Practice Focus

Complex Commercial Litigation, General Civil Litigation, Land Use Regulation, Media, Domestic Relations

Experience

Jim's practice areas include commercial and complex civil litigation, an extensive appellate practice before the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the First Circuit Court of Appeals, land use, lakefront permitting and regulation, tax abatements, cell tower siting, easement negotiation and litigation, and media law including the First Amendment and New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law. He has years of experience defending medical malpractice claims and has served as trial counsel in numerous domestic relations cases. Jim has argued many constitutional cases before the New Hampshire Supreme Court, including successful representation of the New Hampshire Senate President and the Speaker of the House in a seminal constitutional case involving the separation of powers.

Jim has represented the state's and region's largest media clients, including the Concord Monitor, the Boston Globe, the Keene Sentinel, and WMUR-TV. Jim has extensive trial and appellate experience in federal and state courts, including pivotal cases involving access to records and public proceedings under the New Hampshire and U.S. Constitutions. He has been a faculty member for CLE programs, such as “Federal Practice Institute” and “Dealing with the Media,” sponsored by the New Hampshire Bar Association, and he served as a member of a Supreme Court Committee, drafting court rules for media access to trial courts in New Hampshire.

Jim joined Orr & Reno in 1985 after a judicial clerkship with Chief Judge Andrew Caffrey of the United State District Court in Boston and several years in practice with Hale and Dorr in Boston. He holds an A.B., cum laude, Government from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from University of Virginia Law School.

In addition to a candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, Jim has served his community and the state as an appointee to several gubernatorial commissions and boards, as a Trustee of the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, Board member of Conservation New Hampshire, and an Overseer of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He is also currently on the Board of the Friends of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and serves as an Incorporator of the Canterbury Shaker Village. Since the mid-1980s, Jim has continuously served his community as a member and Chair of the Town of Canterbury's Board of Selectmen, a member and Chair of the Planning Board for over fifteen years, and he is now a member of the Canterbury Conservation Commission.

Practice Areas

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Commercial Litigation
• Domestic Relations
• Energy and Environmental
• Land Use
• Legal Ethics and Malpractice
• Litigation
• Media and First Amendment
• Medical Malpractice and Risk Management
• Tax Abatement & Tax Exemption
• Telecommunications

Professional Activities

• Leadership Council member, Campaign for Legal Services
• Faculty at CLE programs, including the New Hampshire Bar Association programs Federal Practice Institute and Dealing with the Media
• Served on the Supreme Court Committee that drafted court rules for media access to trial courts in New Hampshire

Community Involvement

• Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994
• Former Selectman and Chair of Board of Selectmen for the Town of Canterbury
• Served more than fifteen years as a member of the Canterbury Planning Board, including many years as Chair
• Appointed in 2003 by Governor Benson to serve on the Commission to Study Professional Malpractice Claims.
• Appointed by Governors Gregg and Merrill as a member of the State Rivers Management Advisory Committee
• Chair of the Merrimack County United Way Campaign in 2009-10, Vice-Chair of the 2008-09 Campaign, and Co-Chair of Leadership Giving in the 2010-11 Campaign
• Board of Overseers, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
• Board of Incorporators, Canterbury Shaker Village
• Member, Conservation Commission, Town of Canterbury
• Former member, Board of Trustees, Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord
• Former member, Board of Trustees, Conservation New Hampshire

Bar Admissions

Jim is admitted to practice in the state courts in New Hampshire, the Federal District Court in New Hampshire and the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

Education

Dartmouth College, A.B., cum laude, Government, 1978 University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1982

Publications

Co-authored with William L. Chapman, "Survey of New Hampshire's Privacy and Related Claims Against the Media,” published as part of MLRC's 50-State Survey 2010-11: Media Privacy and Related Law, 2011.

Co-authored with William L. Chapman, "Survey of New Hampshire Libel Law,” published as part of the Libel Defense Resource Center's 50-State Survey of Libel Law, 2004.

Co-authored with Jeffrey Spear, “The Reporter's Privilege in New Hampshire,” a chapter in The Reporter's Privilege Compendium: A Guide to State and Federal Law Concerning News Media Subpoenas, published by The Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, 2002.