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Bar News - September 19, 2003 News Digest NHLA Receives Child & Family Services Award Child and Family Services of New Hampshire recently presented an award to New Hampshire Legal Assistance for its "exemplary efforts in advancing the well-being of children and families." The award was presented at the agency's 153rd annual meeting held this summer. NHLA received the 17th annual Voice for Children award for its 30-plus years of defending the rights and promoting the interests of disadvantaged children and families. Child and Family Services cited NHLA's role as lead counsel in Garrety v. Gallen, the case that led to the closing of the Laconia State School and the creation of community-based services for disabled individuals, as well as NHLA's lobbying efforts for issues affecting low-income families, including housing, Medicaid and welfare. NHLA also wrote the domestic violence law that is now in effect and "has preserved the safety of hundreds of New Hampshire's children," and recently signed on as co-counsel in the Eric L. class-action suit regarding child protection and foster care, the agency pointed out in presenting the award. Disabilities Rights Center Announces Staff Changes The Disabilities Rights Center has hired several new attorneys. Beth Lorsbach, who was formerly in private practice, joined DRC as a member of its intake and short-term assistance team. A 2000 graduate of Wake Forest University Law School, Lorsbach serves on the board of the Alliance for Community Supports and the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. Kathy Bubar joined DRC as a member if its intake and short-term assistance team and this month moves to a position as a litigation staff attorney. A 1984 graduate of the University of Utah Law School, she started her legal career with Utah's Protection and Advocacy Agency, where she became legal director. She was later in private practice in Maine, and held a senior position in the state's mental health, substance abuse and developmental services system. Rose Wiant, a recent graduate of Franklin Pierce Law Center, has also joined DRC as a litigation staff attorney. While a Pierce Law student, Wiant interned with both DRC and NHLA. She also holds a master's degree in economics. Department of Safety Adds to Prosecution Staff Two attorneys and a paralegal have been added to the NH Department of Safety Prosecutor Unit. Attorneys Roni Karnis and W. Michael Todd have joined the prosecutor's office to assist in the prosecution of Department of Safety criminal and motor vehicle cases in the district courts. Together with attorneys Susan Boone and Chris Casko, they will prosecute violation and misdemeanor offenses on behalf of the divisions of State Police, Motor Vehicles, Marine Patrol, and Fire Safety. Terri Hartley, a paralegal providing litigation and administrative support, and Lisa Truchon, providing secretarial support to the unit's four prosecutors, have also joined the prosecutor's office. Karnis received her B.A. from Notre Dame College and her J.D. from the New England School of Law in Boston. Admitted in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, Karnis interned for the U.S. Attorney's Office, practiced criminal defense (including appeals) and has served as a prosecutor in the Rockingham County Attorney's Office. Todd received his B.A. from the University of New Hampshire, an M.B.A from Northeastern University, and his J.D. from the New England School of Law in Boston. A former CPA, Todd is licensed to practice in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. While in law school, he was a prosecutor for the Boston Municipal Court, and he then interned for the Manchester City Solicitor's Office. Todd was a prosecutor for the Plymouth Court Jurisdictional Association before starting private practice in estate planning. Hartley joined the DOSP from the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau at the Attorney General's Office, where she was a paralegal. There she assisted attorneys in initiating enforcement under the Consumer Protection Act., and supervised the Bureau's volunteer mediators. Attorney Karnis covers the primary courts in Derry, Manchester, Merrimack, Nashua, and Salem and the secondary courts in the southern region of the state. Attorney Todd covers the primary courts in Franklin, Laconia, Plymouth and the secondary courts in the northwest region, as well as Marine Patrol cases. Attorney Boone covers the primary courts in Auburn, Dover, Exeter, Hampton, Portsmouth and Rochester and the secondary courts in the seacoast area. Attorney Casko covers the primary courts in Concord, Hooksett and Keene and the secondary courts in the central region of the state. The prosecutor's office is supervised by Assistant Commissioner John A. Stephen and has its central office at the Department of Safety in Concord. To reach the DOSP, call (603) 271-8421. Kamasinski Appeals Suit Dismissal Legal activist Theodore Kamasinski has filed an appeal with the First Circuit Court of Appeals of a dismissal by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen McAuliffe of Kamasinski's attempt to seek federal court review of unfavorable rulings by NH Superior Court Judge Edward Fitzgerald. (See Aug. 15 Bar News.) The superior court judge had enjoined Kamasinski from legal representation of others in violation of RSA 311.7. The litigation began when Kamasinski filed a petition with the superior court two years ago asking it to declare that his activities on behalf of others did not constitute the unauthorized practice of law.
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