By Grace Yurish
The New Hampshire Bar Foundation (NHBF) held its annual Fellows Justice Reception on Tuesday, May 20, at the New Hampshire Audubon in Concord, where it recognized outstanding service in the legal community and inducted twelve new Fellows.
The NHBF Fellows Program is an honorary organization made up of attorneys and judges who are nominated by their peers for professional achievement and dedication to public service. Fellows support the Foundation’s mission of promoting access to justice and civics education through financial contributions, pro bono work, and participation in events and initiatives.
New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice James Bassett emceed the event, where he began by thanking attendees for their contributions to the Foundation’s mission.
“Your support for the Bar Foundation is essential to its important and consequential work,” Justice Bassett said. “With your support, the Foundation has delivered important results during the past year in helping to support civil legal services and in educating the public as to the rule of law and the importance of an independent judiciary.”
Justice Bassett highlighted recent NHBF initiatives, including distributing $2.1 million in IOLTA grants to support civil legal services, a statewide high school civics essay contest with over 120 student submissions, and an upcoming partnership with the Supreme Court and Dartmouth’s Rockefeller Center to place undergraduate interns in justice-related roles. Justice Bassett also delivered a moment of levity, joking about a leadership bank interest rate flyer.
“I was a little disappointed to see what they pay on my personal account, 0.02 percent. But then, I got to the bottom to see interest on lawyers’ trust accounts, 2.89 percent,” he said, applauding the IOLTA enhancement committee for expanding the number of leadership banks.
Justice Bassett then introduced keynote speaker Professor Russell Muirhead of Dartmouth College. Muirhead, who holds the Robert Clements Professorship of Democracy and Politics and co-directs the Political Economy Project, also serves in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and sits on the Election Law Committee.
Drawing on Abraham Lincoln’s 1838 Lyceum Address, Muirhead discussed internal threats to democracy, including lawlessness and the decline of respect for the rule of law. He connected Lincoln’s warnings to current political and social challenges.
Following the presentation, attorney Joseph A. DiBrigida, Jr., presented the 2025 Nixon-Zachos Award to Bradford E. Cook. DiBrigida highlighted Cook’s leadership in legal, nonprofit, and civic organizations across the state.
“I know it means a great deal to Brad to be given an award named in part for his longtime friend, law partner, and mentor Kimon Zachos, which recognizes the shared values and commitment to service that they both have,” DiBrigida said.
Cook graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1970 and later from Cornell University Law School. He began his legal career at Sheehan, Phinney, Bass & Green in 1972 and remained with the firm for decades, eventually serving as its president and managing director. Cook has held leadership roles in the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, Easterseals New Hampshire, the Manchester Bar Association, and numerous other civic and legal organizations.
“I’ve gotten a lot of awards, but I can’t think of any award that I would be more proud to get than this one,” Cook said.
He spoke about the character of Nixon and Zachos, calling them “very good lawyers and participants in their communities that contributed tremendously.”
Cook also reflected on his career in New Hampshire’s legal community.
“When you get to be 55 or 65, you realize [other lawyers] aren’t the enemy,” he said. “They’re your colleagues that just happened to be working in another place. That’s what New Hampshire practice is all about.”
He thanked his longtime colleagues at Sheehan Phinney and his wife, Kathy, to whom he’s been married for 51 years.
Justice Bassett closed the event by inducting the 12 new Fellows and presenting them with commemorative plaques recognizing their commitment to supporting the mission of the NHBF.
Each of the new Fellows has pledged a minimum of $2,000 to the Foundation. This year’s inductees are Judith Feinberg Albright, Elizabeth A. Bailey, Michael A. Chen, Patrick O. Collins, Alexandra S. Cote, Joseph H. Driscoll IV, Christina A. Ferrari, Hon. Jonathan S. Frizzell, Whitney A. Gagnon, Alyssa Graham Garrigan, Courtney H.G. Herz, and Christopher J. Walsh.
The Foundation expresses its thanks to all Fellows for their continued contributions to access to justice and civics education in New Hampshire.