EACH YEAR AT the NHBA Midyear Membership Meeting, the Bar takes time to honor outstanding contributions to public service and access to justice by Bar members and members of the public. This year, NHBA President Marty Van Oot presented awards to the members of the Judicial Selection Commission and to attorneys Stephanie Bray and Vicki Roundy. The Jan. 24, 2003 meeting at the Wayfarer Inn in Bedford also included brief comments by Gov. Craig Benson, who reiterated his themes of bringing innovation to state government.

Van Oot presented the NHBA President's Award for Distinguished Public Service to the 11 members of the Judicial Selection Commission, which has been in operation for more than two years. An award recipient not previously disclosed was Manchester attorney Stephanie Bray, who was presented with the 2003 L. Jonathan Ross Award for Outstanding Commitment to Legal Services for the Poor. Vicki Roundy, a Dover sole practitioner, received the fifth annual Vickie M. Bunnell Award for Community Service and Michele Berardo, of Orr & Reno, was presented with the NHBA Paralegal Professionalism Award. (See pages 8-10 for more MYM coverage.)

Van Oot also recognized the service to the ABA of several NH Bar members. She noted that the NH Bar, despite its size, is well-represented in the leadership ranks of the ABA. Van Oot cited Jack Middleton, who recently completed a three-year term as secretary to the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association and continues to serve in the House of Delegates; Stephen Tober, who was recently re-elected as state delegate and continues to represent the First Circuit on the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary; and L. Jonathan Ross, the NHBA's delegate to the ABA, who chairs the Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense.

In his remarks at the meeting, Gov. Benson sounded themes familiar to those who have followed his campaign - encouraging a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in government. He also addressed the issue of making appointments to his administration, saying he had not yet completed his deliberations on a nominee for attorney general because he was seeking to be "more inclusive" in making the selection. In a similar tone, Benson said he would seek "wider input" in making judicial nominations (there are no judicial vacancies at present). He made no allusions to the fate of the current judicial selection mechanism in place - the Judicial Selection Commission created by executive order of his predecessor, Jeanne Shaheen.

Eight members of the commission were on hand to accept the Bar's Distinguished Service to the Public Award for the countless hours they spent screening and recommending judicial candidates to fill 16 judicial vacancies since the commission was created in 2000. The award featured a miniature replica of the Executive Order signed by the governor creating the selection commission.

The Ross Award-winner, Stephanie Bray, has been a member of the law firm of Wiggin & Nourie since 1987. The award recognizes an attorney who has made an outstanding career commitment and contribution to pro bono representation. It is named for Jon Ross, a Wiggin and Nourie attorney and a former NHBA president who played a leading role in organizing state bar associations and then the ABA to advocate for continued funding for legal services in the 1980s, and who has served as a mentor and advisor to the Bar's Pro Bono program for many years.

According to Van Oot, Bray annually handles multiple Pro Bono cases and regularly participates in referral marathons. She currently is president of the boards of both the Legal Advice & Referral Center and New Hampshire Legal Assistance, and has been a member of the Bar's Delivery of Legal Services Committee since 1991. Bray also has been a member of the ABA's Prepaid Legal Services Committee since 1998. A graduate of Oberlin College, Bray earned her law degree from the University of Virginia and was admitted to the Bar in 1987.

Michele Berardo, recipient of the Paralegal Professionalism Award, has worked for the Orr & Reno law firm in Concord since 1998. Members of the firm who nominated her said Berardo has worked with many attorneys in the firm on a wide range of matters, including personal injury, medical practice defense, probate and commercial litigation, and complex family law cases. "Michele is dependable, trustworthy, a hard worker and intelligent - a pleasure to work with," said firm members in their nominating letter.

Dover attorney Vicki Roundy was presented with the 5th annual Vickie Bunnell Award for Community Service. The Bunnell Award was instituted in 1998 to honor the memory of Vickie M. Bunnell, a "country lawyer," who was slain in 1997. It is presented to an attorney from a small firm (four or fewer attorneys) who has exhibited dedication and devotion to community through service.

Roundy, a practicing attorney for more than 20 years, is a stalwart volunteer in the Bar's Pro Bono program, serves the courts as a volunteer mediator in the Superior Court's alternative dispute resolution program, and also assists abused and neglected children as a CASA advocate. She also volunteers for a number of charitable organizations.

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