.

Joe’s time in the state legislature led to a role as an economist for the State of Alaska, analyzing and forecasting revenue for existing and proposed taxes. He also went on to serve as the State Assessor. In this role, Joe ensured local governments’ compliance with state legal requirements regarding property tax, allocated responsibility for school funding between the state and local government, and published Alaska Taxable, a summary of local government revenue sources. He also helped municipalities explore the legal and practical consequences of different methods of raising local revenue in the absence of a property tax.

“Joe Caissie is a valuable new addition to our State Taxation practice,” said Jamie Szal, Partner, of B&I. “He has a sharp legal mind, and brings real world experience from his time working as the Assessor for the State of Alaska.”

B&I’s attorneys have been directly involved in some of the country’s most influential pieces of state tax litigation. This includes representing Wayfair, Overstock, and Newegg before the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., 138 S.Ct. 2080 (2018), among the most important state and local tax decisions to reach the Nation’s highest court. Following Wayfair, states across the U.S. went after out-of-state companies for tax compliance with sales, use, and other business taxes. The team at B&I has been at the forefront of protecting companies against these state efforts to greatly expand state tax powers at the cost of fairness and predictability.

Joe Caissie received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he earned the Hardy Cross Dillard Scholarship and was awarded Order of the Coif, one of the highest honor societies for law school graduates. He received his B.A. in economics and chemistry from Amherst College. Joe still enjoys putting his chemistry skills to use in the kitchen, and his economics skills to use in his fantasy baseball league. He is also an avid disc golfer.