President

Justice Gary E. Hicks - New Hampshire Supreme Court

The Honorable Gary E. Hicks was sworn in as the 104th Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court on January 31, 2006 after serving for four years on the Superior Court, the state's major trial court. Before becoming a judge, Justice Hicks was a commercial litigator for 23 years with Wiggin & Nourie, then one of New Hampshire's largest law firms. During that time, he also maintained an active mediation and arbitration practice.

Justice Hicks, now the senior associate justice of the Supreme Court, is the President of the Daniel Webster – Batchelder Inns of Court. He is also the former chair of the American Inns of Court Leadership Council. He was nominated to the position by Chief Judge Carl E. Stewart of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Leadership Council is comprised of former trustees of the American Inns of Court who remain actively engaged with the American Inns of Court and its mission to foster excellence in professionalism, ethics, civility and legal skills. He was a member of the board of trustees of the American Inns of Court from 2008-2012. He continues his association with the Inns of Court as chairperson of its Nominations Committee.

Senior Associate Justice Gary Hicks was presented with the 2021 Civil Justice Award by the New Hampshire Access to Justice Commission on June 3, 2021 in recognition of devoting his career to the ideals embodied by this award, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2015, Justice Hicks was named a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation for his exemplary dedication to the profession and for his support of the ideals and objectives of the American Bar Association. That same year, Justice Hicks also received the Manchester Bar Association's "Distinguished Service Award" in recognition of his outstanding personal achievements and contributions to the bar.

He is also a past chairman of the New Hampshire Judicial Council and a former member of the New Hampshire Bar Association Ethics Committee. He is a former chairperson of the board of the New Hampshire Institute of Art which awarded him an honorary Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2000. He is a current member of the Advisory Board of the St. Paul's School Advance Studies Program in Concord, New Hampshire.

A native of Colebrook, New Hampshire in the state's rural North Country, Justice Hicks graduated from Bucknell University with a degree in mathematics and from Boston University School of Law where he was managing editor of the Law Review. He has received both the New Hampshire Bar President's Award for distinguished and compassionate service (1988) and the Philip S.Hollman Gender Equality Award presented by the Bar's Gender Equality Committee (2012).
Justice Hicks is co-editor of the New Hampshire Discovery Practice manual published in April 2011 by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE).

Read Judge Hicks remarks after he was sworn in by Gov. Lynch.

President Elect for 2024/2025

Hon. Samantha D. Elliott - United States District Court for the District of NH

On September 30, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Samantha Elliott to the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. She was confirmed by a 62-37 vote of the U.S. Senate on December 15, 2021. She received commission on December 21, 2021

Judge Elliott completed her undergraduate studies at Colgate University, cum laude, and received her law degree from Columbia Law School.

Prior to her appointment, Judge Elliot was the vice president of Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, P.C, and previously served as the Concord firm’s president. She was also a co-chair of the founding board of the statewide legal aid organization 603 Legal Aid, after serving in various capacities as a member of the boards of New Hampshire Legal Assistance and the Legal Advice and Referral Center. She also served as the lawyer representative on the New Hampshire Court Accreditation Commission and as a member of the Federal Court Advisory Committee. Her areas of practice included business and commercial disputes, employment and discrimination, product liability, property rights, and municipal defense in civil rights litigation.

EDUCATION

  • Colgate College, BA, cum laude, 1997
  • Columbia Law School, JD, 2006

Heather Menezes, Esquire - Shaheen & Gordon, P.A.

Heather represents injured individuals in a wide array of personal injury cases, including motor vehicle accidents, bicycle accidents, uninsured and underinsured motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death, workers’ compensation, medical malpractice, and vaccine injury cases.

Heather understands the multitude of issues facing injured clients, whether the injury occurred from someone else’s negligence, from a vaccine, or at work. She approaches each case with compassion and diligence. Your problem is her problem. Heather has extensive experience fighting for her clients in New Hampshire’s state and federal trial courts, the New Hampshire Department of Labor, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court. She is admitted to the United States Court of Federal Claims and represents individuals injured by vaccines in the highly specialized Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

Practice Areas

  • Personal Injury
  • Worker's Compensation
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Vaccine Injury
  • Wrongful Death

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire, 2005
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire, 2005
  • United States Court of Federal Claims, 2016

Education

  • Providence College
  • University of New Hampshire School of Law

Executive Director, Program Committee, Community Outreach

Geoffrey M. Gallagher, Esquire - Asst. City Prosecutor for the City of Concord

Practice Areas

  • Criminal Prosecution

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire
  • New Hampshire Federal District Court

Education

  • Boston College, BA, Social Psychology, 2003
  • Boston College, MA, Social Psychology, 2006
  • University of New Hampshire School of Law, JD, cum laude, 2013
  • University of New Hampshire School of Law, LLM, Intellectual Property, 2013

 

Treasurer, Program Committee

Jen Pennington, Paralegal - Gleason Legal, PLLC

Former paralegal to New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Patrick E. Donovan, Jen has over 20 years of experience working as a litigation paralegal in the fields of family law, personal injury, criminal defense, construction and insurance defense, and all aspects of civil litigation in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and Connecticut.

