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Bar News - July 4, 2003 Meet the Board of Governors IN PART TWO of our ongoing series of profiles of this year’s members of the NH Bar Association Board of Governors, Vice President Richard Uchida, Governor-at-Large John Andrews and Coos County Governor David King offer both serious and humorous answers to our "hard-hitting" questions. Profiles of BOG officers and members began in the June 20 issue of Bar News and will continue over the next few months.
Firm/Organization: Hebert & Uchida, PLLC, Concord. Practice area: Business transactions; real estate purchases, sales and development; professional responsibility. Bar activities: Secretary (1999-2001); governor at-large (1996-1999); chair of Public Information Committee (too long ago to remember dates); chair, Bar News Editorial Board (1999-2001?); chair, Long-Range Planning Committee (1994-1995); chair, Communications Task Force (2003); member or past member of Ethics Committee, Finance Committee, Outreach task forces, Professionalism Committee, CLE Committee, Administration of the Bar Board Committee; faculty member on various CLE panels, primarily dealing with ethics or real estate. Major challenges facing the Bar: (1) Making the Bar relevant and valuable to our members; (2) Re-establishing a relationship of respect and comity between the judicial branch (including the Bar) and the Legislature, including addressing the need for adequate funding. Favorite spot in NH: Any golf course on which long-drive champion attorney Mitchell Jean of Laconia is not playing! What is your pet peeve about practicing law? I have none, but my family would tell you that their pet peeve is that I am not around enough because of my practice. What was the best summer job you ever had? The summer I didn’t have a job and spent the summer on the beach and at the golf course. What was the best advice your mother ever gave you? "Don’t squint. Your eyes are already slanted enough and when you squint, it looks like they’re closed." Or "You’ll never get by on your looks, so you need to learn to cook." What would you be doing if you weren’t a lawyer? See answer to ‘best summer job I ever had.’ What do you do when you’re not being a lawyer? I am an indentured servant for my wife. When she is not looking, I sneak out to a golf course, run or cook. Why do you participate in Bar affairs? Practicing law is a privilege. In exchange for that privilege, we are required to give back to our profession, our communities and to those who need equal access to the justice system. The organized bar, and the opportunities it pro vides through participation in its programs, is one of the best ways to "give back." Favorite meal? Any meal that I create with fellow chef and attorney Jay Clough of Ossipee.
Firm/Organization: New Hampshire Municipal Association. Practice area: I don’t "practice" per se. I am the executive director of the municipal association. We provide a number of services to local governments in NH, including legal advisory and training and legislative advocacy services. Because of the wide range of services we provide, I touch a number of areas of the law, including municipal, administrative, legislative, labor, employee benefits and personal injury. Bar activities: I served a brief stint on the Fee Dispute Resolution Committee and handled a couple of cases a number of years ago. My first BOG service was as Merrimack County governor. In Maine, I served on the Ethics Committee. Major challenges facing the Bar: The major challenge is to restore the relationship between the legislative and judicial branches...not just with the judiciary, but with the entire justice system. It is getting to the point now where the public is being harmed from lack of adequate funding and the continued poisoned atmosphere between the two branches. I would add that there is enough blame to share by both parties. Favorite spot in NH: The Seacoast. What was the best summer job you ever had? This wasn’t a summer job, but during law school, I worked in the medical library at Maine Medical Center. I worked from 5-10 p.m., five nights a week. My job was to do about 45 minutes of photocopying and answer the telephone. The place was like a tomb (it was over the morgue) and the telephone rang twice in five months. When the interns and residents came in (all the real doctors were home with their families at night), they grabbed books and studied. I essentially got paid for studying. I had to quit the job because I got into reading medical texts and I began to think I had all kinds of dread diseases. Eventually my wife made me go to my doctor to reassure myself I wasn’t sick and he said I had a common affliction of first-year med students. What was the best advice your mother ever gave you? "If you can’t say anything good about someone, don’t say anything at all." She also said, "Treat every woman like you would want people to treat your mother." What would you be doing if you weren’t a lawyer? My career preference was the military and I was accepted to the Coast Guard Academy and had an NROTC Scholarship. When I went for the first physical, I learned I was flat-out colorblind...I was in and out in 45 minutes. Law school was my second choice. What do you do when you’re not being a lawyer? Read, and I’m looking for a sailboat to buy. Why do you participate in Bar affairs? I think it was Teddy Roosevelt who said something like, "Every man should give back something to his profession," and I guess this is my way of doing that. I think that I have association experience that helps the organization, and I’m glad I can share that with the NHBA. Favorite magazine? Maine Boats & Harbors and Points East. Book? Anything by John Grisham or W.E.B. Griffin. Movie? Anything with Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jack Nicholson, Sissy Spacek or Meg Ryan. Meal? Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green peas. Tell us one interesting thing about yourself. I almost went to work for the CIA. If you see the movie "The Recruit," I went through the same selection and testing process; it is a very accurate portrayal.
Firm/Organization: Waystack & King, Colebrook. Practice area: 75 percent criminal defense, 25 percent civil. Bar activities: Board of Governors 1993-1995; former president, Coos County Bar Association. Major challenges facing the Bar: Restoring public confidence in the profession and in the judiciary; stimulating and promoting professionalism among our members; working effectively (and within acceptable guidelines) with the Legislature on bills that affect the Bar. Favorite spot in NH: My camp on Jordan Hill in Columbia ("The Jordan Hillton"). What is your pet peeve about practicing law? Discovery games/abuses. What was the best summer job you ever had? Doorman at the Balsams Hotel. What was the best advice your mother ever gave you? "Treat everyone as you would want to be treated." What would you be doing if you weren’t a lawyer? Probably using my business degree to work somewhere in corporate America. What do you do when you’re not being a lawyer? Serve on several non-profit boards, spend as much time with my family as I can, train for and run marathons. Why do you participate in Bar affairs? To hopefully give something back to the profession that allows me to earn a living, and to represent the interests and beliefs of small law firms and North Country lawyers. Favorite magazine? Runners World. Movie? Favorite (lawyer) movie: "My Cousin Vinny." Meal? favorite (place to eat a) meal: Rainbow Grill, Pittsburg, NH. Tell us one interesting thing about yourself. I have completed marathons in all of the New England states, except New Hampshire.
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