Municipal Law
Upton & Hatfield has made a substantial commitment to serving the legal needs of its municipal clients, acting as general and special counsel to over 30 municipalities. Our experience helps us to provide prompt and cost-effective services to our clients.
In the course of representing our municipal clients, we have encountered and become familiar with the full range of legal issues that a municipality may experience. These include:
- Property Taxation and Abatement
- Land Use Regulation
- Financial Management
- Town Meetings, Warrants and Articles
- Sewer, Water and Utility Systems
- Bankruptcies
- Labor and Employment Law
- Civil Rights Litigation
- General Liability Matters
- Insurance Coverage
- Municipal Highways
- Municipal Trusts and Cy Pres Petitions
- N.H. Right-to-Know Law
- Regulatory Issues Impacting Municipalities
Although our firm has an extensive litigation practice on behalf of our municipal and private clients, one of our primary goals is to work with towns and their staffs and boards to avoid litigation and its attendant cost whenever possible. Upton & Hatfield does not practice solely municipal law. Rather, it is a general practice law firm, but with a substantial municipal practice. This blend of practice areas allows us to serve our municipal clients more effectively, as our attorneys can bring into the municipal arena the skills and knowledge they require in their representation of private clients. We also do not believe that any one attorney can serve all of the legal needs of any town, as the number and type of legal issues confronting a town are simply too broad to enable one or two attorneys to master them all. For that reason, although we designate a lead and assistant lead counsel for each town, other members of the firm are available when matters arise involving their areas of special expertise.
Reported Court Opinions
A sampling of Supreme Court opinions follows:
- Doyle v. Town of Gilmanton, 155 N.H. 733 (2007) - Court upholds minimum lot size and building area requirements.
- Bacon v. Town of Enfield, 150 N.H. 468 (2004) - Denial of variance to encroach on lake setback upheld.
- Dow v. Town of Effingham, 148 N.H. 121 (2002) - Ordinance regulating race tracks upheld.
- Webster v. Town of Candia, 146 N.H. 430 (2001) - Planning Board denial of request to alter scenic road upheld.
- Sanderson v. Town of Candia, 146 N.H. 598 (2001) - Planning Board decision denying subdivision on class VI highway upheld.
- Treisman v. