Firm membership includes three former NH Attorneys General
The law firm of McLane Middleton, Professional Association is pleased to announce that former New Hampshire Attorney General, Joseph A. Foster, has returned as a director and shareholder of the firm effective May 30, 2017.
Joe will resume his practice serving clients of McLane Middleton in matters involving commercial transactions, bankruptcy, insolvency, and creditors’ rights, and will assist businesses and individuals in addressing and resolving matters involving state government. Prior to accepting then-Governor Maggie Hassan’s nomination for NH Attorney General, Foster served as a director with the firm for more than 20 years.
“Joe Foster is a highly respected and knowledgeable attorney and we are excited to have him return to McLane Middleton,” said Richard A. Samuels, the firm’s managing director. “His experience as Attorney General in addition to his 30 plus years of practicing law will be an asset to the firm’s clients.”
During his term as Attorney General, Joe collaborated closely with the Governor, department heads, and state legislators as well as other state attorney generals to help fight the opioid epidemic through various initiatives including leading efforts to adopt opioid prescribing rules, enhancing the state’s prescription drug monitoring program, and launching a program to train law enforcement agencies to treat overdoses as crime scenes with the goal of holding accountable those who sell illegal drugs that cause deaths. Joe also led the New Hampshire Department of Justice work supporting the United States Department of Justice anti-trust action to enjoin a proposed health insurance merger assuring continued competition in the New Hampshire health insurance markets. He advocated on behalf of consumers in New Hampshire when a fuel company bankruptcy jeopardized home owners receiving the fuel they had paid for in advance. Joe also worked with the Governor and legislators to begin the process of reforming the state’s child protection program. In 2016, Joe was a recipient of the Statewide Hero award from the Granite State Children’s Alliance.
Upon his resignation at the end of his four-year term, Senator Maggie Hassan had this to say of her nominee: “I am deeply grateful to New Hampshire Attorney General Joe Foster for his service to our state. Throughout his time as Attorney General, Joe has demonstrated a relentless commitment to the pursuit of justice and his work has helped to make New Hampshire a stronger, more inclusive place to live.”
Prior to becoming New Hampshire Attorney General, Joe served in the New Hampshire Senate from 2002-2008, as Senate majority leader from 2007-2008, chairman of the Judiciary Committee from 2005-2008, and was a member of the Banks and Insurance and Education Committees. Prior to holding his Senate seat, he was a member of the New Hampshire House from 1995-1998.
Joe will become the third former Attorney General among McLane Middleton’s current directors, joining Greg Smith, chair of the administrative law department, and Michael Delaney, a director in the firm’s litigation department.
Joe lives in Nashua and can be reached at McLane Middleton’s Manchester office at (603) 628-1175 or at joe.foster@mclane.com.