ROBERT C. VARNEY, who last year completed 10 years of service on the Professional Conduct Committee, the last three as chair, will receive the NHBA President's Award for Outstanding Service to the Profession at the NH Bar's Annual Meeting in June, Bar President Marty Van Oot has announced.

"Bob epitomizes the incredible volunteer work that goes into the PCC," said Van Oot." All of the members of the PCC - Bar members and lay members - put a tremendous amount of time into serving the public through the work of this committee. By recognizing Bob Varney's work and leadership, we are honoring all of the members who selflessly contribute their time to the PCC. In addition, Bob is being honored for his leadership in advocating for a comprehensive overhaul of the discipline system to improve its ability to handle the caseload in a timely and effective manner."

That award, along with the William A. Grimes Judicial Professionalism Award and the Donald E. Dufresne Attorney Professionalism Award, will be presented on Friday, June 27, 2003, at The Balsams Grand Resort. (See pages 9-10 for the Annual Meeting Registration form and information on other meeting events.)

Varney, a Wolfeboro attorney and presiding justice of the Southern Carroll County District Court, had led the PCC in crafting a comprehensive proposal to overhaul the attorney discipline process. That proposal is pending before the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules. (The Committee will hold a public hearing on the proposal at 1 p.m. on June 4, 2003. In a related development, a NH Supreme Court Order setting the Professional Conduct fee at $195 for active attorneys is published on page 27. See a related article on the fee increase and an outline of the new attorney discipline system on pages 24 - 25.)

The new process, if fully implemented, will enhance due-process protections for respondent attorneys and, it is hoped, will speed the disposition of discipline cases by using staff attorneys to conduct initial investigations of potential cases and a disciplinary counsel to prosecute them. The new process also would encourage diversion to other forms of remediation for cases of questionable conduct that are not appropriate for disciplinary prosecution.

Varney, who finished the unexpired term of Peter Fauver when Fauver was appointed to the Superior Court in 1992, then went on to serve the maximum of three three-year terms, leaving the committee last summer.

Margaret Nelson, the PCC's current chair, applauded the recognition of Varney. "This award is well-deserved," she said. "He was a very good leader of the committee, and was very effective at helping the group achieve consensus." She said that Varney had been a supporter of the volunteer-driven process but during his tenure realized that, given the complexity of the cases and the time commitment required, change was needed. "He then became a very strong proponent of change," she said. Nelson said that considering the demands of PCC membership and of serving as chair, Varney, as a small-firm practitioner, has made "an amazing contribution" to the profession through his PCC service.

In fact, he is continuing to contribute to the PCC. In a stopgap measure designed to reduce the backlog of cases before the PCC, the Supreme Court has assigned several former members of the committee to investigate individual cases and make recommendations to the PCC, Varney said.

Regarding being named a President's Award recipient, Varney said, "I'm pleased and honored to be recognized by the Bar." He said his 10 years on the PCC taught him many things and led him to realize that New Hampshire was relying too heavily on volunteers to conduct the discipline process. "As the years went by, we were working harder and, because of the number of lawyers and the complexity of the cases, we were falling further behind," he said.

Under the structure proposed by the PCC to the Supreme Court, the functions of the PCC will be redistributed. (Visit www.courts.state.nh.us and click on "What's New?" for more. Look for the March 26, 2003, announcement of the Rules Committee hearing, which contains an appendix detailing the entire proposal.) The PCC would shrink in size, and its focus would narrow to deciding on sanctions of the most serious cases that are brought before it. Hearing panels - drawn from a pool of volunteer lawyers, judges, and lay persons - would hear the evidence in cases investigated and prepared by disciplinary counsel.

Another, entirely separate group - akin to a grand jury - would make screening decisions following initial investigations by the PCC professional staff. A key part of the proposal is the elimination of the de novo review by a judicial master of petitions for serious discipline. Appeals and PCC petitions would go straight to the Supreme Court for action.

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