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YOU SHOULD KNOW …there is a lot going on at the NHBA! June 2008 There is a lot going on through the New Hampshire Bar Association! While it is difficult to paint a concise and complete picture of what your professional organization produces, this report is intended to give you just a glimpse of some of what has gone on lately. Communications Coordination of marketing efforts begins. We have begun work on a new approach to marketing of Bar Association programs and services. Communications Director Dan Wise is supervising Anne Breault and Rose Anocibar (detached from their regular duties for 1 day each week) to operate as a marketing team that will brainstorm with various departments, develop ads and other materials and help ensure that members see these messages through various channels --- mailings, house ads, exhibits at Bar events…The goal is to more effectively spread the word about what we do and create a more coherent Bas Association “brand.” Meanwhile: “Did You Know?...” feature in Bar News - an outcome of Eleanor Dahar’s Survey Committee– was recently seen used by Governor’s Office website and Casemaker parent company. Internet Services Casemaker Webinar training held Monday, June 16 by the Casemaker folks to assist police prosecutors who are non-member subscribers to Casemaker. The Webinar is part of a legal research class conducted by a Pierce Law faculty member at the NH Police Academy during Police Prosecutor School. This program, and a non-member subscription outreach, were arranged at the request of the NH Attorney General’s office which has a program to provide legal support to the non-lawyer police prosecutors. About 60 police departments have paid for annual Casemaker subscriptions (access sponsored by the AG’s office). Member Services Dispute Resolution Committee - The following thank you note from a member was received by Assistant Executive Director Denice DeStefano, “Dear Ms. DeStefano, I just wanted to tell you what a wonderful job Attorney Lane did on the mediation between the client and our office. Thank you for providing this service to the legal community!” Swearing In Ceremonies
Law Practice Management - Marketing Resources A compilation of articles on various aspects of marketing is now posted on in the For Members area, go to Law Practice Management Tools and find the section on Marketing and Client Development. (User name and password needed.) Take a look at these new sites for advice on law firm marketing for solos and small firms.
Continuing Legal Education We call it Mayhem but it’s just good old CLE programming! On May 14 we offered a 4 ½ hour program on Business Split-ups. Attendance was very good at both the “in-person” program, approximately 65 attendees and the live webcast, 27 participants. Evaluations were excellent. Arnie Rosenblatt chaired this program. John Ryan chaired a program on Advanced Condominium Law on May 16th and had around 50 attendees here at the bar center and 17 on the webcast. Again, excellent reviews. On May 22nd, Alan Reische chaired the program Assisting Clients in International Transactions. Although in person attendance was low, participants appreciated the program. The International Lawyer of the Year award was given to Maury Geiger. We also had about 20 people participating by webcast. May 30th brought us the Environmental Law Update with around 65 attendees here at the Bar Center and 16 on the live webcast. Amy Ignatius filled in for Jeff Meyers who was called away by the Senate. Amy did a terrific job filling in, and the evaluations for the program were very good. Roy Ginsburg, a well-known (to the CLE crowd) professional speaker, presented his Ethical Marketing program to a full house on June 6. Registrations were shut off a few days before the program due to space limitations at the Grappone Conference Center. We hosted about 160 bar members. The program agenda was preapproved by the NHMCLE Board for NHMCLE Credit. Registrants could choose between taking the full day or selecting just morning or afternoon. Ninety participants opted for the full day; 46 chose to attend the morning session only; and another 30 attended just the afternoon session. One member told Jo Hinnendael that he thinks the program should have been “required” for all members! It was a very practical and entertaining program. The evaluations were excellent and members want him back. Ginsburg had also offered to fly to NH earlier on June 5th to offer a special dinner presentation on how to market your pro bono work (“It Pays to be Good” - a one-hour keynote called The Business Case for Pro Bono - Make Pro Bono an Integral Part of Your Success. This program demonstrates how taking on pro bono work is not only the right thing to do, but also sharpens individual legal skills and exposes the firm to prospective new clients). The Granite State Association of Legal Administrators sponsored the dinner held at the Grappone Conference Center with assistance from the NHBA Insurance Agency, Inc. (sponsor of 10 pro bono participant tickets). Approximately 