Speeches
Justice John T. Broderick Jr.
New Hampshire Trial
Lawyers Association
Twenty-fifth Anniversary Dinner
December 18, 2002
It is so nice to be here tonight and to be among friends. I can’t tell you how much I’ve looked forward to being with you. It is a particular honor to be speaking to all of you on this special anniversary. I, like Steve Tober, have a lot of fond memories of the early days of the Trial Lawyers and it is more than appropriate that you honor the past presidents who worked so hard to make you such an important part of New Hampshire’s legal landscape.
I was barely 30 years old when I helped organize this Association and it is hard to imagine that so many years have passed. I knew a lot more at thirty than I know today, or at least I thought I did. When I think back I can barely believe how fortunate I was to be at Devine, Millimet, under the tutelage of great lawyers and good people, learning to be a trial lawyer – something I had wanted to do since I was in the seventh grade.
So many of you in this room tonight taught me how special it is to be a New Hampshire lawyer and so many of you are part of my indelible memories of trial practice. To say thank you seems inadequate.
Although I have enjoyed my time as a judge – with a few notable exceptions – I have missed your company, your stories and your strength. I truly loved the trial courtroom, with its special rhythms and challenges and the unique opportunity it afforded me to help craft a just result. There is no place quite as magical or intense as the pit of a trial when the only thing standing between you and the finish line is the critical cross-examination of a key witness. I walked without a net for twenty-two years in the courtrooms of this state – and sometimes beyond, and there are days when I sorely miss the exhilaration. But mostly, I have missed being with all of you.
As you know seven years ago, I left your company to take a quiet, out-of-the-way job on the supreme court. It promised to be a place where no one knew your face and few knew your name and where you would have the unique privilege and responsibility to guard and develop the law. I remember Governor Merrill telling me I would enjoy my public service – I would be out of politics and away from the media. How am I doing? I was thinking of writing a book about my years on the bench but decided against it because I feared it might be mistaken for bad fiction.
My role is much different now than it was when I took part in your day-to-day life, but please know the respect, admiration and affection I have for all of you. My job and the opportunity it presents to ensure that justice is more than an aspiration would be impossible without your courage, your sacrifice and your steadfast commitment to the promise of our constitution. You are a distinguished group of lawyers who safeguard the rights of so many. Whatever my future may hold, when I look back on my career, I will always consider myself, first, a trial lawyer. I will always consider myself one of you.
Because we share a common love and a common commitment, I would like to spend a few minutes tonight discussing the gathering clouds I see on the horizon and the dangers they present to the profession of trial lawyering and, indeed, to the entire system of trial practice. I am fearful that rising costs, uncertain results, private justice and delays will drive more would-be litigants from the trial process and into conference rooms, without records, without appeals, and without the opportunity for the community’s voice to be heard. I am concerned that during the next decade unless the courts, the legislature, the citizens and the trial lawyers unite in a common vision of justice, the critical role of the trial courtroom in developing the common law of New Hampshire and in ensuring community-based justice may well be lost or at least substantially diminished.
If we continue on our present journey, I foresee the day when courtrooms will be used almost exclusively to prosecute criminal cases, review land use decisions, adjudicate statutory appeals and allow pro se litigants the opportunity to continue to under-represent their own interests. If the courts are not permitted to keep pace with technology and enhance the speed and efficiency of dispute resolution, they will surely lose their relevance and their customers. If the legislature does not adequately fund the court system and continually support its mission, there is no way the system can hire and retain good people, instill confidence, perform effectively and ensure innovation. I am certain that the world around us is becoming exponentially more complicated and more time-driven and that an under-funded and understaffed court system will lose its attractiveness and fail to fulfill its constitutional obligations. We cannot let that happen.
Trial lawyers will also need to reinvent themselves so that their rates are affordable to more people and their services more widely available. Trial lawyers will need to spend less time and money on defensive lawyering and more time getting to the essence of a dispute and finding a just and acceptable way out. Clients will need to be more realistic, less expectant and more accepting of the fact that litigation and dispute resolution, generally, rarely produce perfect results. Everyone must recognize that too much time equals too much money.
The courts, if adequately funded, need to become increasingly user-friendly, eliminate needless red tape, keep pace with private sector technology and expectations, be more respectful of other people’s time and find new ways to reward and recognize its best and brightest. Courts need to expand their capacity for meaningful alternative dispute resolution and to make courtrooms more readily available to those cases which cannot be settled but cry out for a timely resolution. The courts need to try new systems and need the capacity to operate at full staff and with technology fit for the modern era. The courts are in the service industry and we need legislative and executive help to bolster our front lines and support our incredibly dedicated staff.
Collectively, all of us must do all we can to ensure pro se and pro bono litigants fair opportunities for access to justice. As a member of the Legal Services National Board of Directors for the past nine years, I know firsthand the needs. I am very proud of the extraordinary efforts of New Hampshire lawyers in donating their time and talents to the less fortunate. More of the bar’s membership need to join the cause and the courts need to do more to help you keep the costs and burdens of representation down. (Tell story.)
I believe that all of us share a common interest in doing all we can to ensure that the branches of government in New Hampshire work constructively and cooperatively wherever possible. The administration of justice is far too important to be held captive to isolated anecdotes, real or imagined, or to yesterday’s disputes and controversies. The system all of us work in and honor is not ours. It belongs to the people of New Hampshire who have every right to expect that we and their representatives will do all we can to make it accessible, affordable, efficient and fair.
I have the privilege to work on a court and in a branch of government which stands ready to look beyond yesterday to advance the interests of so many who need the level playing field New Hampshire justice is duty-bound to provide. I encourage all here tonight to join us. Your skills, generosity, and practical wisdom are exceptional and your capacity to effect real change is well respected. I look forward, along with my colleagues and others, to working with the new legislature and the new governor to continue to improve the services the courts in New Hampshire have historically provided. I am encouraged by the customer-focused and inclusive message of Governor-elect Benson and by the thoughtfulness and experience Senator Peterson will bring to his new position as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. I congratulate Senator Eaton on his election as Senate President and believe that he, too, wants to move forward. I look forward to working with the many good people in the House and to the start of a new dialogue. We share so many common and important interests and we all serve the same constituency. There is no shortage of work to be done.
As I close, I want to extend a personal thank you to each of you on behalf of Patti, myself and my entire family for your support, understanding and many kindnesses during a very difficult time in our lives. I also want to acknowledge the extraordinary selflessness of so many people who have shared with us their own personal stories of tragedy and triumph. New Hampshire is a special place. We look forward to the day when our entire family is reunited.
I am more at peace and more humbled than I have ever been in my life. I am also more hopeful and more thankful. Patti and I are particularly grateful for our first grandchild, our granddaughter Megan, who was born on December 4th in Hartford, Connecticut. She is the nicest Christmas gift Patti and I have ever received. Thank you again for the honor of letting me be part of your special evening. It really is nice to be back.
