UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law is pleased to honor Professor James Duggan. We have created a fund in his name to provide scholarships to students focused on becoming public defenders.
Professor James Duggan opened a public defender’s office in Manchester in the mid-1970s, leading that program for several years and shaping its expansion. He began teaching at what was then Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord in 1977 and founded the Appellate Defender Office to represent those appealing their convictions to the state's highest court. In addition to his teaching, Duggan served as Interim Dean at the law school. He also served on the State’s Supreme Court for 10 years before retiring in 2011.
Duggan is remembered as a uniquely inspirational teacher, a dedicated judge, and a passionate defender of those accused of crimes. It is not hyperbole to say our Public Defender program is stamped with his devotion to justice. His students remain inspired by his teaching and mentorship.
Monies raised for the Jim Duggan Scholarship Fund will be used to award aid to a 3L student planning to start their career as a public defender. We seek to endow the fund, ensuring that the scholarship continues to exist long into the future. The more money raised, the more scholarships can be awarded. We plan to honor Duggan and the scholarship recipients annually.
Contributions can be made at unh.edu/give/law. At the designation, select the Professor James Duggan Fund. Checks made out to the UNH Foundation should designate the name of the fund and be sent c/o Ellen Musinsky at UNH Franklin Pierce Law, 2 White St., Concord, NH 03301.
If you are interested in being a lead donor to this fund (starting at $1,000) or have questions about other ways to give, please contact Ellen at Ellen.Musinsky@law.unh.edu.
"When Jim Duggan joined the Supreme Court in 2001, we welcomed the unique perspective of this revered law professor and public defender. Justice Duggan’s intellectual vigor, his clear thinking and pragmatism were invaluable. He had the soul of a teacher, and the heart of a devoted advocate of equal justice for all.
In the conference room, I remember how Jim would clarify concepts and get right to the core of the problem before us. In his written opinions, he would take “the long view,” recounting the development of the law for judges and lawyers to follow. The Supreme Court had known Jim for years as the state’s chief appellate defender, representing hundreds of indigent defendants. He had an unparalleled reputation as a skilled, no nonsense advocate who believed the way to respond to injustice was through 'good lawyering.' His intellectual honesty and professional integrity never waivered. His high standards, and his humanity, set an example for everyone who knew him.
At the Supreme Court, when we were developing the Webster Scholar Honors Program, it was Jim who wrote the curriculum. He understood legal education and what it takes to become a good practitioner. Today, at UNH Law School, this innovative approach, merging the classroom with practical training, is a model for the nation.
I retired from the Supreme Court in 2018 and no longer sit as a judge in New Hampshire. When we reflect on our professional life, we are grateful to those who offered us their best advice and help on the job. That’s what Jim Duggan did for us. Jim’s law clerks once wrote that they considered him more than a judge but, in their words, 'a mentor, teacher and dear friend who has had a lasting impact on our lives.' I concur. "
- Linda Dalianias, Former Chief Justice, NH Supreme Court
Albert "Buzz" Scherr
"Very few remain who were here when Jim Duggan was a professor, an interim Dean and Chief Appellate Defender, operating out of the law school.
In '74, he moved to NH to join the fledgling NH Public Defender program. Over the next several decades, he and now retired judge David Garfunkel built the NHPD into one of the top two or three public defender programs in the country. In 1978, Jim became the first ever chief Appellate Defender in the state and held that job until the early 2000's when he became an associate justice on the NH Supreme Court.
Prior to joining the bench, Jim was the best appellate lawyer in the state ... pretty much everyone agreed, including the Court. He argued hundreds of cases before the NH Supreme Court. If you ever saw him argue before the court, you saw the five justices listen very carefully to his answers as they trusted his every word, whether they ended up agreeing or not. If you worked with him as I did for two years as the Deputy Appellate Defender, in spite of his vast experience, he would always insist on us mooting him before every argument. He believed everyone had something to teach him as he prepared, even us mere mortal appellate defenders.
As a teacher, he was hard and fair, loved by all his students. He cared about providing a practical education, not just a grounding in theory and principle. He was as clear about his objectivity in presenting the law as-it-was to students as he was in instilling the principle of equal justice to all.
As a colleague, he was the best. He was brutally honest and kind. He cared deeply about the law school and was a guiding force here throughout his tenure. Most simply, he had extraordinarily good judgment about the future of the law school during times when we were a private entity always at risk in the competitive world of law education.
Finally, Jim was one of my mentors, both as a public defender and a law professor. He was extraordinarily generous with advice, both supportive and blunt.
As I have said today on other forums, 'Jim Duggan, by the way he embedded himself in the legal profession, taught public defenders that they are part of the core of the profession, not its bastard children. NH’s legal profession is so much better for that lesson.'
I will miss Jim greatly as will the entire NH legal profession. "
- Professor Albert "Buzz" Scherr
David Wood, Jim Duggan, Mark Sisti
"Jim Duggan was many things to many people – a brilliant lawyer, a dedicated professor, an innovative leader, a fair judge, a true mentor, and a loyal friend. Some of us were fortunate enough to know him in all of these ways. Jim's impact on the criminal justice system will continue for decades, and hopefully longer through this fund."
- Mark Sisti, JD '79