12 members of the GSALA attended with some of their managing partners. Fun Fact: It was discovered that Steve Winer from Orr & Reno, graduated from law school with Roy and they enjoyed reminiscing about the good old days. Some pro bono staff attended and took away some good information for their volunteers. Thanks to Tom Manter for connecting this organization with the CLE Department. Finally, the June session of the new lawyer Practical Skills Course was held on June 11 and 12. Enrollment rose beyond expectations for this session. Approximately 140 new members attended, 60 of those were waive-ins. Carol Brooks from the CLE Committee facilitated the introductions in the morning. Members heard from Jeannine McCoy, Cecie Hartigan and Jaye Rancourt during the lunch hour. Audience members were very attentive and appreciative of the information given. The preparation for this program is very labor intensive: The NH Practice and Procedure Manual received a complete update for 2008 and members received a nice tote bag for carrying around all the goodies collected. CLE Staff were able to set up the registration table the night before. The set-up actually took almost 2 hours (unpacking enough two volume sets of the Manual, putting those into the tote bags, along with the paperwork and handouts for certification to the Court, etc.) on the hottest day of the year – so far…! Prior to the program, bar staff duplicated enough DVDs and CD-roms of the Trust Accounting CLE Program from 2006, which is given to all new members thanks to funding from the NH Bar Foundation. Entering 140 registrations, answering a bazillion calls from new lawyers with questions, and collating all the materials, takes considerable amount of time and the CLE Staff are still smiling! Thanks to Anne, Cheryl, Patty, Priscilla, Pam and Terri for a great job done. In addition, we had exhibitor tables from the Lawyer Referral Service, Pro Bono Program, DOVE, Member Services, and the NHBA Insurance Agency. This is one of the most rewarding programs we do. The new lawyers are very very thankful and feel very welcome by the Bar. Jo made sure to plug Annual Meeting and told members to watch for notices about the 2009 Professional Day program. Two new members from Massachusetts could not believe how welcomed they feel to the practice in New Hampshire. They told me they don’t get treated this well in Massachusetts. Another member said even taking the Bar Exam was a pleasant experience because the exam monitor made them feel so comfortable and relaxed. We interrupt this message for words “straight from the horse’s ….mouth”…this just in from a Practical Skills attendee: It was a pleasure meeting you in person today at the Grappone Center. The practical skills program was excellent. I take a lot of ceu at MCLE in Boston which are very good but I though the panels at today’s presentation were superb! The NH bar still (and hopefully for a long time to come) has a small town flavor. I am writing to you because I completely forgot to take my materials home. Somewhere at the Grappone Center my green bag with vol 1 and vol 2 sits undisturbed. Could I ask you to set it aside if someone found it or put together an another one. The written material was very well done and I’ll need it. In addition to the regular New Englanders, we had new members from Texas (at least 2), California (1), Kentucky (1) and one from Alaska! This is from the list of pre-registered members on the participant roster (132). The Flight Plan for Solos and Small Firms being offered at the Annual Meeting is expected to please all who attend. We expect about 45 members and 5 office managers to attend this program. Last week, the panelists held a conference call to discuss final plans and they are very excited about offering this program. We will be taping the entire program to put in our online catalog after Annual meeting. The NHMCLE Board approved 4.25 hours of the six hour program for NHMCLE Credit. Law Practice Management courses are not easily approved for NHMCLE credit, so we are happy to have planned a program that does qualify for this much credit. The entire panel consists of solos and small firm practitioners who have volunteered many hours to this program. Please thank them for their huge commitment to this program when you see them at Annual Meeting. On June 27th we are offering an ethics program chaired by Bill Chapman on the New Rules of Professional Conduct. The live in-person program has sold out and we are pushing the live webcast now. We already have about 40 signed up for the webcast. Last year we offered a similar last minute ethics program hosting 90 in the NHBA Seminar Room and 177 on the webcast. We’re hoping to reach 200 for the webcast this year. Finally, the proof is in the marketing. The success of our June programs is due to early marketing. We recently began running an ad in Bar News for a professional speaker scheduled in September. We haven’t even mailed the brochure yet, and we have 10 registrations. The brochure goes out on June 12th and we are hoping to fill the Grappone Conference Center for