As paralegal to Attorney Kelleigh Gleason, Jen provides a full spectrum of services in matters of divorce, parenting, child support, alimony, complex asset division, and general civil law issues concerning business ownership, property ownership, personal injury litigation, estate planning, and other matters. 

Should you have any questions about membership or the Daniel-Webster Batchelder American Inn of Court in general, please contact Jen directly at jen@glnh.law.

Education

  • University of New Hampshire, BA, Political Science/Philosophy

Kelleigh C. Gleason, Esquire - Gleason Legal PLLC

Kelleigh provides premier legal advocacy for the full spectrum of divorce, parenting, child support, alimony, complex asset division, and general civil law issues concerning business ownership, estate planning and other matters. It may be a jungle out there, but as a highly skilled negotiator, litigator and private mediator, Attorney Kelleigh Gleason has a proven record of successfully assisting clients.

Kelleigh is a highly respected attorney, mediator and author in New Hampshire. Serving the community through her law and mediation practice as well as her community involvement, Attorney Gleason’s clients include businesses and individuals throughout the state. She has earned many accolades for her commitment to excellence at every level of her law practice.

Practice Areas

  • Divorce/Family Law
  • Civil Litigation
  • Estate Planning
  • Business Law/Contracts

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire
  • Vermont
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire

Education

  • Boston College
  • University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law
  • Vermont Law School

Achieving Excellence Chair, Diversity Committee

Co-Chair Community Outreach

Samuel Garland, Esquire - Department of Justice, Civil Bureau

Practice Areas

  • Appellate Law
  • Federal Practice
  • Public Sector Law

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire
  • New Hampshire Federal District Court

Education

  • Wake Forest University School of Law

Co-Chair of Community Outreach Committee

Pierre Chabot, Esquire - Devine Millimet & Branch, P.A.

Employers, manufacturers, colleges, universities and healthcare providers hire me to help resolve a far-ranging set of problems: for employers, I frequently handle claims of employment discrimination, retaliation and whistleblower cases, along with wage and hour disputes. I represent colleges and universities in employment cases, along with investigating and resolving general liability claims. For manufacturers, I frequently defend cases alleging that their product injured consumers, including cases involving many hundreds of claimants. And for healthcare providers, I work to resolve allegations that their actions were the legal cause of a serious injury or even death.

Of course, the best way to solve most problems is to avoid them. To that end, I frequently counsel employers to help them grow and thrive while staying in compliance with the myriad requirements imposed by state and federal law; I routinely advise employers on all aspects of the employment relationship. This includes employee onboarding, wage and hour issues, leaves, disciplinary action and discharge; additionally, I help employers work through accommodation requests and other disability-related inquiries.  

Practice Areas

  • Business, Commercial & Financial Litigation
  • Dispute Resolution & Litigation
  • Educational Institutions
  • Employment & Employee Benefits Litigation
  • Engineering & Construction Law
  • Insurance Defense
  • Labor, Employment & Employee Benefits
  • Personal Injury & Property Damage

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire - All State Courts
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire
  • U.S. District Court, District of Vermont
  • U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Education

  • Middlebury College, BA, magna cum laude, 2002
  • Hofstra University School of Law, JD, cum laude, 2008

Co-Chair Diversity Committee, Programming Committee

Jacqueline Leary, Esquire - McLane Middleton Law Firm

Jacqueline is Vice Chair of McLane Middleton’s Family Law Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Criminal Law Practice Group.

Jacqueline’s family law practice is focused on complex divorce and parenting issues for clients with substantial assets and complex cases. Jacqueline also assists clients experiencing high levels of conflict throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  She also assists clients in the mediation process as part of an Alternative Dispute Resolution strategy.  In addition, she handles a wide-variety of family related issues, including parenting rights and responsibilities, alimony, child support, modification of orders, prenuptial agreements, and postnuptial agreements, legal separations, and adoptions.

As a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, she also assists clients in a wide variety of other litigation matters.

Jacqueline teaches Domestic Violence classes at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law for Daniel Webster Scholars.

