Legal Briefs: News from Around NH

Flo Nicolas, center, attended the book’s launch event at Harvard Business School last week. (Courtesy photo)

Flo Nicolas of Get Tech Smart contributes to Harvard University publication

Flo Nicolas, founder and chief innovation and data strategist for Get Tech Smart, was among four lawyers and other industry leaders from India to contribute chapters to a book on “Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data,” published by Globe Law and Business.

According to the publisher’s website, the book “has been curated and penned by luminaries from the world of legal tech, and each chapter provides practical insights, tips, and frameworks that build upon the 12 core areas of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC), all with a tech-forward twist.”

Nicolas’s section focuses on the vital role of the legal operations function in utilizing DEI data analytics, touching upon such topics as legal diversity challenges, gender pay equity and promotions data, data-driven monitoring, legal operations’ impact on contract language inclusivity, mitigating litigation risks with DEI data analytics and more.

In an email to NH Business Review, Nicolas said, “I am doing what I can to have a global impact with my advocacy work.”

Former head of White Mountain trail nonprofit accused of financial fraud

The criminal trial of a former nonprofit executive director accused of stealing from the organization she oversaw is set for this summer.

Federal authorities allege that Melanie Luce, who led the Campton-based White Mountains Trail Collective, illegally spent more than $30,000 on the group’s credit card and Paypal account on personal expenses on multiple occasions in 2021. Luce is also accused of fabricating a document purporting to show she had successfully obtained $475,000 in grants on behalf of the nonprofit, which earned her a $20,000 performance bonus.

She’s also accused of submitting false records to obtain a COVID-19 federal loan on behalf of her website development company, Prema Web Design. According to a federal grand jury indictment from December, Luce “knowingly and willfully executed and attempted to execute a scheme and artifice to defraud” a local bank when she more than doubled her actual revenue for the company as part of the loan application.

Luce’s trial, originally scheduled for March, has been postponed until July.

In a statement, Richard Guerrero, Luce’s lawyer, said his client has pleaded not guilty, and that “we are addressing the allegations against her through the court process and Ms. Luce is reserving her comments until the time comes for her to speak in court.”

This isn’t the first time Luce, 46, has been accused of embezzling from her employers.

In 2012, Luce pleaded guilty to four counts of felony theft and misuse of a credit card after stealing approximately $185,000 from a medical practice in Plymouth, where she worked as an office manager. Luce was sentenced to serve 12 months in the Grafton County House of Corrections, and ordered to pay restitution.

It isn’t clear if the White Mountains Trail Collective’s board of directors was aware of her previous conviction for embezzlement, or what steps may have been taken to monitor her use of the group’s finances.

The former head of the board, Matthew Smith, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Founded as a nonprofit in 2019, the White Mountains Trail Collective worked with partner agencies including the U.S. Forest Service and Appalachian Mountain Club, as well as smaller trail conservation organizations, to raise money to restore heavily used trails. That included significant involvement in a two-year project to improve the Crawford Path on Mount Washington, a highly trafficked trail that crosses delicate alpine ecosystems.

“We support trail maintainers; we support sustainable trail systems,” Luce said in 2021 during an interview with NH Gives, a fundraising campaign. “We need funding, for sure.”

The nonprofit helped to fill a yawning gap in deferred trail maintenance in the White Mountains, and provided individuals and foundations with a way to support trail work on federally managed properties.

In addition to the work on Crawford Path, records show the group also helped to coordinate trail maintenance projects at popular hiking destinations in New Hampshire including Glen Ellis Falls and Cathedral Ledge.

A copy of a 2022 audit obtained by NHPR through a public records request with the New Hampshire Department of Justice shows Luce allegedly fabricated bank statements by adding digits to make it appear the nonprofit had more money on hand than it actually did — by as much as $300,000 — as it sought short-term loans.

Credit card statements allegedly show Luce also used the nonprofit’s credit card to pay for personal expenses, including automobile repairs and veterinary bills.

It isn’t clear when Luce was fired or left her position at the nonprofit. Records show the White Mountains Trail Collective formally dissolved in 2023.

A trial in federal court in Concord, originally scheduled for mid-March, is now set to begin in July.

According to court paperwork, Luce now resides in Colorado. — Todd Bookman, NH Public Radio

As Trump’s criminal trial kicks off, Sununu reiterates his political support

As jury selection begins this week in the hush-money trial of former President Donald Trump, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says he doesn’t believe many voters view Trump’s criminal indictments, his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, or his election denialism as disqualifying him from the presidency.

And, in an interview with ABC News, Sununu said he doesn’t either.

Speaking with George Stephanopoulos on This Week, Sununu said he’ll support Trump even if he is convicted on felony charges. In the trial starting this week, Trump faces 34 felony counts that he falsified business records in order to hide payments to former adult actress Stormy Daniels — information that could have damaged his 2016 presidential campaign.

The trial is the first time in U.S. history a former president will be tried on criminal charges.

The trial, which kicked off Monday in a Manhattan courtroom, is expected to run at least six weeks, even as Trump campaigns for the presidency again.

But while Sununu said Trump wasn’t his first choice for president, he said putting Trump back in the White House will allow Republicans to achieve the “culture change” he says the country needs.

In the past, Sununu had said Trump should leave the race if convicted of a felony. His new stance came amid much back-and-forth with Stephanopoulos.

“So, just to sum up: you would support [Trump] for president even if he is convicted in the classified documents case,” Stephanopoulos said. “You support him for president even though you believe he contributed to an insurrection. You support him for president even though you believe he’s lying about the last election. You’d support him for president even if he’s convicted in the Manhattan case. I just want to say, the answer to that is yes, correct?

“Yes,” Sununu responded. “Me and 51 percent of America.”

Trump faces other major trials related to his handling of classified documents, his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and his role in alleged election interference in Georgia in the last presidential campaign.

But Sununu repeatedly argued that opposing Trump now — given issues like inflation and pressure along the U.S.-Mexico border — amounts to elitism that he predicted voters will reject.

“I think all of that was absolutely terrible, but what people are going to be voting for, the reason I’m supporting — not just the president, but a Republican administration — that’s what this is,” he said. “They want a culture of change in Washington.”

Sununu formally endorsed Trump last month, when his preferred candidate, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, ended her bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

In the past, Sununu has argued that Trump should leave the presidential race if convicted of a felony. But in the interview, Sununu said he no longer believes that, arguing that most voters now view the charges against Trump as “reality TV.” — Josh Rogers, NH Public Radio