The NH Bar Foundation will present its annual Robert E. Kirby Award to attorney Mary E. Tenn of the law firm Tenn and Tenn, PA. Tenn will receive the award at the Bar Foundation's Annual Dinner, to be held Thursday, May 26, at C.R. Sparks in Bedford.

The Kirby award is presented to an attorney 35 years old or younger in recognition of outstanding professionalism and civility. The NHBF established the award in 1996 to honor the memory of Bob Kirby, a young lawyer "of great skill, civility and good humor" who died that year at the age of 35. Kirby was an attorney with the Concord law firm Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell. The Kirby Award recipient is chosen by a committee of judges from the U.S. District Court and New Hampshire's supreme, superior, probate and district courts.

Last year's Kirby Award winner, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, described this year's recipient as "an excellent advocate." She went on to say, "I have the highest regard for Mary's skills as an attorney. However, more importantly, I admire the manner in which she carries herself with grace and exhibits the utmost degree of professionalism."

A Manchester native, Tenn received her law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she served as co-chairperson of the Tenant Advocacy Project and as an editor of Harvard Civil Rights -Civil Liberties Law Review. She received a B.A., summa cum laude, from Boston College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and awarded membership in the national Jesuit Honor Society - The Order of the Cross and Crown.

In 2001, Tenn returned to New Hampshire to practice law with her two brothers, James J. Tenn, Jr. (also a Kirby award-winner) and John J. Tenn in their family firm. Prior to joining Tenn and Tenn, P.A., Mary worked as a litigation attorney at Hale and Dorr LLP, where she was elected to partnership in 1999. During that time, she also served as a special assistant district attorney for Middlesex County and prosecuted cases on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

"I have experienced Mary Tenn as a worthy adversary in complex and sometimes delicate issues," says former colleague W. Scott O'Connell of Nixon Peabody in Concord. "In all respects, she demonstrates professionalism, integrity, character and tenacity. I value the opportunities to work both with her and against her because she helps to elevate my own level of practice. She is, in my view, a model candidate for this award."

Another colleague, Gordon J. MacDonald also of Nixon Peabody, said that Tenn is bright, articulate and brings common sense to what she does. "She has excellent judgment, and a sense of ethics that is beyond reproach," MacDonald further stated. He said he was impressed by her commitment to her community and spoke of her general civility. "She always treats opposing counsel, third parties, and everyone in the judicial system with dignity, courtesy and respect."

Tenn said that she is "delighted and extremely honored to receive this award in the memory of Robert Kirby, who by all accounts demonstrated what is best about our profession."

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