NHWBA December 2010 Update

Membership Opportunities

Become a member of the Pound Civil Justice Institute. The Pound Civil Justice Institute was established in 1956 by a group of American trial lawyers to honor and build upon the work of Roscoe Pound (1870-1964). the founder of the discipline of sociological jurisprudence. The Pound Institute seeks to give lawyers, judges, educators and the public a balanced view of the U.S. civil justice system.

Membership benefits include an invitation to the Pound Fellows reception at the American Association for Justice (AAJ) convention in Miami on February 6, 2011 and a free copy of Pound's new book, The Founding Lawyers and America's Quest for Justice.
For more information about membership and membership benefits, click here.

NHWBA Officers and Directors

President:
Holly B. Haines
Abramson, Brown & Dugan, PA

Immediate Past President:
Kristin Mendoza
Devine, Millimet & Branch, PA

Vice President:
Holly J. Kilibarda
Nixon Peabody, LLP

Secretary:
Erin J.M. Alarcon
Melick, Porter & Shea

Treasurer:
Karyl Roberts Martin
Sheehan, Phinney, Bass + Green, PA

Public Relations Officer:
Nicole Morse

Programming Director:
Charla Bizios Stevens
McLane Law Firm

Membership Secretary:

Nicole L. Cook

Morrison Mahoney, LLP

Member at Large:
Keriann Roman
Donahue, Tucker & Ciandella

Cheshire:
Sheila J. Burnham
Tower & Crocker, PA

Hillsborough North:
Vacant

Hillsborough South:
Catherine E. Shanelaris
Shanelaris & Schirch

Merrimack:
Joceline D. Champagne
NH Pro Bono Referral Program

Rockingham:
Catherine P. McKay
Parnell & McKay, PLLC

Sullivan:
Jane F. Taylor
City of Claremont

Out of State Liaison:
Erin Desmarais Wolf

Conn Kavanaugh

News and Events:
January 2011

Greetings!

Happy holidays! As this year and this decade come to a close, I hope that you have much to be thankful for. The NHWBA does, and on its behalf, I want to extend a personal invitation to you to attend our holiday party tomorrow night at UnWine'd in Manchester, where we will enjoy good food, good wine, good networking, and good fun, as well as be collecting donations for a good cause - The Salvation Army / Union Leader Santa Fund. The NHWBA is trying to give back to our community, which is still in dire need during this period of economic recovery, and we encourage you to join us in raising money for the Santa Fund to make the holidays brighter for children in New Hampshire. More information about how the NHWBA is giving back is in this newsletter.

As this decade comes to a close, the New Hampshire Judiciary has another historic first with the appointment of Justice Linda Dalianis as the first Woman Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, thirty years after her historic appointment as the first woman on the Superior Court Bench and ten years after her appointment as the first woman justice on the Supreme Court bench. We have come a long way, with Justice Dalianis paving the path to the bench for women statewide. The NHWBA congratulates her on her successes, her achievements, and her leadership to women lawyers in our state. Her appointment is well deserved and well earned and has opened opportunities for qualified women at every level of the judicial branch. More information about Justice Dalianis' appointment, as well as the appointments of Justice Robert Lynn and Judges Kristin Spath and James Carroll is below in this newsletter.

I wish you all good health, great success and ongoing prosperity for the coming year and hope to see you at our holiday party.

Best regards,

Holly B. Haines

NHWBA 2011 Family Law Update CLE

When:    February 3, 2011

Where:   McLane Law Firm
               900 Elm Street
               Manchester, NH

Time:    1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
              (12:30 registration)

Cost: $50 advance registration for members

               $60 at the door and non-members

Credits:   3.0 NHMCLE hours being requested

Register Today!

NHWBA presents its annual Family Law Update focusing on the latest developments in parenting, child support, alimony and property settlement matters with an overview of recent legislative and rule changes. We've expanded our topics this year - see the list below!