this program also. All of our September CLE programs are now in the Bar News (June 20 issue). This is the earliest we have been able to market our fall programs. We thank the CLE Committee members chairing these programs for meeting earlier deadlines. They have seen the results of our May and June programs and how early marketing makes their programs successful. Sections And here is some positive feedback about Sections and CLE passed on from Section Coordinator Patty Frechette: She was calling with a request to be added to a section listserve. She said she's using the section savings certificate to join a second section -- the Elder Law group -- and expects that she'll find that list as valuable as she finds the Real Property listserve. She said as one of the "rookie" lawyers in NH, she finds the listserve "wonderful" and "invaluable," and has learned so much. She also commented on the CLE programs she has watched from our online catalog. She really likes the fact that she has 3 months to view a [purchased] program and can rewind it if she misses something. (She also made a point of telling me that NBI charges over $100 more for their CLEs than we do and the materials are not as good as she gets from an NHBA CLE. --- really, she said that!!) As of May 31, fourteen of the Bar’s twenty-one Sections have held elections for officers for 2008-09. The results are listed on page 2 of the June 20th issue of Bar News. Many of the new officers are already scheduling their meetings for the coming year and working on the topics they plan to discuss. This is extremely helpful in our coordination of the Bar’s overall calendar. As of this writing, there are twenty-seven meeting dates reserved between now and the end of May 2009. Legal Services Pro Bono- At 321, referrals for the first five months of 2008 exceed last year’s numbers by about 10 percent, with the most significant jumps found in Cheshire, Hillsborough North and Merrimack. Pro Bono is taking its REFERRAL MARATHONS on the road in June. A session is on for June 18 in Grafton County at Pat Hayes’ office and the McLane firm will host a marathon later in the month in Manchester. If you would like to participate in or host a referral session, simply contact Carolann Wooding at cwooding@nhbar.org. Expanding existing legal services for needy elders is the goal of Pro Bono’s fledgling Elder Law Project, funded with a small sub-grant from NHLA’s federal Administration on Aging grant award. NHLA is currently conducting a legal needs assessment that will help inform the work of the two legal services programs. In this regard, the Pro Bono Director and part-time Elder Law Project Coordinator attended a full day meeting of elder services providers on May 19 to discuss unmet legal needs of the state’s senior citizens, with a focus on hard-to-reach populations. As part of its Elder Law Project, Pro Bono plans to pilot an elder law clinic on July 8 in Concord at which pre-screened senior citizens will meet with volunteer attorneys for consultations of up to an hour. The Program anticipates holding monthly clinics thereafter and to expand to other parts of the state based on demand and resources. Statewide legal services planning is in high gear. Participants have been focusing on priorities and improving intake and delivery mechanisms. A good deal of discussion has centered on better coordination of intake and possible centralization of this function among LARC, NHLA and Pro Bono. Planner have reviewed information from legal services programs in IOWA and OHIO, which have created on-line applications and self-help information made available at no charge to other programs to use and modify as needed. To underscore web-based solutions as a centerpiece of client intake, Pro Bono Director Ginny Martin ( with research assistance from LRS’s Sheila Dion), provided statistical information showing the growing usage of the web by low-income people, understanding phones will still play an important but less prominent role than before. A 10/07 US government survey shows internet use at 42% nationwide for households with incomes of $20,000 or less and 36% for $10,000 to $15,000, among other noteworthy statistics from this and Pew Research Center studies. Though still two months away (August 14), the 15th Annual Quid Pro Bono Golf Tournament has already attracted nearly 40 players. We need to register 100 to meet our goal and believe we will attain this objective! SPONSORS, HOWEVER, ARE NEEDED FOR THIS EVENT. Information can be found on the Bar’s homepage. Monies from sponsorships go into Pro Bono programming, defraying the cost of everything from professional malpractice insurance for volunteers and DOVE attorney training to basic operating expenses, from phones to printing and copying. The tournament offers a day of fun and camaraderie all the while supporting a worthy cause. Collaboration with Access to Justice Commission on creating a common resource/clearinghouse for public information pamphlets on the law as maintained by NHBA, NH Legal Assistance, Legal Advice & Referral Center, and others: Working with