CARROLL COUNTY Superior Court Clerk Samuel C. Farrington will miss working with judges, staff, and the community most when he retires from the post that he's held in Ossipee for the past 13 years. Although there have been some hard times during his tenure at the court, the experience was mostly rewarding for a man who has devoted most of his legal career to public and community service.

Farrington plans to keep a hand in the legal system after he retires by providing marital mediator services on a part-time basis, but only after he spends some time doing what he enjoys most-long-distance hiking.

What's made the greatest impact on Farrington since he became the Carroll County clerk more than a decade ago is the negative effect of state budget cuts on the operation of the court last year. Running the court with partial staff and elimination of afternoon office hours was stressful and difficult for all involved, including the litigants. "It really stands out in my mind and is something I won't forget." The situation is improving after the court was ordered back to its regular hours earlier this year and allowed to hire two more employees.

Farrington has brighter memories to look back on as well.

"Another thing I will take with me, on a more positive note, is the impression of the judges I have worked with," says Farrington. "It has been very rewarding for me to work with such insightful, brilliant people." He adds that he will also miss the close-knit staff in the clerk's office.

While clerk, Farrington says he focused on the operational aspects of managing a court. "I did not get into the merits or legalities of the cases; that's the judge's job." He believes that all cases before the bench should be handled with equal respect for the parties involved. "I think the littlest cases should be treated the same way as the biggest cases." He points out that large cases may have different logistical needs than smaller ones, but that the staff handles the needs of litigants, including pro se, the same way regardless of the type of case it is. He cites former Bartlett Police Chief Robert Snow's embezzlement trial last year. Farrington said that his biggest challenge in managing the court for the trial was the logistics of accommodating the many members of the media covering the case without disrupting the court proceedings.

Although Farrington will be leaving the courthouse, he is still concerned with improving the administration of justice in the state for litigants with smaller cases. "The average citizen's opinion about the worth of our courts would be greatly improved if the jurisdiction of the small claims court in New Hampshire were expanded to increase the amount of damages claimable and cover smaller disputes over boundaries, rights of way, and personal property," notes Farrington.

The Boston native, whose family moved to New Jersey when he was 10, went to Yale, where he graduated in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in political science and philosophy. His initial ambition was to join the diplomatic corps. He laughingly points out that with his outspoken nature, he soon changed his mind, and set his sights on law enforcement and the FBI. Immediately after college, Farrington joined the U.S. Army, where he served in the Counter-Intelligence Corps (CIC) for three years, including a tour of duty in Vietnam from 1966-67. Following military service, he returned to New Jersey, picking up where he had left off academically, and earned a law degree from Seton Hall in 1970.

Farrington didn't end up in the FBI. "I decided to go into legal aid." He explains that this decision was influenced by his war experience. "I saw people being kicked around by the system and wanted to do something about it." Farrington worked in legal aid agencies in New Jersey and in Vermont before becoming the NH Bar Association's second Pro Bono Director in 1982, replacing Janine Gawryl who had left for private practice.

While Farrington was director, the NH Bar Foundation was the second entity in the country to implement the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program, whose funds became available to the Pro Bono Program in 1983, adding to the grant income from LSC and local United Way agencies. After a year at the NHBA, Farrington briefly moved on to private practice in Conway, where he realized he missed the administrative aspects of the law. He was soon hired to be the Coos County Superior Court Clerk in 1985 and moved to his current position in 1991. He now lives in Albany with a full view of Mt. Chocorua.

A lifelong outdoorsman, Farrington will pack up his mountain gear and gather his two shelties this summer for a trek across the Continental Divide from Wyoming through Colorado. He expects this will take about three months. When he returns from the west he wants to turn his recreational pastime into his livelihood. He wants to set up a shuttle service for Appalachian Trail hikers, write about backpacking, work on a trail maintenance project in Coos County, and perfect a mountaineering tent he designed into a marketable product. "I just love it," says Farrington, of his opportunity to pursue his passion.

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