April 2011 Update

Hillsborough South:
Catherine E. Shanelaris
Shanelaris & Schirch

Merrimack:
Joceline D. Champagne
NH Pro Bono Referral Program

Rockingham:
Catherine P. McKay
Parnell & McKay, PLLC

Out of State Liaison:
Erin Desmarais Wolf

Conn Kavanaugh

News and Events:
April 2011

Greetings!

April showers are known to bring May flowers, but they stayed at bay for our April Work-Stress Relief Weekend at the Inn and Spa at Mill Falls in Meredith, New Hampshire on April 8-9, 2011. The weekend was a relaxing and wonderful event for all who attended. The weather was superb and the location was sublime, overlooking the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee. I hope to see you next year for this event, which may offer the option of an added day of rest and relaxation with additional discounts at the Cascade Spa and local shops due to popular demand.

I am also delighted to report that the State is moving forward in the effort to Balance the Scales of Justice and Achieve a Critical Mass of Women on the NH Judiciary, at least in leadership roles. The Honorable Tina Nadeau is the newest Chief Justice of the NH Superior Court after being confirmed by the Executive Council on April 13, 2011. Now women are at the helm serving as Chief Justice of the two highest levels of the New Hampshire Judiciary, the Supreme and Superior Courts. This confirmation was well earned and well deserved for Judge Nadeau's commitment to public service and the New Hampshire Judicial Branch. While we are moving forward, there is still work to be done to achieve a critical mass of women on the bench. As such, I encourage you to attend our NHWBA Path to the Bench Seminar which demystifies the judicial selection process and teaches qualified women how to apply for judicial positions as they come open and walks you through the process as you do so. More information is below. We are looking forward to an exciting spring with our programming and hope to see you soon at an event.

Best regards,

Holly B. Haines

Women in the Judiciary - The Path to the Bench

Demystifying the Judicial Selection Process for Women

When: May 6, 2011

Where: Derryfield Country Club

625 Mammoth Road

Manchester, NH 03104

Time: 9:00am - 12:00pm

8:30am breakfast and registration

Cost: $50 members

$75 non-members

Although women comprise approximately one-half of all graduating law students, they continue to be under-represented in the judiciary. This program aims to give women a better understanding of the professional satisfaction of being a judge and to highlight the skills most useful in serving in the capacity of a judge, many of which are well within most women's skill sets. It will also provide an overview of the judicial selection process and practical advice and information for those who wish to seek judicial appointment. The goal is to have attendees leave the program feeling both inspired to seek appointment within the judiciary and confident that they have what it takes to be a successful candidate.

EXPECTED PANELISTS:

Hon. Linda S. Dalianis; Hon. Gillian Abramson; Hon. Jacalyn S. Colburn; Hon. Landya McCafferty; Hon. Susan Ashley; Marital Master Deborah Rein and Emily Rice, Esq. and Katherine Hanna, Esq. as current and former chairs of the Judicial Selection Commission.

Stay tuned for updated information regarding CLE credit for this exciting program.

An Introduction to Elder Law

When: May 19, 2011

Where: McLane Law Firm

Time: 9:00am - 12:30pm

8:30 registration

Cost: $50 in advance

$60 at the door/non-members

Click here to register today!

3.0 NHMCLE credits and 0.5 ethics credits pending.

Given our aging population, it is likely that most practitioners will encounter elder law issues even in a general practice. Join four New Hampshire attorneys who focus in this area to get an overview of the most important issues in elder law today, and how to spot them. We will concentrate on practical advice, including insights on how to advise those who provide care to their elderly family members. The program will include an interactive discussion of common ethical issues which arise in this area.

What is Elder Law? An Overview

Sarah Ambrogi, Curtin Law Office

The Careviger Perspective

Jennifer Holmes, Curtin Law Office

Essential Estate Planning Documents

David R. Craig, Attorney at Law

Funding Longterm Care: Medicaid, Medicare, Insurance

Ann Butenhof, Butenhof & Bomster

Panel Discussion - Ethical Hypotheticals

Food Drive to Help Feed Hungry Children

Its time for the NHWBA's annual food drive aimed at feeding hungry children!