Access to Justice commission member Mary Kreuger, and LRC assistant coordinator Sheila Dion, we are speaking with NH State Library to populate an existing database/web site with information to create a single site that lists various materials. Outreach The NH Womens Bar Association and the NHBA Gender Equality Committee hosted a brown bag lunch at the Bar Center Wednesday, May 28th at noon. The subject of the lunch was "Parents as Leaders," and the speakers were Lucy Hodder, Laura Irwin and Steven Winer. NHBA Officers also met 5/20/08 with the officers of the Women’s Bar Association to discuss mutual interests. On May 15, at a reception hosted by the Supreme Court Society, it was announced that beginning in June 2008, the New Hampshire Bar Association will make a contribution, in the name of each newly appointed or retiring judge, to the New Hampshire Supreme Court [Historical] Society. It has been a tradition of the New Hampshire Bar Association to recognize newly appointed and retiring judges at the Association’s Annual Meeting; in the past, these honorees have received a small token of appreciation from the Association. Annual Meeting Promotion - responding to member feedback and the Annual Meeting Study Group report, the Association has planned “a different kind of meeting” for the 2008 Annual Meeting – more “central”, more affordable and more substantive than the usual “resort based” Annual gatherings. Lots of promotion has been done, but member response has been lukewarm. MWM planning (January 23, 2009) continues with President-Elect Ellen Arnold meeting with CLE Committee on May 20, and a planning subcommittee meeting on 6/16/08. A mailing was done to local/county bar leaders requesting they keep the NHBA President and Executive Director on mailing lists, explaining that the NHBA leadership is interested in participating/attending; Grafton/Sullivan/Coos (10/30) and Rockingham/Strafford BOG visits were mentioned Association Committee Appointment Process is ongoing – Chair reports have been solicited and collected; membership interest is being solicited Executive Director Jeannine McCoy was asked by the American Bar Association to participate on a team conducting a Division for Bar Services Bar Association Operational Survey (BAOS) being conducted for the New Mexico State Bar Association. The NHBA underwent a BAOS process in November 2007. On Monday, June 9, NHBA CLE, Communications and Executive Staff hosted 10 delegate guests from Vologda, Russia, with 2 interpreters and guide Mark Larsen for the Open World Program “Rule of Law-Media Relations: Bench, Bar and Beyond”. Information about Association services and activities, including CLE, member communication, public service and governance was presented. On Monday, June 2, Tom Manter and Jeannine McCoy met with members of a Subcommittee of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules, including Jennifer Parent, looking at the recommendations received from the Public Protection Fund Committee and the NHBA regarding fund caps and procedures. Monday, June 16, IT and Executive Department representatives met with members of the Family Division staff to facilitate implementation of the Court’s (Family Division, District, Probate and Superior Courts) plan to utilize NHBA member i.d. numbers to “auto populate” information on court documents. Law Related Education International Rule of Law pages were an overnight success. A new addition to the LRE area of the website – posted on Law Day, May 1, 2008, with content and comments from and about NH lawyers working overseas, generated an incredible 3435 visits in one month! Fiscal year end and begin is a very busy time of year for the Bar Association and no less a busy time for the Law Related Education Coordinator. This month has been spent wrapping up 3 programs which ran simultaneously of one another, Leapholes culminating event, Law Day, and Project Citizen. May also ends the grant year for our “We the People . . .” programs. Grant narrations for the year ending and beginning were completed and sent off to the Center for Civic Education – Thank You Laura, Accounting Supervisor for all your help accomplishing that feat. IOLTA narrations and statistical reports are in the works now . . . “We The People . . . The Citizen and the Constitution” – May 3 -5, 2008 saw the Milford High School team with teacher Dave Alcox, as well as Attorney Martin Honigberg and Norman Cormier of Raymond High School down in Washington, DC for the National Finals of WTP. Martin Honigberg enjoyed his first visit to DC as a National judge representing NH. Norman Cormier, new to the program, was nominated and accepted as a scholarship teacher to represent NH this year. The release of the new High School text this month was music to the ears of those who had long awaited the much anticipated up-date that was 13 years in the making. Schools who have been competing were the first to receive the new text, as teachers want to have the summer months to peruse the new features – so far, the reviews have been “WOW”. “Leapholes” – James Grippando, attorney, turned