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Bar News - March 18, 2005 NHBA Board of Governors Candidates in 2005-06 Election Voting results update - April 15, 2005 - Eleanor Dahar of Manchester, currently Bar Secretary, was elected Vice President in voting by more than 1,300 Bar members. Dahar, who defeated Ellen Arnold in a close race, will take office as Vice President at the conclusion of the 2005 Annual Meeting. The vice presidency was the only contested race this year.
Vice-President Eleanor Wm. Dahar graduated from Boston College Law School in 1987 and was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar in 1988. She practices with the law firm of Victor W. Dahar, P.A. in Manchester. She is the current NHBA Secretary and last year completed a three-year term as an at-large member of the NHBA Board of Governors. A member of the NH Bar Foundation Board of Directors, Eleanor also has membership in the Massachusetts Bar and the American Bar Association, the Trial Lawyers of America and the New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association. Active members of the Bar should be receiving ballots for the NHBA Board elections starting on or about March 15. Ballots must be completed and returned to the Bar Association by the close of business on Friday, April 15, 2005. For the past four years, I have served on the Board of Governors of the New Hampshire Bar Association, first as a Governor at Large and most recently as Secretary. It has been an educational and an insightful experience. As a past President of the Manchester Bar Association, I am familiar with the challenges facing attorneys and their state and local bars. I attend monthly meetings of both the New Hampshire and Manchester bars and look forward each month to the interaction with fellow attorneys. This past fall, I participated in the Fall Leadership Conference at Waterville Valley. The people I met and the ideas and enthusiasm I received from speaking with many of the attendees is what prompted my decision to run for Vice President of the Bar Association. As there are many issues directly affecting your ability to practice law, I would like to serve as Vice President of the New Hampshire Bar as a way to represent your interests as practicing attorneys. It is important to me that your interests, the concerns of the practicing attorney, be represented on the Bar Association Board of Governors. I have seen first-hand the many issues facing attorneys in New Hampshire. The practice of law has changed over the years. I will work to preserve the best of the traditions of the New Hampshire practitioner but also act to improve the Bar Association to better serve the needs of the legal community and the public we serve. I would like to focus my attention on improving the public's perception of lawyers in New Hampshire. Attorneys contribute both time and financial support to community and charitable organizations and yet we still seem to have a public perception to overcome. Additionally, I would like to promote programs through the Bar that ease the stress on practitioners whether it is through expanding CLE options or providing greater Bar Association support to Bar members directly. The future of the Association is vital to its members and to the public it serves. It is up to us to ensure that the Association maintains both a presence and serves a need in the community, and continues to provide services to the membership and the public. I ask for your vote for Vice President of the New Hampshire Bar Association. Your vote will allow me to continue with the New Hampshire Bar Association, working to introduce and implement the ideas and concerns of our members and the public for the future of the New Hampshire Bar Association. Thank you for your vote! Vice-President Ellen L. Arnold currently serves as Associate General Counsel for Dartmouth College. Her practice focuses on land use planning and zoning, environmental law, construction contracting, disability law, and student affairs. Before joining Dartmouth College in 2001, Ellen was a litigation partner at McLane, Graf, Raulerson, & Middleton, P.A. During her career, she has served as special counsel to Governor Judd Gregg and as counsel for the New Hampshire State Senate and is now Special Justice of the Henniker District Court and a Grafton County Family Division Justice. She received a B.A. degree in government from Skidmore College and her J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center. Ellen has served on the Board of the New Hampshire Women's Bar Association and is a current member of the Board of the New Hampshire Bar Foundation. I am seeking your support for the Vice Presidency of the Bar Association because I want to make a contribution to improving our legal profession and the administration of justice we serve. The New Hampshire Bar Association is an important mechanism for helping New Hampshire attorneys effectively serve the public, improve their practices, and provide opportunities for collegiality. As our practices change, however, the Bar Association must change as well to better serve the needs of the New Hampshire lawyers and the public. I have