Practice Areas

  • Divorce/Family Law
  • Criminal Law

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire
  • Massachusetts
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire
  • U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts

Education

  • University of New Haven, Summa Cum Laude (2014)
  • University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, Magna Cum Laude (2017)

Sean Locke, Esquire - Department of Justice, Criminal Bureau

Practice Areas

  • Federal Practice
  • Public Sector Law

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire
  • New Hampshire Federal District Court

Education

  • Boston University School of Law

 

Co-Chair Diversity Committee

Membership Chair, Mentoring Committee

Hon. Andrew Schulman - NH Superior Court

Hon. Andrew Schulman was appointed by Governor Maggie Hassan on September 17, 2014, and confirmed by the New Hampshire Executive Council on October 1. He took office on October 29, 2014. He is currently sitting in Merrimack County Superior Court. 

Judge Schulman is a former partner at Getman, Schulthess & Steere, P.A. in Manchester, where he practiced from 2000 until his appointment to the New Hampshire Superior Court. His practice included civil, commercial, and criminal litigation at the trial and appellate level in both state and federal court. Judge Schulman began his career in 1985 as a Staff Attorney in Manchester for the New Hampshire Public Defender Program, and after a brief stint at Hill & Barlow in Boston, returned to the New Hampshire Public Defender Program, serving as a Staff Attorney and Homicide/Major Crimes Attorney in Manchester and Nashua until 1997. He was the Director of the Criminal Practice Clinic and Assistant Clinical Professor at Franklin Pierce Law Center (now the University of New Hampshire School of Law) from 1997 to 2000, and he was awarded the New Hampshire Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' 2004 Champions of Justice award. He also served on the New Hampshire Executive Branch Ethics Committee. 

Education

  • Haverford College, BA, 1982
  • Harvard Law School, JD, 1985

Mentoring Chair, Program & Community Outreach Committee

J. Daniel Marr, Esquire - Hamblett & Kerrigan

J. Daniel Marr’s practice includes providing legal counsel and advocacy for businesses and individuals and includes the areas of: employment law; entity formation and governance; creditor rights and bankruptcy; disputes between co-owners of businesses; and contract negotiation, drafting and enforcement, representing a diverse client base including physicians, accountants, construction contractors and developers, trustees, executors, manufacturers, high-tech and low-tech service providers, higher education professionals and institutions, commercial and residential landlords, and other business organizations and individuals. Attorney Marr works closely with accountants in evaluating financial conditions of entities, proper distributions to shareholders, valuing of companies under existing buy/sell agreements or under a fair-market-value analysis, and other entity governance and equity distribution issues.

Attorney Marr also works closely with the firm’s Trust and Estate administration department, advising and advocating for clients on a variety of topics including the pursuit or defense of claims of lack of mental capacity or undue influence, a trustee’s fiduciary obligations, trust interpretation, the proper administration of the trust, will or other estate planning documents.  He has litigated numerous Probate and Trust cases on a variety of issues.  Additionally, he works with clients in real estate litigation, including landlord and tenant law.  He actively practices in New Hampshire and Massachusetts and can litigate matters in both state and federal court, including Bankruptcy Court.  He can assist clients in disputes, and when appropriate, seek to resolve them through negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.

Practice Areas

  • Employment Law
  • Business Organization, Formation, and Governance
  • Contract Negotiation, Drafting, Interpretation, and Enforcement
  • Business Litigation
  • Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy
  • Trust and Estate Litigation
  • Real Estate Litigation
  • Landlord and Tenant Law

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit
  • Massachusetts

Education

  • University of New Hampshire, 1983
  • Franklin Pierce Law Center (now University of New Hampshire School of Law), 1987

Anna Cole, Esquire - Drummond Woodsum

Anna Cole delivers well-informed, creative advice to support employers, including schools, municipalities, private entities, and Tribal Nations, as they navigate the ever-changing landscape of labor and employment laws.

Co-Leader of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group, Anna represents employers in collective bargaining negotiations, contract administration, grievance and arbitration proceedings. Additionally, she represents employers before the state and federal Department of Labor, New Hampshire Human Rights Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Anna also advises and trains employers on their obligations and workplace issues under a variety of federal employment laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as similar New Hampshire state laws.

