AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul R. LePage administered the oath of office today to three lawyers who will serve as judges in Maine District courts. Charles F. Budd Jr., Cynthia Montgomery and Thomas Nale Sr. sworn in Feb. 3 during a ceremony in the governor's Cabinet Room.

Budd is a partner at Rudman Winchell in Bangor, focusing his practice on criminal law, divorce and child custody, family law and personal injury law. Prior to law school, Budd worked for a member of Congress in Washington, D.C., and later for Massachusetts Gov. William Weld. Prior to joining Rudman Winchell, he worked for the Boston law firm of Hill & Barlow.

Budd was born in Toronto, Ontario. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Boston College, and graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as an editor of The Tax Lawyer, an ABA publication. He now lives in Penobscot.

Montgomery has served as chief counsel since March 2015 in the governor’s office. A native of Texas, she is a graduate of Georgia State University, where she also received her law degree in 1994. Montgomery served as a union representative and in-house counsel for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Local 623, from 1989 to 1995. In private practice, she successfully litigated discrimination actions against several urban governments, and multiple national and international companies.

Recognizing public service as her true calling, Montgomery worked as a trial attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, representing the federal government in discrimination actions in Georgia federal courts. After relocating to Maine in 2002, she worked as EEO/ADA coordinator for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. In 2003, she accepted a position in the Bureau of Employee Relations as a labor relations specialist, then as counsel in 2006 and was promoted to the position of chief counsel in 2011.

Montgomery lives in Palermo with her former opposing counsel and life partner.

Nale has been practicing law since he was admitted to the Maine Bar in 1979. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire School of Law and Thomas College.

Nale specializes in divorce, family matters and litigation. With more than 35 years of litigation experience, Thomas has tried cases before the Maine District Court, Maine Superior Court, Maine Supreme Court and the United States District Court for the District of Maine. He is a member of the Maine State Bar Association and the Waterville Bar Association, where he currently serves as vice president. Nale served as the mayor of Waterville from 1986-1987, and is a former president and treasurer of the Waterville Bar Association.

Nale is a life-long resident of the Waterville area.