had the opportunity to work with New Hampshire lawyers statewide, as a client, an attorney, and as a part-time judge. We work hard and serve justice well. At the foundation of our society is the rule of law, evenhandedly applied to all citizens in the pursuit of justice. As a profession, we excel at advocacy of our clients interests. Yes, contemporary legal trends increasingly emphasize and require a wider array of professional skills and evolution of judicial procedures to significantly improve the ways in which we serve the public. From alternative dispute resolution, to analysis and presentation of cutting edge scientific and technological methodologies, the issues we confront and the demands on our capabilities are constantly changing and challenging. Simultaneously, the public need for an accessible, understandable, and efficient judicial system has increasingly expanded. Our system should address needs at a meaningful time in a consistent, enforceable, and just manner. As an attorney and judge, I look forward to the opportunity to address these demands and will strive to assure that the Bar Association is a valuable and productive resource for all New Hampshire practitioners. In a society increasingly estranged from its own legal system, at a time when a dramatically increasing population is choosing to represent itself, I believe it is our responsibility: to improve the public understanding of our system and the work we do as lawyers; enhance the availability and benefits of our professional service; increase the recognized alternatives for resolution of conflicts and violations of the law; and provide greater efficiency in and accessibility to the courts. It is evident that we need more than standard litigation techniques to manage and resolve disputes in the 21st century. We are already into a period marked by the development of less confrontation, problem-solving techniques. The Family Court, Drug Court, and increasing criticism of unprofessional lawyering are all evidence of this developing trend. We are in the midst of exciting times. I would like to make a contribution to this important work. I respectfully request your support in this effort. Governor-at-Large A graduate of the University of Maine School of Law (J.D. degree, 1971), John Andrews has been a NH Bar member since 1991. He is executive director, Local Government Center, Concord, a member of the NHBA Finance Committee, a former member of the Legislative Committee and a former member of the Bar Foundation Board of Directors, the NHBA Dispute Resolution and Ethics committees; Andrews is a current member of the board of directors of the National League of Cities and the International City Management Association. I am pleased to offer my candidacy for a second term for a Governor-at-Large position on the Board of Governors of the New Hampshire Bar Association. I believe I can continue to add value to the Board's work and, thereby, bring value to the membership because of my experience in managing a large association and assuring cost-effective services to members. Even though the Bar's unified status was overwhelmingly affirmed by the members' vote last year, I believe the Association still should "earn your membership" in all respects. I have followed this precept in my first term as Governor-at-Large and in my service on NHBA committees. Examples are: pursuing the creation of a Bar subsidiary agency to explore other benefit lines for members; exploring new office space for the Bar Center; and supporting innovations such as CaseMaker. The "legal system" has turned a corner in the last two years in its proactive pursuit of improved relations with the other branches of government through the outreach of the Supreme Court, the recent report on system needs and the above-mentioned member referendum. I want to help the NHBA be an integral component of making this a turn down the right path so that the outcome is a greater all-around respect for the "legal system" and the Bar by not only the other branches but also the public. While we still need to address internal issues such as Bar Center space, our most important issue for the next two or three years is external relations. I respectfully ask for your vote in the up-coming election. Governor-at-Large Alexander Walker is a shareholder at Devine, Millimet & Branch where he chairs the firm's Commercial Litigation Group and serves on the firm's board of directors. He received his J.D. from the Northeastern University School of Law and has been a member of the NHBA since 1992. Attorney Walker also has a B.A. in English and Political Science, with honors, from the University of Massachusetts. He served for three years in the US Marine Corps and resides in Manchester with his wife, Lisa Walker, and his two children, Rose and Alexander. I am honored to have the opportunity to run for and, hopefully, serve as a Governor -at-Large on the NHBA Board of Governors. My motivation for serving on the Board of Governors was my participation in the NHBA's Fall Leadership Retreat in Waterville Valley last October. Prior to the Leadership Retreat, my involvement in the NHBA was limited to attending the annual summer