Legal Briefs: News From Around NH

NH Public Radio and UNH Law to host NPR’s National Correspondent, Sarah McCammon

NH Public radio and the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership & Public Service at the University of New Hampshire School of Law, will host National Public Radio National Correspondent Sarah McCammon as the next speaker in their Justice & Journalism series on Thursday, March 30 at 5:30 p.m.  at UNH Law, 2 White Street in Concord.

Sarah McCammon’s work focuses on political, social and cultural divides in America, including abortion and reproductive rights, and the intersections of politics and religion. She has received regional and national journalism awards, including the Atlanta Press Club’s “Excellence in Broadcast Radio Reporting” award in 2015. She was part of a team of NPR journalists that received a first-place National Press Club award in 2019 for their coverage of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack.

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.  NHPR’s Rick Ganley, host of NHPR’s  “Morning Edition,” will lead the conversation with McCammon about the climate in politics in the nation’s capital and beyond. McCammon will also take questions from the audience, and questions will be moderated by Laura Knoy, director of community engagement at the Rudman Center.

McLane Middleton’s Christopher Walsh admitted to NH State Bar

Attorney Christopher J. Walsh, of McLane Middleton, has been admitted to the New Hampshire State Bar. He focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense, government and internal investigations, and other high-stakes commercial litigation.  He represents organizations and individuals in matters involving allegations of fraud, misconduct, corruption, price fixing, collusion, unfair and deceptive business practices, and breach of contract, among others.  In 2016, the Financial Times North America Innovative Lawyers report recognized Walsh for his legal strategy that led to his client being freed after 30 years of wrongful imprisonment. Walsh can be reached at the firm’s Manchester office at (603) 628-1140 or christopher.walsh@mclane.com.

Former New Hampshire DOJ advocate for victims and witnesses joins Nixon Peabody

Joelle Donnelly Wiggin, who served as an advocate with the New Hampshire Department of Justice’s Office of Victim and Witness Assistance, has joined Nixon Peabody’s Government Investigations & White-Collar Defense practice. She spent more than 15 years in various roles with the NH Attorney General’s office before joining Nixon Peabody as a victim specialist/paralegal.

As an advocate, Joelle provided on-call crisis intervention and support services for families and friends who lost loved ones in homicide and suspicious death cases across the state, while also working with the witnesses of these cases. She was also a member of the state Attorney General’s office’s Cold Case Unit, focusing on unsolved homicides, suspicious deaths, and missing person cases in which foul play was suspected.

She earned her master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in criminal justice form the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Haven.

NH Access to Justice Commission releases 2022 Annual Report

The New Hampshire Access to Justice Commission released its 2022 Annual Report on its progress in addressing the legal needs of disadvantaged Granite Staters, outlining the commission’s accomplishments for the year and sharing their focus for 2023. 

In 2021, the commission completed a civil legal needs assessment, led by New Hampshire Legal Assistance Executive Director Sarah Mattson-Dustin, which provided research on pro bono services and made recommendations to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, including the assignment of a part-time court staff member to support the Commission, substantive changes to increase pro bono services, and the piloting of the Court Navigator Program in Circuit Courts. The commission also restructured to form five task forces to improve New Hampshire’s Justice Index scores. 

“New Hampshire scored low on the Justice Index,” commission co-chair Mark Rouvalis says. “As a result of that, we reorganized into five different task forces with the idea of making improvements. First, to see whether the information in the survey accurately characterized the efforts that we already had in place. And second, to look for ways where we could improve on the issues that were identified as being problematic. We have made substantial progress in looking to improve on areas in the Justice Index where we needed improvement, and now we are looking at how best to use ARPA monies to advance infrastructure that will serve the state in the long term.” 

 The full 2022 report can be found on the Judicial Branch’s website: nh.gov/resources/committees/access-justice-commission.