 |
| Formation | May 1998 |
|---|---|
| Type | Legal society |
| Headquarters | Manchester, New Hampshire |
| Location |
|
President | Caroline Leonard [1] |
| Website | www.nhwba.org |
The New Hampshire Women's Bar Association (NHWBA), founded in May of 1998, is a voluntary bar association for attorneys, judges, educators, government officials, and law students in the state of New Hampshire. [2]
Following a presentation titled "Why Have a Statewide Women's Bar Association in New Hampshire?", given by a member of the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts, there was a consensus to incorporate New Hampshire's first statewide women's bar association. On October 1, 1998, the NHWBA held its inaugural fall reception in Concord, New Hampshire. [3] In its first year, NHWBA gained over 200 members. An annual fall reception has been held in Concord every October since. [3] [4]
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the NHWBA launched their SHERO campaign, honoring prominent and influential female attorneys and educators throughout the state. [5] [6] [7]
The NHWBA currently has five committees: Membership, Networking, Programming, Public Relations, and Public Service. [8] In addition, the NHWBA sometimes publicly advocates for certain policy provisions that affect the legal profession and the interests of women and families. [9] The NHWBA also hosts Continuing Legal Education classes, runs community service programs and food drives, and facilitates networking and mentoring programs. [8] [10]
The New Hampshire Department of Corrections and the NHWBA worked together to create the "Women to Women Project" which matches New Hampshire attorneys with current inmates at the New Hampshire State Prison for Women. The program allows inmates to receive limited legal advice from licensed attorneys. The NHWBA Public Service Committee facilitates bi-monthly information sessions on different areas of the law for inmates at the prison. [11]
Every year, the NHWBA presents two awards at their fall reception. The first is the Marilla M. Ricker Achievement Award, honoring the first female lawyer from New Hampshire. The Ricker Award is presented to an attorney who has "achieved professional excellence, and paved the way to success for other women lawyers, or advanced opportunities for women in the legal profession, and/or performed exemplary public service on behalf of women." [12] Past recipients include Representative Annie Kuster and former New Hampshire Supreme Court Justices Carol Ann Conboy and Linda Dalianis. [13] The second award is the Winnie MacLaughlin Scholarship, which is presented annually to a second-year law student from the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law who exemplifies academic excellence and has completed community service focusing on advancing women in society. [14] [15]
Pro bono publico, usually shortened to pro bono, is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment.
The University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law is a public law school in Concord, New Hampshire, United States, associated with the University of New Hampshire. It is the only law school in the state and was founded in 1973 by Robert H. Rines as the Franklin Pierce Law Center, named after the 14th President of the United States and New Hampshire native. The school is particularly well known for its Intellectual Property Law program.
Stephen Everett Merrill was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Manchester, New Hampshire. He served as the 77th governor of New Hampshire from 1993 to 1997.
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the New York City Bar Association, founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization has been headquartered in a landmark building on 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan. Today the City Bar has more than 23,000 members. Its current president, Susan J. Kohlmann, began her two-year term in May 2022.
The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is the government agency in the U.S. state of New Hampshire charged with overseeing the state correctional facilities, supervising probation and parolees, and serving in an advisory capacity in the prevention of crime and delinquency. As of June 30, 2013, the Department had an inmate population of 2,791, 15,267 on probation or parole, and 893 total employees, 470 as corrections officers and 64 as probation/parole officers. The agency has its headquarters in Concord.
Edward Lewis Brown and his wife, Elaine Alice Brown, residents of the state of New Hampshire, gained national news media attention as tax protesters in early 2007 for refusing to pay the U.S. federal income tax and subsequently refusing to surrender to federal government agents after having been convicted of tax crimes.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of New Hampshire enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT people, with most advances in LGBT rights occurring in the state within the past two decades. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in New Hampshire, and the state began offering same-sex couples the option of forming a civil union on January 1, 2008. Civil unions offered most of the same protections as marriages with respect to state law, but not the federal benefits of marriage. Same-sex marriage in New Hampshire has been legally allowed since January 1, 2010, and one year later New Hampshire's civil unions expired, with all such unions converted to marriages. New Hampshire law has also protected against discrimination based on sexual orientation since 1998 and gender identity since 2018. Additionally, a conversion therapy ban on minors became effective in the state in January 2019. In effect since January 1, 2024, the archaic common-law "gay panic defence" was formally abolished; by legislation implemented within August 2023.
Charles Gywnne "Chuck" Douglas III is an American politician, jurist, and trial lawyer. He is a former United States Representative from New Hampshire and a former New Hampshire Supreme Court associate justice.
Ann L. McLane Kuster is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously worked as a lobbyist.
William Lawrence O'Brien is a lawyer and Republican legislator from Mont Vernon, New Hampshire who served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives beginning in 2004, representing district Hillsborough-4. He was elected the Speaker of the House on December 1, 2010, when Republicans took control of the House. When Democrats regained control of the House in the 2012 election, O'Brien did not run for a leadership position.
Ovide Marc Lamontagne is an American businessman who serves as a shareholder at Bernstein Shur law firm in Manchester, New Hampshire. Lamontagne is a lawyer and a Republican former political candidate who was his party's nominee for Governor of New Hampshire in 1996 and 2012. He also unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the US Senate in 2010.
Lisa A. Biron is a disbarred attorney from Manchester, New Hampshire, and a convicted child molester and child pornographer. In November 2012, she was indicted on federal charges related to the sexual exploitation of her 14-year-old daughter, including taking her to Canada to have sex with a man there. She was convicted on all charges in a January 2013 trial, and was sentenced that May to 40 years in prison.
Dan Feltes is an American lawyer, a member of the Democratic Party, and represented the 15th district of the New Hampshire Senate from 2014 until 2020. At the age of 39, Feltes became the youngest Majority Leader in the history of the New Hampshire Senate. Feltes was characterized by Steve Shurtleff, the former Speaker of the New Hampshire House, as the most effective consensus builder at the State House in two decades. He was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2020, he now teaches at Iowa Law school, and is a practicing attorney at Iowa Legal Aid.
Andru H. Volinsky is an American politician, attorney, and social justice advocate who served as a member of the Executive Council of New Hampshire from the 2nd district from 2017 to 2021.
Agnes Winifred McLaughlin (1882-1964) was the first woman admitted to practice law in New Hampshire.
Jennie Blanche Newhall (1874–1943) was an American attorney. She was the second woman admitted to practice law in the state of New Hampshire.
Margaret Sheehan Blodgett was an American attorney. She was the third woman to be admitted to the New Hampshire Bar Association.
Jean K. Burling is an American attorney and former judge. She was the first woman to be a judge in the state of New Hampshire.
John Michael Formella is an American lawyer serving as the 31st Attorney General of New Hampshire since 2021. He previously served as legal counsel for Governor Chris Sununu.
