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Bar News - January 18, 2002 John Funk, Paul Desjardins to be Honored at Mid-Year Meeting THE PRESENTATION OF two President’s Awards will be part of this year’s NHBA Mid-Year Membership Meeting, to be held Jan. 24 at the Wayfarer Inn, Bedford. The Distinguished Service to the Public Award will go to W. John Funk, of Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, Concord. The award is presented to an attorney who best exhibits service to the public on behalf of the administration of justice. Funk has been very active in the NH Bar Foundation and numerous legal services efforts. He has been on the board of New Hampshire Legal Assistance for 12 years and has served as chair of the joint board of NHLA and the Legal Advice & Referral Center since the creation of the joint board in 2000. According to Tina Abramson, executive director of the NH Bar Foundation, Funk has been a stalwart fundraiser for NH’s legal services community. "John’s main contribution to the public has been his tenacious quest to expand resources available for legal services. He has worked on this in three ways: by fundraising for NHLA, by working with the NH Bar Foundation to enhance IOLTA revenues, and by working to obtain state funding for legal services. These efforts have kept NHLA and legal services in NH thriving despite massive cuts in federal funding," said Abramson. Funk has long been active in fundraising for NHLA and recently took on the role of chair of the "Community Campaign for Legal Services," a joint fundraising campaign launched by the Bar Foundation on behalf of NHLA, LARC and the Bar’s Pro Bono Program. Since the early ‘90s, Funk has led the effort to encourage New Hampshire banks to create special rates and banking products to increase the returns on IOLTA accounts. He was instrumental in creating an innovative Sweep product with First NH Bank (now Citizens Bank) in which deposits are swept out of the account and invested overnight in government securities, providing a higher rate of interest than regular deposit accounts. The product was imitated around the country. Funk then approached other NH banks and convinced many to come up with preferred rates. The Bar Foundation soon created its "Leadership Bank" list (see related article on page 3) to recognize banks that provide preferred rates. "With today’s sputtering economy and the corresponding plunges in interest rates, John has again been on the phone, successfully convincing the Foundation’s Leadership Banks to keep their IOLTA rates up over 2 percent and encouraging law firms to do their business with the Leadership Banks that are helping to ensure equal justice for all in New Hampshire," Abramson said. Funk, who earned his law degree from Boston University and was admitted to the NH Bar in 1973, said that he was "humbled" when notified he’d receive the Distinguished Service to the Public Award. He said that he would like to dedicate the award to the individuals he has worked with over the years in NH’s legal services community "who strive to meet the legal needs of our less fortunate citizens under difficult conditions." The Vickie M. Bunnell Award for Community Service will this year be presented to Paul D. Desjardins, of Russell & Desjardins, which has offices in Lancaster, Whitefield and Colebrook. The award was instituted in 1998 to honor the memory of Vickie M. Bunnell, a Colebrook "country lawyer" and part-time district court judge killed by a gunman in 1997. The award is presented to an attorney from a firm of four or fewer attorneys who has exhibited dedication and devotion to community by giving of his or her time and talents, legal or otherwise. The award is meant to applaud the community spirit that Bunnell was recognized for and that "is a hallmark of the legal profession." Desjardins has served as a judge in Colebrook District Court since 1990, the same court as Bunnell. He earned his law degree from the University of Dayton School of Law and was admitted to the NH Bar in 1979, when he opened a solo practice in Whitefield. Stints with firms and in solo practice in the North Country followed. In 2000, he formed Russell & Desjardins with Kenneth L. Russell. Desjardins was appointed special justice of Colebrook District Court in 1990 and justice in 1994. He has been a member of the Coos County Bar Association since 1979, serving as its president in 1988-89; served on the NHBA Board of Governors from 1991 to 1993; and has been a member of the NH District and Municipal Court Judges Association since 1988. In his community, Desjardins has served on the Lancaster Planning Board, Colonel Town Spending Committee, as Lancaster town moderator, as a director of the Peoples Bank of Littleton, and as a varsity soccer coach at White Mountains Regional High School. He has also been a member of the Whitefield Lions Club and Lancaster Rotary Club. NH Bar President Peter E. Hutchins said that he has long known of Desjardins’ service to the North Country through both his professional and civic endeavors. Hutchins said he selected Desjardins as this year’s recipient of the Bunnell Award because "he is an exemplary North Country attorney who has devoted his career to community service." "I think it is particularly appropriate that this award go to a small-town attorney who devotes much energy and talent to the improvement of the quality of the lives of the citizens of Lancaster, and in Paul’s case, the whole region," said Hutchins. |
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