meeting and enjoying the company of other New Hampshire lawyers in the casual setting of the Balsams Resort. I was asked by Richard Uchida to serve on the steering committee for the Leadership Retreat and was inspired by the enthusiasm and ideas generated by the other members of our committee and the participants in the weekend retreat. I would like to continue to bring forward many of the ideas generated over the course of that weekend to the NHBA Board of Governors. As New Hampshire lawyers, we have much to be grateful for - our high level of skill and competence, our professionalism and the civility we show towards one another every day. As the pressures of the "business of law" continue to compete with the traditional notion of the "profession of law," however, we need to be extra-vigilant to hold on to the things that make us unique as New Hampshire lawyers. I believe that the NHBA is the organization to make sure we protect the culture we have in New Hampshire while making sure we do not lose sight of where the profession is heading. I hope my service on the Board of Governors will, in some small measure, help us achieve those goals. Thank you for your consideration. Treasurer Rob Howard graduated from Boston University with a J.D. in 1969 and was admitted to the NH Bar in 1969; he has been the NHBA treasurer since 1993. He is also a member of the NHBA Finance Committee and the Technology Task Force; he has been a member of various NHBA sections and on faculty panels of a number of CLE's. Rob is a former Merrimack County governor and governor-at-large on the NHBA Board of Governors. He served nine years as a part-time district court judge and was the recipient of NHBA President's Award for Outstanding Professionalism in 1996. He co-teaches the Law Practice Management session of the required Practical Skills course offered semi-annually to new admittees. I have served with pleasure for some years as Treasurer of the Bar Association. Tom Manter is the Staff Director of Finance and provides the Board with regular detailed reports. I review these with him, and with the Board Committee on Administration on a regular basis. The annual budget is developed by Tom and the Finance Committee, of which I am a member. My role in all of this is to watchdog the process, and serve as facilitator. My qualifications are my experience with Bar affairs, and my pleasure in participating in an association that does so much for me and other small law offices. Whether the fact that I am unopposed signifies approbation or apathy, I am pleased to serve for another year. Secretary A graduate of Boston University School of Law, Gretchen Witt joined the NH Bar in 1987. Since 1991, she has been Chief of the Civil Division of the US Attorney's Office, New Hampshire (with the exception of six months as the court-appointed US Attorney for the District of NH pending a presidential appointment to the post.) Witt is also a member of the US Attorney General's Advisory Committee and chair of the Civil Chiefs' Working Group. She first joined the Department of Justice in 192 and moved to NH in 1986. She is a member of numerous Bar and court committees, and is completing a term as an at-large member of the Board of Governors this year. I have participated in the leadership of the Bar Association in various roles over the years, and hope to continue that participation as Secretary. Having practiced in many other jurisdictions before coming to New Hampshire 19 years ago, I am well aware of the special nature of the New Hampshire Bar, and hope to assist in ensuring the continued vitality of that Bar in the years to come. Because I know that some number of practitioners in the State chafe at the concept of the unified bar, I believe that the leadership needs to work continually to ensure that the Association remains relevant to as many members as possible. In recent years, a significant effort has been made to encourage the involvement of lawyers from all areas of the state and beyond, as well as from a variety of practices. As a federal litigator, that is one of the reasons that I remain involved. I believe it to be important that the voice of public lawyers, and others who are not often represented in the Bar leadership, is heard. I was heartened this fall when I participated in the Fall Leadership Retreat. Those organizing the conference had clearly reached out to bring in new voices and those "new" attorneys were vocal, enthusiastic, and productive in suggesting steps to increase the relevance of the Bar to more members. As Secretary, I hope to add some value to such activities because I believe it is essential, not only to the members of the Bar, but also to the public, that lawyers and their official organization remain vital. COUNTY GOVERNORS Cheshire County: Greg Martin suggested I venture out of Cheshire County and travel over the hills to Concord to serve as the Cheshire County representative on the Board of Governors. Based on my discussions with Greg and other colleagues who have served on the Board, I decided that I would enjoy a stint working with the Board of Governors. If elected, I will serve and hope to represent the interests of