Bryan Gould, a longtime attorney who has represented both corporate clients and state Republican political organizations, was confirmed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court Wednesday on a 4-1 party-line vote.
Gould is filling a seat vacated by Justice James Bassett, who retired at the end of August.
“I know his exceptional qualifications will make him an excellent Supreme Court Justice, and all of New Hampshire will be better off with someone of such exceptional integrity and character on the bench,” Ayotte said in a statement.
Gould has decades of experience as a lawyer and lobbyist, and is a partner at the Concord firm of Cleveland, Waters and Bass. He has represented top New Hampshire Republicans, including former Gov. Craig Benson and the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, and also served as vice chairman of the state GOP.
He also represented and lobbied on behalf of waste management company Casella, which has been engaged in a fight with state officials over landfill permits for a proposed project in Dalton. His nomination was opposed by some environmental activists, but Republicans on the Executive Council said they believe Gould could separate his past political work in his new role.
“He has a strong sense of independence,” said Councilor Joe Kenney, who represents the state’s North Country. “I have no doubt he’ll do a good job.”
Gould, who is 66, will serve for a limited time on the court: New Hampshire judges must retire at age 70. In that relatively short tenure, though, he could leave his mark on a number of cases, including the latest round of legal challenges to New Hampshire’s formula for funding public education.
During his nomination hearing, Gould said he is not looking for any “particular outcome” on that issue. But Karen Liot Hill, the lone Democrat on the Executive Council, pointed to her concerns about Gould’s history of partisan legal work, and what that may mean for a variety of cases that could come before the court, including election laws, education funding, and separation of powers disputes.
“These are among the most important constitutional issues facing our state,” said Liot Hill, who said Gould was unable to provide assurances of “independence.”
With his confirmation to the bench, all five current justices on the state Supreme Court were appointed by Republican governors. Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi, who has served on the court since 2017 and is currently on administrative leave over pending criminal charges related to an investigation into her husband, will reach the mandatory retirement age next year.
Formella gains Ayotte’s trust
The Executive Council also approved another four-year term for Attorney General John Formella. He had been in a temporary role as the state’s top prosecutor post after Ayotte initially declined to renominate him earlier this year, saying she needed more time to work with him before deciding if he should receive another term. Formella was initially tapped for the position in 2021 by former Gov. Chris Sununu.
Ayotte, who held the same position from 2004 to 2009, ultimately renominated Formella, and after his approval, said that she looked “forward to continuing our work together to protect crime victims, keep violent offenders off our streets, support law enforcement, and ensure our state remains the safest in the nation.”
In his time in the Department of Justice, Formella shaped the state’s response to a wave of lawsuits from people who allege they were abused at the state’s Youth Detention Center. He’s also overseen the state’s legal strategy in several school funding lawsuits and challenges to how the state places youth in foster care homes.
Formella has joined other attorneys general in lawsuits over how tech companies including Meta, design their products in a way that allegedly harms children.
Councilor Kenney praised Formella, saying that he has been impressed with “the amount of work that he’s put on his shoulders, and the way that he’s able to work with his staff, and provide direction and confidence. It’s quite extraordinary.”
