Meeting Schedule and Materials for 2024/2025
Inn meetings will be held in-person at The Puritan Conference & Event Center: Suite B - 245 Hooksett Road, Manchester, NH 03104
in October, November, February, March, April, and May
December's Inn Meeting will be held in-person at The Bedford Village Inn/Grant Hotel, 2 Olde Bedford Way, Bedford, NH 03110
January's Inn meeting will be held in-person at The Hotel Concord: 11 S. Main Street, Concord, NH 03301
October 2, 2024 - Table 1 (The Puritan Conference Center, Manchester, NH)
Judges' Roundtable: Superior Court
This year’s Judges Roundtable will feature superior Court judges.
November 6, 2024 - Table 2 (Joint Meeting with Charles C. Doe Inn @ The Puritan Conference Center, Manchester, NH)
How to Terminate Client Relationships (Ethics)
The termination of representation is a difficult matter, particularly when litigation is pending. New Hampshire Rule of Professional Conduct 1.16 sets out the reasons termination may be appropriate, and the steps that should be taken to terminate a client relationship. Valid grounds for termination include the client’s failure to pay for services or insistence on taking actions the lawyer finds repugnant or fundamentally disagrees with. Through the termination process, it is important to minimize prejudice to the client. The lawyer must also consider whether court permission is required to withdraw. As the matter wraps up, it will be relevant to identify the material that constitutes the client’s “file,” and critical to cooperate in providing that material to the client and/or successor counsel. Finally, there are practical aspects to termination that a lawyer should consider, such as if and how to pursue outstanding invoices, and how to communicate the decision to terminate.
December 4, 2024 - Table 3 (The Bedford Village Inn/Hotel Grand, Bedford, NH)
Gender Identity in School
Schools are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. In recent years, there has been an increased cultural, political, and legal focus on school policies related to students’ gender identities, such as use of preferred names/pronouns, restroom and locker accessibility, dress codes, parental communication, gender-segregated activities/sports, and harassment. For example, in 2024:
- The state adopted a new law functionally prohibiting transgender girls’ from participating in girls’ sports. The law was quickly challenged and a limited TRO was issued by the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire several days later (before the beginning of the 2024/2025 school year);
- The Rockingham Superior Court issued a decision addressing whether individuals can assert a private right of action for alleged violation of their State constitutional rights in the absence of personal injury, bodily injury, or property damage, which arose out of a student dispute related to discussions of gender identity; and,
- The New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Manchester School District’s Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students Policy, determining that it does not infringe on the fundamental right to parent under the New Hampshire State Constitution.
This program will provide an overview of the complicated legal landscape that schools, students, and parents are navigating with regard to gender identity in school.
January 8, 2025 - Table 4 (The Hotel Concord, Concord, NH)
Individual Liability in Running a Business
This program will discuss what protections creating legal entities afford individual owners from personal liability. What protections occur when signing a contract for a corporation or limited liability company and how should the client sign? Does incorporating protect individual decision makers from tort claims and for what statutory obligations can those individuals be personally liable? The program will also discuss piercing the corporate and LLC veil.
Whether litigating claims where the solvency of the legal entity defendant is at issue or advising your business clients what protections are afforded by creating legal entities, this program is aimed at providing you the information and guidance to spot and address these critical issues.
February 5, 2025 - Table 5 (The Puritan Conference Center, Manchester, NH)
State Constitutional Primacy or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The New Hampshire Constitution
In the 1960s the U.S. Supreme Court created what might be called a national code of criminal procedure by (a) incorporating the safeguards of the 4th, 5th, 6th (and 8th) Amendments into the 14th Amendment, and (b) establishing nationwide minimum standards for searches, seizures, arrests, counsel, jury trials, confrontation and sentencing. There was a social backlash, as reflected in the numerous blockbuster films of the 1970s and 1980s in which violent criminals would have escaped justice due to “technicalities” but for the brave actions of those who took the law into their own hands. Cf: Dirty Harry (1971), Death Wish (1974), Death Wish II (1982); The Star Chamber (1978), etc. By the end of the 1980s the U.S. Supreme Court had issued a number of decisions that curbed the reach of the 4th, 5th, 6th (and 8th) Amendments. At the same time, the New Hampshire Supreme Court recognized that our own Constitution could—and did—provide greater protections than the federal Constitution, at least with respect to some narrow questions of criminal procedure. In short, when the U.S. Supreme Court zigged, the New Hampshire Supreme Court zagged. In doing so, our Supreme Court, largely speaking through Justice Douglas, asserted the principle of state constitutional primacy. See, State v. Ball, 124 N.H. 226 (1983). Just the same, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has managed to avoid issuing State Constitutional decisions on controversial social issues. This was, perhaps, easy to do when the U.S. Supreme Court was expanding protections for privacy with respect to marriage, family and reproduction. But now, following another backlash, the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed course. How will the Ball era cases resonate in a post-Dodds world? What should litigators be doing?
March 5, 2025 - Table 6 (The Puritan Conference Center, Manchester, NH)
Damages: Full, Fair, & Adequate
As the standard jury instruction on damages states, “The law cannot do the impossible by turning back the clock and eliminating the accident from ever having occurred; it does provide a means by which the plaintiff is made whole, by awarding full, fair, and adequate compensation.” So how do we do that? This program will explore proof of damages, including the types of damages available to a plaintiff and the most effective evidentiary presentation to support those damages.
April 2, 2025 - Table 7 (The Puritan Conference Center, Manchester, NH)
Hearsay – Unpeeling the Onion
Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the statement. What does this even mean? When are out-of-court statements not hearsay? Why? What are the exceptions to hearsay? When do they apply? When does it matter when the declarant is available? Pay attention, and you will know the answers to these questions after – the onion is peeled.
May 7, 2025 - Table 8 (The Puritan Conference Center, Manchester, NH)
Rule 1.17: Sale of Law Practice (Ethics)
You’ve put in your time! Over the years, you’ve helped many, many clients, contributed pro bono work to the community, and mentored a young whippersnapper you met at Inns of Court. After speaking with your financial advisor, you’ve realized that you can retire to Bermuda – instead of Florida – if you can sell your practice to Young Whippersnapper! Rule 1.17 governs this sale. What does it require of you? What does it require of Y. Whippersnapper? Can you keep any ownership interest in the firm? Can you still help your grandkid’s neighbor in Londonderry with that car accident? This program will explore the various considerations involved in the sale of a law practice.