UNH Now Has a School of Law by Sandra Hume '92

Last fall, for the first time, law school applicants were able to consider a school with the University of New Hampshire in its name. In April 2010, UNH and Concord's Franklin Pierce Law Center--the only law school in the state--formalized plans to create a new affiliation between the two schools.

The law center, known for its top intellectual-property program, started looking in 2008 for a university to affiliate with as part of a strategic plan, according to its longtime dean, John Hutson. "We knew it would make us a better law school if we had the resources of a major university. UNH is a natural fit. We're the only law school in the state; UNH is the state's biggest university. And it's a great school with good people and lots of enthusiasm."

Over the next few years, joint academic and administrative committees will help the schools work on solidifying the merger. "I'm delighted with this plan," says Hutson. "We're both very much of the state of New Hampshire, with lots of Granite State blood running through us."

At a ceremony in January, Hutson expressed his confidence in the law school's new dean, John Broderick, the outgoing chief justice of New Hampshire's Supreme Court. "He's going to be wonderful," said Hutson. Broderick, he said, was a trial lawyer for 22 years before becoming a judge, and "knows the law profession as well as or better than anybody I've ever met."

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