From April 18th to May 13th, the NHWBA will be collecting canned fruit, pasta items (boxed, canned or bagged) and monetary donations for the New Hampshire Food Bank. When making a monetary donation, checks should be made payable to "NH Food Bank." Please send checks to the NHWBA at P.O. Box 915, Manchester, NH 03105.

Food donations made within individual firms and offices will be collected by NHWBA representatives from May 14th to May 19th. If you would like to collect items at your office or would like to donate items and need to know where to bring them, please contact Katherine Brown or Cathy Shanelaris.

All food items and monetary donations collected in New Hampshire during the project will benefit the New Hampshire Food Bank to help with the increased need for food during the summer months. Specifically, the New Hampshire Food Bank and local food pantries have the added strain of families needing more food because they cannot rely upon the school for a hot lunch for their children.

Donations of all sizes are welcomed and encouraged. Thank you to all who donate to the NHWBA food drive!

Women in the News

The Honorable Tina Nadeau was confirmed by the Executive Council on April 13, 2011, as Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court. Judge Nadeau has dedicated her career to public service for the State of New Hampshire. After receiving her undergraduate degree at the University of New Hampshire in 1985, she received her law degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law (then Franklin Pierce Law Center). She began her legal career in the Homicide Division of the New Hampshire Attorney General's office, and then served as legal counsel to Governor Steve Merrill until her appointment to the Superior Court bench in 1996. Judge Nadeau is the second woman confirmed to serve as Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court, and joins the Honorable Linda Dalianis, Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, in the leadership of the New Hampshire Judicial Branch.

Holly B. Haines, a litigation attorney at Abramson, Brown & Dugan in Manchester and NHWBA president, will receive the New Hampshire Bar Foundation's Robert E. Kirby Award at the 2011 Annual Dinner on May 5. The Robert E. Kirby Award was established in 1996 to honor the memory of Bob Kirby, a young lawyer "of great skill, civility and good humor" who died that year at the age of 35. The purpose of the award is to honor Bob's memory and to remind all of us that decency, courtesy and perspective neither inhibits nor defeats excellent advocacy. The Kirby Award recipient is an attorney 35 years old or younger who demonstrates the traits of civility, courtesy, perspective and excellent advocacy.

Women in Law: By the Numbers

Click here to check out the newly updated statistics on women in the legal profession provided by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession.

Another interesting link is the clickable US map provided by the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. After choosing a state, click on "Legal Occupations" to get data on numbers and wages in a variety of areas of legal employment.

4th Annual New Hampshire Women's
Leadership Summit

When: June 10, 2011

Where: Nashua Community College

Keynote Speaker: Annabel Beerel, PhD and Dee Lee

The NH Women's Leadership Summit is a day long event that aims to raise awareness of the personal and professional capacities and skills needed to advance in the competitive and changing world of the 21st century. This statewide event is brings together women interested in both personal and professional growth and in optimizing their career choices now and in the future.

Registration is open. Click here to register and to learn more about the program.

National Conference of Women's Bar Associations

Women's Bar Leader Summit: Strength Across Borders

Friday, August 5, 2011

Save the date on August 5, 2011 for the NCWBA's annual Women's Bar Leader Summit which will occur in conjunction with the ABA's Annual Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This year the summit topic is Strength Across Borders and the Summit will be held in downtown Toronto on Friday, August 5th. As usual, the Summit will be a full day of inspiring motivational speakers, opportunities for networking, interesting panels and the exchange of best practices for women's bar associations, and it will have the added benefit of being able to take advantage of meeting Canadian lawyers in Canada's largest city to learn their best practices and how gender matters across borders. We'll have more details soon, but in the meantime, please mark your calendar!

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!

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