By Tom Jarvis
At the 2025 Annual Meeting, the New Hampshire Bar Association announced the formation of a Special Committee on Public Sector and Public Interest Attorneys – an ad hoc group charged with assessing needs, exploring solutions, and recommending concrete steps to better support attorneys whose work bolsters access to justice across the state.
The committee was created by NHBA Immediate Past President Kate Mahan as her final act in office and is chaired by Jane Young, who served as US Attorney for New Hampshire from 2021 to 2023 and spent nearly three decades in the Attorney General’s Office.
“I’ve had a career I’ve loved, and anything I can give back is an honor,” says Young.
The committee currently includes 13 members and will always have at least one representative from the Board of Governors.
Why Public Sector Representation Matters
Mahan says the initiative flows from a broader look at how the Bar can meet member needs across practice settings.
“A main priority when I became president of the Bar was to make sure the Bar was in a position to meet the needs of our members today, and also in the future,” she says. “As I took a more holistic view with Sarah [Blodgett], I saw that we could do better in our offerings and support for attorneys in the public sector and public interest areas. That prompted the notion of creating a committee that is specially focused on issues surrounding public interest and public sector lawyers.”
She adds that the approval and announcement of the committee marked a meaningful close to her presidential year.
“One of my proudest moments as president was being able to announce it at the Annual Meeting, after the Board approved it at my last Board of Governors meeting,” says Mahan. “One of the things the Bar strives to do is support all its members. While there are services and support offered, we could be doing more. A committee of practitioners in this area of law can provide invaluable insight into how we motivate or entice people to enter that area, and how we can better support them.”
Committee chair Jane Young sees the committee as a launching pad and echoes the need for a focused, statewide effort, underscoring that many public sector attorneys feel underrepresented.
“When I was asked to be a member of this committee, I thought this was a long time coming, and I applaud Sarah and Kate for their creativity and vision,” she says. “Having spent a career in the public sector, it often felt like public sector attorneys didn’t have a voice. We pay Bar dues, and we need resources available to us.”
She also emphasizes geographic equity and inclusion.
“There are county attorneys in the northern counties who find it hard to participate and come to meetings,” says Young. “Where is their voice? The needs of an attorney in the northern part of the state are different from someone in a metropolitan area.”
Charge and Early Focus
Those themes are at the heart of the committee’s formal charge, which sets out several goals and areas of focus. Under that directive, the committee will identify statewide trends in public sector and public interest employment, explore ways to interest law students in these careers, determine what resources the Bar can provide, and develop concrete steps to promote the representation of these attorneys in Bar activities and the profession.
The committee carry out its work through surveys, stakeholder meetings, and other methods, with a formal report due by June 1, 2026.
Committee members point to common challenges for public service attorneys, including heavy caseloads, emotionally demanding work, constrained resources, and the need to both attract and retain lawyers in these roles.
Young notes that sheer workload can dampen participation in Bar life.
“If you survey anybody doing public service – whether a prosecutor, nonprofit attorney, or public defender – their caseloads are heavy,” she says. “To carve out time to volunteer for the Bar is a real challenge.”
Committee member Marcie Hornick, who has served as both a public defender and now a county attorney, framed the broader pipeline issue.
“A major issue across the country – and certainly in New Hampshire – is that there doesn’t seem to be that many law school graduates going into public interest law,” Hornick says. “People go into law school full of appreciable zest and enthusiasm for practicing that kind of law, but by graduation the number who actually choose that path is just not as high as those who thought they would.”
Young drives home the point, adding that financial realities often pull new lawyers away from public service.
“Life interferes,” she says. “Education is expensive, bills need to be paid, and the pay in the public sector is challenging. Many leave for private practice, and it’s hard when you lose experienced public sector attorneys who are skilled in the courtroom.”
Hornick points to training and cost-saving measures as one practical area for impact.
“This committee is tasked with and excited to explore avenues where there may be offerings from the Bar at a reduced rate that make public interest work more appealing,” she says. “We’re trying to think outside the box to make it more attractive for people in these lesser-paying but vital jobs.”
The committee met for the first time on September 16. Young reports the first meeting was energetic and solutions-oriented.
“It was robust and very engaged,” says Young. “The committee is really looking to revitalize attorneys who are skilled but facing burnout, and to provide them opportunities, even small ones – like CLEs geared to public sector attorneys or perhaps at a discounted rate.”
Committee Composition and Next Steps
Mahan emphasizes that the committee was designed to reflect the breadth of public service practice.
“It’s a good mix of public interest and public sector attorneys – government lawyers, staff from the attorney general’s office past and present, two former US Attorneys, public defenders, people from groups like 603 Legal Aid, and a broader mix that’s representative of the landscape out there,” she says.
Young stresses the importance of representation across regions and roles.
“For me it was crucial to have varied voices from different parts of the state that did different work,” says Young. “One of the key voices is Marcie Hornick, the county attorney in Grafton County, who also spent a career as a public defender. She brings a unique perspective on what prosecutors and defense attorneys need.”
Committee members note the diversity of voices is central not only to the committee’s makeup but also to how it will measure success in its first year.
“Success would be that public sector and public interest lawyers have a voice within the Bar, that there are resources provided to them, and that they, in turn, give back to the Bar,” Young says. “But my opinion is let’s not wait until June 2026 to deliver recommendations. If we have deliverables now, let’s deliver them now.”
Hornick anticipates early, concrete progress.
“In this first year, if we’re able to broaden the offerings from the Bar Association to include things that appeal to public defenders as well as prosecutors, that would be a meaningful start,” she says. “It may not be the complete answer for how to retain lawyers long-term, but we’ll have some practical ideas we can hopefully see put into effect before the end of the year. We’ve only met once, but we’ve already got a little subcommittee going with [New Hampshire Public Defender Executive Director] Chris Johnson, [NHBA Executive Director] Sarah Blodgett, and me. We’re making headway, and it’ll be exciting to revisit what we’ve been able to accomplish – to see how solid the bridge we built is between then and now.”
Looking back, Mahan says the committee also represents a personal milestone as she closed her presidential year.
“I’m very proud of it,” says Mahan. “I felt like it was a nice capstone to the work that I did throughout the year. I tried to focus on making pro bono accessible to a wider swath of our members, and also making sure that people felt seen and supported by the Bar. I hope I furthered both of those goals this year, and this was an important part of it.”
NHBA Executive Director Sarah Blodgett says the committee reflects the organization’s broader commitment to serving all members.
“The Bar Association is committed to ensuring that public sector and public interest attorneys feel supported and represented in every aspect of our work,” she says. “We are grateful to Jane and the committee members for their service, and we encourage members with feedback or ideas to reach out to NHBA staff so their input can be shared with the committee.”
The committee will continue meeting throughout the year and consult with stakeholders statewide to gather data and deliver actionable recommendations.