Q&A: Managing partner, Law Offices of Nicole M. Bluefort

The Law Offices of Nicole Bluefort aims to fill a niche the attorney says is underserved in New Hampshire: serving people of color.

‘You really need a mentor to be able to grow. We don’t do it on our own. I wish I could take all the credit, right? No, I didn’t get here by myself.’ – Nicole Bluefort

The billboard on Elm Street in Manchester that promotes Nicole Bluefort’s law practice suggests a big-time play into the state’s law community. While that may be true, Bluefort says her path to expand from her native Massachusetts to New Hampshire was a natural progression.

Bluefort opened her New Hampshire office in July 2024. The Queen City spot marks the third location for Bluefort, who also operates offices in Boston and Lynn., Mass., where she opened for business 14 years ago.

The Law Offices of Nicole Bluefort aims to fill a niche the attorney says is underserved in New Hampshire: serving people of color. The firm has staffers who speak multiple languages, including Haitian Creole, Spanish and Portuguese.

Bluefort — who served as a panelist at NH Business Review’s Powered by Women event in November 2024 — recently appeared on the “Down to Business” podcast with NH Business Review editors Amanda Andrews and Mike Cote.

This article was adapted from that interview and was edited for space and clarity. Listen to the entire episode at nhbr.com or on popular streaming services.

Q. When did you realize it would be a good move to expand from Massachusetts to New Hampshire?

A. Around 2016, I started getting calls from people who were just wondering, “Hey, do you practice in New Hampshire?” That just really, really increased over time. When I started to look into doing my research into New Hampshire, I felt that there was definitely the need for a lot more cultural diversity in the bar, and for someone like us where we have a lot of staff members who speak a variety of languages. I thought that we would be a great fit for New Hampshire.

Q. You operate a woman-owned firm, and your team is made up primarily of other women attorneys and people of color. Tell us about assembling that team and what that represents for your business.

A. When hiring staff, obviously the first layer is qualifications and making sure that they meet whatever the need is that we have for the office. Then, we want to select people who believe in our mission statement and what we’re trying to accomplish at the firm. And then we look at people who could add to that diversity of the firm. What was important to me is I wanted the firm to be a reflection of the people we serve. The people we serve are women, right? Some of them are people of color. I wanted to make sure we were a welcoming place for women in a male-dominated field.

Q. What is the difference of the law community between Massachusetts and NH?

A. I’m from Massachusetts. They gave me a successful start, and I am very appreciative of that. At the same time, I said to myself when I started in New Hampshire, why didn’t I start earlier? I would say one of the biggest differences is the bar is smaller. Because it’s smaller, you have more focused on that one bar. And there’s benefits to that, because when you go into events, you get to see some of the same people. You’re running in the same circles, so you’re able to develop relationships a lot quicker. It’s smaller, tight-knit, highly professional, very collegial.

Q. You started your practice fairly early with the help of a mentor, in large part because you need an open door. Tell us about that journey.

A. After I graduated from Northeastern University School of Law and also Tufts University School of Medicine, I got this great opportunity to work for the first African American to be appointed to the Massachusetts Appeals Court, Justice Frederick Brown.

It was only intended to be one year, but because I couldn’t find a job, he was gracious enough to give me an additional year. Three months after that clerkship ended, I wasn’t landing anything. Instead of waiting for someone to create an opportunity for me, I was going to create an opportunity for myself.

I started in the city of Lynn because that’s where I was born and raised. It was easy to let my community, our church community, know I was practicing law or let my peers from high school know that I was practicing law.

I had a mentor who was also licensed to practice in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He took me under his wing. He saw I didn’t know a whole lot about business operations. They don’t teach that in law school. He also taught me a lot of different practice areas, which in turn I was able to teach a lot of my staff members.

There was always somebody out there giving me an opportunity, giving me a leg up. And I’m so very thankful.