the attorneys from our corner of New Hampshire as well as small-firm practitioners. I graduated from Boston College Law School in 1978. I clerked for the Honorable Hugh H. Bownes of the First Circuit Court of Appeals from 1978-1980. I took my first sabbatical from law from 1980-1983 when my husband accepted an assignment in the Netherlands. On our return, from 1983-1986, I was an associate at Bell, Falk, & Norton, a general practice firm in Keene. I took off one year after the birth of our first child and resumed practice at Bell, Falk, & Norton until the birth of our second child in 1991, when I took another break from practicing law. Five years later I joined the Faulkner Law Firm in Keene, concentrating on transactional real estate work. I became a partner in what is now Faulkner, Freund, Worthen, & Caffrey, P.C. in 2000. My practice is primarily in the areas of transactional real estate banking, estate planning, and probate Coos County: Assistant Coös County Attorney Keith Clouatre is a graduate of William and Mary Law School, Williamsburg, VA. and was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar in 2001. While in law school, he interned for two summers at the Merrimack County Attorney's Office and served as a member of the National Mock Trial Team and an editor of the William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review. He also has a B.S. degree (1993) and a M.S. degree (1996) from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. In August 2002, Clouatre joined the Coös County Attorney's Office, where he maintains a full caseload. He has tried several jury trials, including a number of felony sexual assault cases, and looks forward to representing the interests of Bar members from Coös County at the Board of Governors. Grafton County: I am a graduate of Vermont Law School and was admitted to NH Bar 1994; I am a partner with Aten Clayton & Eaton PLLC, in Littleton, NH. I was appointed Grafton County Governor last year to serve the remainder of an uncompleted term. I have both enjoyed and learned from my service on the Board of Governors. I am now running for a full two-year term. I would be honored to represent Grafton County on the Board of Governors for the next two years. Merrimack County: Andrew ("Andy") M. Mierins was born in New Jersey. He moved to New Hampshire in 1981 where he attended and graduated from Hillsboro-Deering High School. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1989 with a BA in History and Political Science and earned his JD from Franklin Pierce Law Center, graduating in 2003. Following the August 2003 New Hampshire Bar Exam, he began as an associate with Crisp & Richmond, PLLC in Concord. His practice focuses on the field of civil litigation and business representation. Andy is a member of the Merrimack County Bar and serves on the New Lawyers Committee and Law- Related Education Committee of the New Hampshire Bar Association. He was a participant in the 2004 Fall Bar Leadership Conference at Waterville Valley and serves on the follow up committee to the conference. Rockingham County: Bob Mittelholzer of Mittelholzer & Dibble, PLLC is a fellow of the New Hampshire Bar Foundation. Bob has served on a number of committees for the New Hampshire Bar Association over the years, including the Fee Dispute Resolution Committee and the Lawyer-to-Lawyer Dispute Resolution Committee. He has also been a Strafford County representative to the Board of Governors. A graduate of Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire, Bob received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the College of the Holy Cross and a Master's Degree from New York University. He is admitted to the bars of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. I am very excited about the prospect of returning to the Board of Governors, this time to serve as Rockingham County's representative. My self-imposed hiatus from the board and various committee assignments was in large measure the result of having two offspring in college at the same time and all of the attendant requirements of it. With one son having graduated from school last May and the second well on his way, it is refreshing indeed to see a glimmer of light at the end of this long tunnel. The Bar Association has always been vital to my practice as a New Hampshire lawyer. Early on in my career, committee assignments, above and beyond the work involved, have enabled me to meet and work with lawyers across the state and to thereby develop enduring friendships which in turn have helped me to be more collegial and congenial in my practice. Practicing as I do in three states, I can attest to the New Hampshire advantage of collegiality. From a nuts and bolts practice standpoint, seminars made available by the Bar Association both live and on-line, as well as Casemaker, have for us all been a godsend. These innovations have not come to us by accident. I look forward to working with the Board and Bar Association as a whole in continuing to address the needs and concerns of the solo practitioner and small firm which comprise the majority of our membership. |
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