Phone

Email

wilbur.glahn@mclane.com

Office

City Hall Plaza
900 Elm Street
Manchester, NH 03101

Practice/Industry Groups

• Litigation
• Intellectual Property Litigation

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Wilbur A. Glahn, III
Director, Chair, Business Litigation Practice Group

Bill is the Chair of the firm's Business Litigation Practice Group. In recent years his practice has focused on corporate litigation, including contract, corporate governance and shareholder disputes, however, Bill's more than thirty years of trial experience includes a wide variety of trial work, including the representation of companies and individuals in tax, securities, trade secret and employment litigation. As a former Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division of the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, he also has extensive experience in governmental and administrative litigation, as well as lawsuits involving constitutional law including tax matters, defamation and civil rights. Bill also serves as a mediator in the Federal and State Courts.

Department

Business Litigation Practice Group

Areas of Practice

• Commercial Litigation and Trial Practice

Practice/Industry Groups

• Business Litigation
• Arbitration and Mediation

Representative Clients & Work

Bill has been recognized as one of the leading business trial lawyers in New Hampshire, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. Recent work includes:

• Representation of Nike, Inc. and its subsidiary, Bauer Nike Hockey, Inc., in significant employment and contractual litigation in the New Hampshire Superior Court. This lawsuit involved substantial litigation over electronic discovery.
• Successful defense of David E. Kelley Productions and CBS Television in a suit for copyright infringement and to enjoin broadcast of a television series.
• Successful representation of Bauer Nike Hockey in a trade secret case, obtaining a decision enjoining a former employee from working for a competitor based on the doctrine of "inevitable disclosure."
• Representation of several businesses in obtaining successful resolution of tax litigation with the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration involving the New Hampshire Business Profits Tax.
• Representation of a United States subsidiary of a Canadian entertainment group in Federal Court on claims of invasion of privacy and defamation relating to statements published in Sports Illustrated magazine.
• Successful representation through trial and several appeals to the New Hampshire Supreme Court a class of nearly 20,000 taxpayers challenging the constitutionality of the New Hampshire Interest and Dividends tax, resulting in a several million dollar refund. Smith v. Department of Revenue Administration, 141 N.H. 681 (1997) and 148 N.H. 536 (2002).
• Representation of a New Hampshire corporation in significant dissenters' rights litigation also involving issues of breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of trade secrets.
• Successful representation of a startup high-tech company and its officers in connection with claims of breach of fiduciary duty by its founder and principal shareholder.

Admissions

New Hampshire and Massachusetts; U.S. District Courts for the Districts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts; U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; Supreme Court of the United States.

Professional & Association Memberships

Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers; New Hampshire Bar Association; Chair, Business Litigation Section; Fellow, New Hampshire Bar Foundation; New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association; Federal Court Advisory Committee, United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, 2001-present; Local Rules Advisory Committee, United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, 1995-present

Recognition

• Woodward's Best Lawyers in America: Business Litigation, Appellate, and "Bet the Company Litigation".
• Superlawyers - 100 Best New England Lawyers 2007
• Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers, recognized as one of New Hampshire's leading Commercial and Trial Lawyers (2003-2007).

Community Involvement

Board of Directors, New England Legal Foundation; School Board, City of Concord, elected November 2005 (also a member from 1983-1988); Board of Directors, Main Street Concord; Chair, Economic Development Committee; Board of Trustees, NH Bar Foundation

Career

• Office of the Attorney General, New Hampshire
  • Assistant Attorney General, 1976-1981
  • Chief, Civil Division, 1978-1981
• Herrick, Smith, Donald, Farley & Ketchum, Boston, Massachusetts, 1972-1975
• J.D., University of Chicago School of Law, 1972
• B.A., with honors, Trinity College, 1969, Phi Beta Kappa

Recent Publications and Lectures

• "The Changing Nature of Corporate Fiduciary Duties," New Hampshire Business Review (December 2005)
• "The New Hampshire Supreme Court Changes Rules for Shareholder Suits in Closely Held Corporations," New Hampshire Business Review (October 2005)
• "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act: New Criminal Liability for Destruction of Corporate Documents," New Hampshire Business Review (2003)
• "The Cutting Edge of Trade Secrets-How Far Should The Law Go To Prevent Misappropriation By Memory and Inevitable Disclosure?" with Cameron Shilling, New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Magazine (2003)