Practice Areas

  • Employment and Labor (including Collective Bargaining, Employee Benefits)
  • Higher Education
  • Tribal Nations Law / Tribal Nations Labor & Employment

Bar Admissions

  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire

Education

  • University of New Hampshire, BA, summa cum laude, 2008
  • Tulane University, J.D., cum laude, 2011

Program Committee Chair

Chair of Scholarships, Program Committee

Jack P. Crisp, Esquire - The Crisp Law Firm, PLLC

Licensed in both Maine and New Hampshire, Jack P. Crisp, Jr. is a seasoned and well-rounded attorney with over four decades of legal experience. With a particular focus in the areas of commercial law & litigation, professional licensing, estate planning & probate administration, and family law, Jack offers each client a comprehensive approach to his or her legal issue.  In fact, in his over 38 years of practice, Jack has represented a multitude of different clients, including without limitation, municipalities, businesses of all types and sizes, financial institutions, developers, licensed professionals, individuals, and families.  Due to his extensive background, Jack firmly believes his litigation experience in commercial, probate and family matters provides important insights when forming new companies, handling the acquisition, sale or financing of business enterprises or planning estates and advising families who are in conflict.

Most notably, Jack successfully handled the first prenuptial agreement case to go to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Jack is also a past president of the NH Bar Association and the New England Bar Association. In 2015, the NH Bar Association and UNH School of Law awarded him the prestigious Bruce E. Friedman Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year award due to his legal service and commitment to the public.  In 2020 the NH Bar Association awarded Jack the Vickie M. Bunnell Award for Community Service.

Practice Areas

  • Commercial Law and Litigation
  • Professional Licensing
  • Estate Planning & Probate Administration
  • Family Law

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire, 1978
  • Maine, 1978
  • U.S. Court of Appeal, 1st Circuit, 1978
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire, 1978

Education

  • Boston University, BA, 1972
  • University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, 1978

Program Committee, Mentoring Committee

Ned Sackman, Esquire - Bernstein Shur

Ned takes and wins tough cases. As a litigator and a trusted advisor, Ned has guided his clients through their most complicated and difficult problems. He has won at trial. He has gotten cases dismissed on the papers. He has pierced the corporate veil to collect debts. And, he has made new law at the New Hampshire Supreme Court in order to protect his clients. From trademark and trade secret litigation to products liability and non-competition agreements, Ned has deep expertise in a broad range of areas—and that’s great news for his clients.

Ned is proud to have partnered with the New Hampshire Chapter of the ACLU to protect the constitutional rights of New Hampshire residents. Most recently in 2017, with the help of the NHCLU, Ned convinced the New Hampshire Department of Corrections to modify its incoming mail policy to make it easier for pre-literate children to send correspondence to their incarcerated parents. An Associated Press report on the case is available here. Ned also represents New Hampshire’s only inmate on death row in post-conviction proceedings seeking to vacate his capital sentence.

Practice Areas

  • Auto & Equipment Dealers
  • Intellectual Property
  • Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire
  • Massachusetts
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Education

  • Tulane University, BA, 2001
  • University of Virginia School of Law, JD, 2004

Hon. John C. Kissinger, Jr. - NH Superior Court

Hon. John C. Kissinger was appointed by Governor John Lynch on May 22, 2012, and was unanimously approved by the New Hampshire Executive Counsel. He took office on June 21, 2012. He is currently sitting in Merrimack County Superior Court. 

Judge Kissinger was previously a trial lawyer at Nelson, Kinder & Mousseau for 13 years, where he chaired the firm's legal malpractice litigation group.  Prior to joining the Manchester firm, Judge Kissinger worked as Senior Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Bureau of the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, where he was responsible for prosecuting homicide cases. Prior to serving at the Attorney General's office, Judge Kissinger worked for several years at Goodwin Procter, LLP, a large Boston law firm.

Education

  • Georgetown University, BA, 1987
  • Georgetown Law, JD, 1990

 

Programming Committee

Elizabeth Ewing, Esquire - Wadleigh Starr & Peters PLLC

Elizabeth joined Wadleigh, Starr & Peters in 2017.  Elizabeth’s practice focuses on complex civil litigation encompassing a wide range of subject areas, including professional malpractice, employment, education, and mass torts.

Prior to joining the firm, Elizabeth clerked for Justice Gary Hicks at the New Hampshire Supreme Court, interned with Justice Carol Ann Conboy at the New Hampshire Supreme Court, and interned with Chief Judge Joseph Laplante at the United States District Court, District of New Hampshire. Elizabeth also interned with the Concord City Solicitor’s office and was a summer associate at Wadleigh.  She graduated summa cum laude from the University of New Hampshire School of Law as a Daniel Webster Scholar.

Practice Areas

  • Professional Liability Defense
  • Healthcare Law
  • Employment Law
  • Education Law
  • General Litigation

Bar Admissions

  • New Hampshire
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Education

  • Southern New Hampshire Univesity
  • University of New Hampshire School of Law, JD, summa cum laude

Program Committee, Diversity Committee