Story Archives of 'lawyers'

New Hampshire Public Defenders have asked the Legislature for additional staff and a long overdue raise.

They say they have a tough job that’s getting more difficult, and that low salaries are leading to high staff turnover.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman has more.

Michael Skibbie is an attorney from Contoocook. This past summer he spent two months in Afghanistan teaching his trade to the country?s defense lawyers. On occasion, it was a frustrating experience, but it was a natural fit for Michael. He spent many years as a public defender and almost a decade as head of New Hampshire?s public defender program.

While he was in Afghanistan, he was hired to defend an American in a case that attracted international attention: three Americans were accused of running a private anti-terror operation in Kabul. Arresting people, keeping them locked up, and interrogating them. The Americans claimed to be working for the US government, but it denied any connection.

We'll about Michael?s work in Afghanistan and his work with UNH and the Disabilities Rights Center. Recently, he published a report on the treatment of children with disabilities in New Hampshire?s courts.

Singer, songwriter, poet, and lawyer. You don't often find those four words on the same resume- unless it's John Perrault's. John is the poet laureate of Portsmouth and he's a practicing attorney. He's released five albums of original songs and now, his first book and companion CD, The Ballad of Louis Wagner and Other New England Stories in Verse. The book includes song lyrics and poems by John and photographs by Peter Randall. John's work reflects the people and landscape of New England. His ballads come from the folk tradition of telling stories in song and are often based on historical events and people.

The Legislature has sent Governor Craig Benson a bill that calls for voluntary membership in the New Hampshire Bar Association.

Currently any lawyers who want to practice in New Hampshire must be members.

It’s likely that Benson will sign the measure. If that happens, the state bar association may challenge the law in court.

Either way, the lingering tension between lawmakers and the judiciary broken the surface again.

NHPR political correspondent John Milne reports:

The Superior court has ruled that Theodore Kamasinski has illegally practiced law in New Hampshire.

Kamasinski became somewhat of a celebrity two years ago.
His representation of a woman in a divorce case led to the impeachment proceedings against the Supreme Court's chief justice.

Kamasinski is not a lawyer, but he performs legal functions under a gray area in state law.

Now, some attorneys say its time to clear up who in New Hampshire is eligible to practice law.

NHPR's David Darman has more.