best selling author, arrived here at the NH Bar Center on May 21 to meet 2 classrooms of children from Belmont Middle School and Timberlane Middle School. There were approximately 70 students in attendance along with their teachers. The projects created by each class were on display, and each class had the opportunity to showcase their creations for Mr. Grippando and each other. The event was deemed a “SMASH HIT” by the Bar News staff who were on hand to video, photograph, and are at this time in production of their second “YouTube” event for LRE. “Leapholes” in NH gained quite a bit of attention over the year and was nominated for a NABE Award, highlighted in the ABA May electronic newsletter and will be featured in the summer edition of the Bar Leader magazine. Information about the program remains on the LRE Web site for schools who wish to use the program in the classroom. The LRE Coordinator will help schools who wish to purchase books do so at a reduced rate. “A Lawyer and Judge In Every School” – This year’s numbers topped last year’s for Attorney Volunteers involved, schools participating as well as students reached. 129 Attorney Volunteers along with 4 Judge Volunteers, including the Chief Justice and one Federal Judge visited 97 schools and visited with 8,749 students. Members were able to utilize the Law Related Education Web site to find information and needed materials and lesson plans to use in their various classrooms as well as Career Day settings. Materials were actually requested from Attorney Volunteers from as far away as Honolulu, HI to be used in the classroom to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Law Day this year. “We The People. . .Project Citizen” – The State Showcase for Project Citizen was a success. Once again the Legislative Office Building in Concord, NH was the perfect setting for the Portfolio evaluations as 10 members along with other Bar staff and community members came out to rate the work the students had put into the learning process of identifying and studying a public policy issue. Fairgrounds Middle School students came away with the “Superior” rating which allowed their portfolio, “Styrofoam, You’re Going Home”, to be sent on to the National Showcase held in conjunction with the National Conference of State Legislatures in New Orleans, LA in July. NHCSS – two proposals submitted to the NHCSS for the Annual gathering of Social Studies teachers in Manchester each October were not accepted this year. We look forward to taking part and bringing the programs of Law Related Education as well as the “We the People . . .” programs to teachers attending in a very different format this year. We will showcase our programs in the vendor section of the conference and utilize a one on one approach as teachers peruse the offerings during breaks between workshops. Both Amy Vandersall and Mike Brosnan, Districit Coordinators for the WTP and Project Citizen programs, will be on hand to sign teachers up for further trainings and textbooks where applicable. Your Guide to NH Courts – Posters have arrived and are available upon request. We will work with the courts to be sure of an even distribution across the state. Law Related Education Requests:
Administration and Information Technology ANNUAL BAR DUES & COURT FEES MAILING After more than a month of planning and preparations, Accounting and IT staff processed the annual Bar Dues and Court Fees invoices for 4653 Active and 1608 Inactive members over the weekend of May 31. With the help of staff from other departments, and volunteers from the R.S.V.P. organization, the dues packets were mailed on June 3, and are due by July 1. This year, in response to a BOG suggestion that we make members more aware of the difference between Dues and Fees, we asked members in the instructions and on the forms to write a separate check for their Court Fees. We also used two different colored papers to further differentiate these two billings. Responding to a request from Section leaders, members are being offered the opportunity to “test drive” a new section when they renew an existing Section membership or sign up for a new paid membership. Included in the Dues Packet is a CLE Savings Certificate explaining the details of the offer – including the restriction that the free section cannot be one to which they already belong. As in the past, newly admitted members may enroll in as many free Sections as they choose during their first year of membership in the NHBA. NEW MEMBERSHIP SOFTWARE – “THE ASSOCIATE” We have negotiated and signed a contract with Intus Technologies for the new membership software system approved by the BOG, and we are beginning the process of planning and consulting with the Intus staff to customize the numerous modules to meet our needs. When the system is fully implemented, members will be able to access their personal membership record with the NHBA and submit changes online. In addition, attorneys on our LRS and Pro Bono panels will be able to submit their case status updates online, reducing postage and printing costs, as well as staff