Legal Briefs: News From Around NH

Megan Hilson (Photo by Kate Brindley Photography)

The New Hampshire Campaign for Legal Services reported that 2022 was its most successful fundraising year ever, with businesses, organizations and individual donating over than $457,000.

The NH Campaign for Legal Services is the joint fundraising effort for New Hampshire’s two civil legal aid organizations, 603 Legal Aid and NH Legal Assistance.  Each program works primarily in the areas of housing (eviction, foreclosure and property tax deeding); domestic violence and family law (protective orders, divorce and parenting rights and responsibilities) and public benefits (disability, unemployment).  The programs also have several special projects, such as 603 Legal Aid’s Low-Income Taxpayer Project and NHLA’s Justice in Aging Project.

For the 2023 campaign, Megan Hilson of Exeter, in-house counsel at Brady Sullivan Properties, will be chair, and Ned Sackman of Concord, a shareholder at the Bernstein Shur law firm, will chair the 2023 Campaign Kickoff Breakfast.

Stephanie Annunziata

The Campaign Kickoff Breakfast will be held on Friday, May 5, at the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Manchester. The keynote address will be from recently retired NHLA Housing Project Director Elliott Berry, who will be receiving the seventh annual John E. Tobin Jr. Justice Award. Tickets can be purchased at nh-cls.org.

Shaheen & Gordon adds two partners

Shaheen & Gordon attorney Stephanie Annunziata has been promoted to partner at the firm, and attorney Crystal Maldonado

Crystal Maldonado

has joined the firm as a partner. Annunziata is based in the firm’s Concord office while Maldonado is based in Manchester.

Annunziata, who joined Shaheen & Gordon in 2016, focuses her practice on helping families navigate through conflict before the Family and Probate Courts. Maldonado, who has practiced law in New Hampshire for over a decade, also has a focus on family law, including negotiating and litigating cases involving divorce, child support, parenting, domestic violence issues, guardianships as well as surrogacy and adoptions.

NH Insurance Department staff named to NAIC panels

NH Insurance Department staff members have been appointed to various standing committees of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Michelle Heaton, health law and policy legal counsel, has been appointed to the Regulatory Framework Task Force; Christian Citarella, chief property and casualty actuary, will serve on the Casualty Actuarial and Statistical Task Force; Heather Silverstein, general counsel, will be on the Antifraud Task Force; Assistant Commissioner Christie Rice has been appointed to the Producer Licensing Task Force; Douglas Bartlett, director of financial regulation, will serve on the Accounting Practices and Procedures Task Force, Examination Oversight Task Force, and the Reinsurance Task Force. Deputy Commissioner DJ Bettencourt will serve on the NAIC/Consumer Liaison Committee.