Presenters & Topics:
Sheila Burnham, Tower & Crocker            Update on Court Rules                                                                        and Legislation
Carol Kunz, Attorney at Law                      Parenting and Child Support
Pamela Peterson, Devine Millimet             Property Division and Alimony
Ann Barber, Law Office of Ann K. Barber   Bankruptcy and Divorce
Charla Bizios Stevens, McLane Law Firm - moderator

Registration is now open on our website: www.nhwba.org. If you have any questions, please contact Executive Assistant, Jill Desrochers.

Swearing in Ceremonies

Linda Dalianis sworn in as 35th Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court

"I believe I owe my career to these two extraordinary men, both willing to give an opportunity to a young women at a time when the phrase 'woman lawyer' was still something of an oxymoron," remarked now Chief Justice Linda Dalianis at her swearing in ceremony on December 15, 2010. Chief Justice Dalianis was speaking of Bob Bleakney, who while a partner at Sullivan & Worcester, gave the Chief Justice a job while she was working her way through law school and Joe Kerrigan, who hired her at Hamblett & Kerrigan in her first job as a lawyer in New Hampshire. Chief Justice Dalianis also offered thanks to Governor John Lynch and the Executive Council as well as several members of her family who were also in attendance. A former student of Villa Augustina herself, she encouraged a group of students from the school who attended the swearing in ceremony to believe that there are no limits to what they can do.

Chief Justice Dalianis has paved the path to the bench in New Hampshire for all women lawyers. She was the first woman justice appointed to the New Hampshire Superior Court in 1980. She served as the first woman Chief Justice of the Superior Court and she was the first woman justice appointed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 2000. On December 15, 2010 she became the 35th Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the first woman in New Hampshire history to be appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

For more information on gender diversity in the New Hampshire Judiciary and on Justice Dalianis's historic path to the bench, please read: Balancing the Scales of Justice - Achieving a Critical Mass of Women on the New Hampshire Judiciary by NHWBA President Holly Haines. It includes an interview with Justice Dalianis and other women justices on the New Hampshire Supreme and Superior Courts on these issues that are very important to our organization.

Robert Lynn sworn in as 106th Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court

On December 15, 2010, after attending the swearing in ceremony for Chief Justice Dalianis, Justice Robert Lynn appeared at the NHWBA Holiday Party. While enjoying cheese fondue and scrumptious pulled pork grilled flatbread, Justice Lynn graciously engaged our members with tales from his time on the bench in Superior Court and spoke proudly of his own upcoming swearing in ceremony on December 17, 2010.

Justice Lynn was sworn in as the 106th Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court on December 17, 2010, 18 years to the day after his first day on the bench as a Superior Court Justice. Justice Lynn served as the Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the last seven years. Prior to this, he served as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court for eleven years. Before his appointment to the Superior Court in 1992, Judge Lynn worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office and in private practice in Concord, New Hampshire.

National Conference of Women's Bar Associations Annual Public Service and Outstanding member

Programs Awards

The NCWBA is accepting nominations for a program to honor with its annual Public Service Award and its annual Outstanding Member Program Award.

Each year through the Public Service Award, the NCWBA honors projects of member organizations to both thank the associations for their work and showcase ideas which might be suitable for adoption by other groups.

In 2008, the NCWBA initiated the Outstanding Member Programs Award to recognize innovative programs offered by women's bar associations, which focus on training and other assistance and benefits to their own members.

Women's bar groups with programs that help the local community or provide special assistance to their own membership are encouraged to nominate their program for the annual Public Service Award or Outstanding Member Program Award. To nominate a project visit the NCWBA's website at www.NCWBA.org. Submissions must be received no later than Friday, January 28, 2011.

The awards will be presented at NCWBA's Women's Bar Leader Summit on August 5, 2011 in Toronto.

National Association of Women's Lawyers

Teleconference with Debra Snider

THE NAWL is hosting a teleconference on January 13, 2011at 2pm EST featuring guest speaker Debra Snider, whose debut novel, A Merger of Equals tells the tale of two bright, funny 20-somethings who while climbing the corporate ladder discover that many of the so-called truths about work, love, and life are not true at all. An astute portrayal of inside the business world, A Merger of Equals offers even non-business insiders a keen look at human relationships, personal and professional, including gender issues in the workplace.