time. Plans also call for more electronic communication capabilities with members and clients as well. More Public Service Public Information Pamphlets Since the recently updated Worker’s Compensation Pamphlet was printed last month, 900 of them have been requested and distributed to 12 different attorneys, Nashua Superior Court, the Supreme Court Law Library, and SEA-NH. LawLine On May 14th, 5 volunteer attorneys and two staff members from Nixon Peabody hosted LawLine, fielding 49 calls from the public during the two-hour event. Volunteers from Laboe and Associates will be hosting LawLine on June 11th. More Member Service A very happy “unintended consequence” of having the NHBA Insurance Agency, Inc. as part of Association operations is the “cross-referring” of members starting a practice (and thus in touch regarding insurance options) with other Association services such as the Lawyer Referral Service and Law Practice Management information. Sue Morand was recently talking with a member who was remembering 6 years ago when he first opened his practice and how difficult it was for him. She asked if he was still using LRS and he said he was and continues to be very pleased with the referrals he receives. He went on to say he loves the NH Bar and probably wouldn't be in business without us. The Agency recently re-negotiatead a better contract with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company for the discounted Home & Auto insurance program. MEMBERS APPRECIATE EFFORTS OF MCLE DEPARTMENT Here's a nice comment about the NH Bar from a member. Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 2:45 PM To: Dana P. Hochgraf Subject: RE: CLE Credit in NH Dana; Good explanation, thank you, sorry the ABA cannot be as effective as my Bar, will look for my 8 1/2 X 11 form, which I save for situations just like this, and PDF it to you shortly - NLT Monday. Have a great weekend! Bob Kern Received in response to Dana’s information: Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 2:28 PM To: Kern, Robert Subject: RE: CLE Credit in NH Dear Bob, You are correct in thinking that the sponsor (if they're on NH's "Annual Sponsor" list found on our website) is supposed to report attorney attendance directly to the NH MCLE Board. However, we've had problems with the ABA in that they report anyone who signed in and do not list which sessions were attended. Therefore, we can't be sure of what type of credit and how much was actually earned. Once we receive an attendance notice from the ABA from a live program at an onsite location where several sessions are offered, some concurrently, we have been contacting the attorneys (as I did with you by email today) requesting that they mark and send to us the sessions that were attended. This particular course was accredited for the following: 18 general (some concurrent) 15 maximum credits since some sessions were concurrent Thank you for understanding and for your assistance in helping me post your credits accurately. Sincerely, Dana Hochgraf NHMCLE ...and another from a Boston member: Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:38 AM To: Dana P. Hochgraf Subject: RE: NHMCLE Credit Dana: Thanks for the clarification. And thanks for updating the record. As always, I really appreciate the personal and professional attention that our Bar staff gives to members. You folks are the best! What a terrific association. Stan Griffith MARSHALLING THE TROUPS 5-22-08 from Jo to staff: Second, we have a live webcast happening as we speak and I would appreciate it if everyone could be careful how you use the internet today, until 3:45 p.m.. This includes audio and video transmissions. Thanks. Lastly, at today's program the International law Section is giving out their annual Intl Lawyer of the Year award to Maury Geiger. We have a very low turnout today (but almost 20 online for the webcast). If you are available around 1:40 p.m., we would love to sneak in some additional bodies for some loud applause at that time. They are planning to do the presentation around 1:40ish. Please come down to the lower level if you can. 5-22-08 from Denice to staff: The Association is doing a full membership mailing tomorrow of several pieces to promote upcoming programs, one of which is the Annual Meeting. Numbers for the Annual Meeting are down and we really need to get this mailing out the door tomorrow so folks will still have time to make a reservation at the meeting hotel. To that end, I am asking that everyone in the office tomorrow give some time to help with this mailing. The CLE staff will be coordinating the mailing and will let you know when it is ready to be stuffed. Thanks in advance for helping us to get this in the mail before the end of the day tomorrow! Bar Center Usage As an example... 5/21 was another busy day at the Bar Center: Leapholes event downstairs; Brown Bag lunch with 13+ members upstairs; Mental and Physical Disabilities Section meeting; Cooperation with the Courts Committee meeting. In the 5 weeks since the May 15, 2008 BOG meeting
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