Manchester, N.H. (August 28, 2025) – The law firm of McLane Middleton congratulates Steven M. Burke (Tax Law), Patrick C. Closson (Mergers & Acquisitions Law), Michael A. Delaney (Appellate Practice/Education Law), Thomas W. Hildreth (Immigration Law), Michael J. Quinn (Environmental Law), Jeremy T. Walker (Litigation – Intellectual Property), and Mark A. Wright (Trademark Law) for being named a 2026 Lawyer of the Year in their respective field by The Best Lawyers in America®.
Best Lawyers is a respected peer review publication within the legal profession. Recognition in Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers. For more than three decades, its publications have earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public, as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals anywhere.
Steven Burke has been a member of the firm’s Tax, Trusts & Estates and Corporate Departments for over three decades. Using his expertise as a licensed CPA as well as an attorney, Steve advises high net worth individuals and families on estate and income tax planning and administration, and wealth preservation strategies. He also serves as Trustee of many significant family trusts; working closely with beneficiaries, family offices, and advisors regarding fiduciary, legal, tax and trust administration issues. Steve also specializes in advising family business owners and entrepreneurs on pre- and post-transaction tax savings strategies. He can be reached at the firm’s Manchester office at (603) 628-1454 or steve.burke@mclane.com.
Patrick Closson is a corporate and transactional lawyer who helps clients form, grow, and sell their businesses, and works with his clients to solve challenging problems with practical solutions. Patrick works with clients in five main areas: general corporate law, healthcare law matters, mergers and acquisitions, complex contracts, and succession planning. Throughout his career, Patrick has represented private companies and their owners on a wide variety of corporate law matters including entity formation, private security offerings, negotiation of complex contracts and general corporate governance. He continues to serve as outside general counsel for private companies throughout New England. Patrick was also recognized in 2022 and 2024 as Lawyer of the year. He can be reached in the firm’s Manchester and Portsmouth offices at (603) 628-1457 or patrick.closson@mclane.com.
Michael Delaney is highly regarded in and out of government for his strategic judgment and skills as a lawyer, having served as Attorney General of New Hampshire (2009 – 2013), legal counsel to Governor John H. Lynch (2006-2009), Deputy Attorney General (2004-2006), and Chief of the State’s Homicide Prosecution Unit (1999-2004). He advises schools, colleges and universities on Title IX issues, responses to faculty and student misconduct and compliance issues. He conducts and oversees internal investigations and provides counsel to organizations on crisis management. He also represents organizations and individuals with government and internal investigations and complex civil and criminal litigation. Michael can be reached in the firm’s Manchester office at (603) 628-1248 or michael.delaney@mclane.com.
Thomas Hildreth has been counseling a diverse mix of closely-held business clients for over twenty years. In addition, Tom has substantial experience in the areas of real estate development, telecommunications, and franchise law. Tom founded and is the head of our Immigration Law Practice Group. He writes and speaks extensively on the subject of US immigration laws. Tom can be reached in the firm’s Manchester office at (603) 628-1177 or tom.hildreth@mclane.com.
Michael Quinn has 37 years of experience as a member of the firm’s Administrative Law and Litigation Departments. He represents clients in litigated matters in state and federal courts, as well as before administrative agencies. He has extensively litigated cost recovery and insurance claims litigation arising from legacy hazardous waste sites. He counsels businesses, municipalities, and individuals in a broad array of environmental matters including Superfund, hazardous and solid waste permitting and compliance, wetlands permitting, the Clean Water Act, PFAS and other emerging contaminants and environmental due diligence in property acquisitions. He can be reached in the firm’s Portsmouth office at (603) 334-6925 or mike.quinn@mclane.com.
Jeremy Walker is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department. He focuses his practice on business litigation, with a particular emphasis on intellectual property and construction litigation. Jeremy is a trial lawyer and has represented both large and small companies in the New Hampshire Superior Court, the New Hampshire Supreme Court, the Federal District Courts and in arbitration proceedings. He can be reached in the firm’s Manchester office at (603) 628-1431 or jeremy.walker@mclane.com.
Mark Wright is founder and Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group and widely recognized as a leading trademark lawyer. Mark has over 30 years of experience counseling clients and assisting them in protecting their intellectual property rights in the United States and foreign countries. Clients seek him out for his sophisticated expertise in trademark protection, management, and counselling services to help them strategically build and protect the value of their brands. His experience spans a wide range of intellectual property areas, including domestic and international trademarks, development agreements and licensing of software, trade secrets, domain name disputes and other Internet-related issues, copyrights, confidentiality agreements and litigation related to intellectual property rights. Mark is at the forefront of the US trademark profession with an extensive practice representing regional, national and international businesses. He can be reached in the firm’s Manchester office at (603) 628-1311 or mark.wright@mclane.com.