Ms. Snider has spoken in the United States and Europe on topics including strategic productivity, client development, change facilitation, leadership. law department management, time management, and success strategies for professional and businesswomen. She serve as Chief Administrative Officer of Heller Financial, Inc. in Chicago and was a partner at Katten, Muchin & Zavis (now Katten Muchin Rosenman) in Chicago where she practiced primarily in the securities, securitization and mergers & acquisition areas. Prior to her time at KMZ, she was First Vice President and Associate General Counsel at teh Balcor Company, and an associate at Hopkins 7 Sutter, another large Chicago law firm.

For more information, visit the NAWL's website, www.NAWL.org.

National Association of Women's Lawyers

2011 Mid-Year Meeting

The NAWL's Mid-Year Meeting will be held in Miami, FL on February 16-17, 2011 at the Epic Hotel. The focus this year is on leadership, with agenda items including: Leadership in the Courtroom and Beyond, A Judicial Roundtable; Leading the Way to Economic Success (focusing on the 2010 NAWL National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms and on solutions for the future success of all lawyers); and Leading for Good, a discussion about making a difference and what defines accomplishment outside of the law firm and corporate world. In addition to multiple networking opportunities, the event kicks off with a poolside reception on February 16, 2011.

For more information, visit the NAWL's website, www.NAWL.org.

NH Women's Lobby Alliance - What People Are Saying About Fair Pay

" Equal pay is by no means just a women's issue -- it's family issue . . . And in this economy, when so many folks are already working harder for less and struggling to get by, the last thing they can afford is losing part of each month's paycheck to simple and plain discrimination . . . Ultimately, equal pay isn't just an economic issue for millions of Americans and their families, it's a question of who we are -- and whether we're truly living up to our fundamental ideals; whether we'll do our part, as generations before us, to ensure those words put on paper some 200 years ago really mean something -- to breathe new life into them with amore enlightened understanding that is appropriate for our time . . ."

President Barack Obama, on signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, January 27, 2009

"The world today is vastly different than it was in 1983, but sadly, one thing that has remained the same is the pay gap between men and women. After accounting for so many external factors, it seems that still, at the root of it all, men get an inherent annual bonus just for being men. If this continues, the only guarantees in life will be death, taxes and the glass ceiling."

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14), who, along with Rep. John Dingell, released results of new GAO report on women's earnings, Nov. 20, 2003

"The pay gap is real, it is persistent and it is costing hardworking families thousands of dollars annually. This is not just a women's issue -- it's a family issue. The price of a family should not be a women's career."

Rep. John Dingell (MI-15), who, along with Rep. Carolyn Maloney, released results of new GAO report on women's earnings, Nov. 20, 2003

"Discrimination is still a reality, even when it takes different forms. Instead of Jim Crow, there is racial redlining and profiling. Instead of 'separate but equal', there is separate but forgotten. Strong civil rights enforcement will be a cornerstone of my administration."

Former Governor George Bush, NAACP Annual Convention, Baltimore, July 10, 2000

"Some say that market forces will take care of the wage gap. If we had relied on market forces, we would have never passed the Civil Rights Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, or the Americans with Disabilities Act."

U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), May 11, 2000

"Discrimination is against the interests of business . . . Yet business people often practice it. In the end, the costs are higher, less real output is produced, and the nation's wealth accumulation is slowed."

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, in a speech to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Washington D.C.

The Boston Globe, March 23, 2000

"The folks at Wimbledon recently rejected a request to give female players the same amount that the male players get . . . the women are carrying the promotional load and bringing fans through the turnstiles. They should be paid accordingly."

John McEnroe, New York Times, June 6, 1999

"Countries rarely have conditions like this. If we can't use this moment to deal with these long-term challenges, including the equal pay challenge, when will we ever get around to it?"

President William Jefferson Clinton, remarking on the nation's low unemployment and strong economy. Equal Pay Roundtable, April 7, 1999

ABA Comission on Women in the Profession - Sign Up to Get a Women's Perspective

As a benefit of membership, the ABA is providing the Summer 2010 issue of Perspectives, as an e-publication. Each issue of Perspectives addresses topics of interest to women lawyers, from work/life balance to the glass ceiling and the latest political and legal challenges to equality. Perspectives also provides practitioners with practical advice, career-building tips, and notices of upcoming events and programs that are of particular significance to women.

To receive this e-publication as a benefit of ABA membership, log onto the ABA website(www.abanet.org/abanet/common/MyABA/home.cfm) and select "Women's Rights" as one of your areas of intesret.

A Night on the Red Carpet

Voices Against Violence Winter Ball

When: Saturday, January 29, 2010

Where: Common Man Inn, Plymouth, NH

Contact: (603) 536-5999 with any questions or to reserve your tickets.

Support Voices Against Violence for this important annual fundraiser. Voices Against Violence is a crisis center for survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Southern Grafton County in New Hampshire. Services include 24-hour hotline, emergency shelter, support groups, education for schools and community groups and assistance with hospital and police. Click here for more information.

Join us at our February networking event at

Van Otis Chocolates & Cafe

The Networking Committee is planning a tour of the Van Otis chocolate factory for our February networking event. Come try your hand at some candy making tasks (you can eat your mistakes).

The cost is $5 per person and they can accommodate groups of 12-25 people.

Keep an eye out in our next issue for the exact date and time. Hope to see you there!

Gender Equality Breakfast at the Mid-Year Meeting

Purchase Tickets Now!

Each year, the Gender Equality Commission (GEC) hosts a breakfast immediately before the Mid-Year Meeting. This year's Mid-Year Meeting will take place on Friday, February 4, at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Manchester. The Gender Equality Breakfast will be at 7:30 a.m. There will be a guest speaker and the GEC will present the Philip A. Hollman Award.

If you are interested in attending the Gender Equality Breakfast, please contact Cheryl Moore at the New Hampshire Bar Association at (603) 715-3260.

NHWBA in the Community

Recent Charitable Efforts of NHWBA

Since September 2010, the NHWBA has participated in several charitable events in an effort to give back to the community.

Most recently at our annual holiday party, we raised __________ for the
Salvation Army / Union Leader Santa Fund.

The NHWBA will continue to support the community in the coming months and years through charitable outreach. We rely on our members to participate in our volunteer activities and thank those members who have given their time and made financial committments to our efforts to participate in the community. Thank you for your continued support!

Of Further Interest. . .

New Hampshire Business Review Seeks Nominations for the 2011 Outstanding Women in Business Award

The New Hampshire Business Review (NHBR) seeks nominees for this award. Nominees may include any woman in business in New Hampshire. Past award recipients have originated from traditional and non-traditional fields of business, and have included high-level executives in profit-making companies, visionary entrepreneurs blazing new trails and leaders of nonprofit organizations or public agencies committed to making a difference.

The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2011 Outstanding Women in Business Award is Friday, January 7, 2011. A private reception will be held in early February to celebrate the Award winners. Winners will be featured in a February issue of NHBR. For more information about this award and the nomination form, please click here.

Upcoming American Bar Association Events

21st Annual Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Awards

The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession is calling for nominations for its 21st annual Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Awards, to be presented on August 7, 2011 in Toronto.

More information about the award and ABA Commission on Women in the Profession can be found here.

The New Hampshire Lawyers Assistance Program (NHLAP) is here to help you.

If you or someone you know may be in need of help, please visit their website at www.lapnh.org. You can also view this video produced by NHLAP. NHLAP provides confidential, meaningful assistance to lawyers, judges, law students and their families in coping with alcoholism and other addictions, depression, and other personal or professional crises.

Looking for a way to support your community?

Support the Campaign For Legal Services!

The Campaign for Legal Services is a joint fundraising effort by three of New Hampshire's civil legal aid organizations: the Legal Advice and Referral Center, the New Hampshire Pro Bono Referral Program, and New Hampshire Legal Assistance.

Working together, these organizations provide civil legal services to low-income and elderly residents to help meet their basic daily survival needs.

Click here to learn more about supporting the campaign!

This Newsletter Sponsored by: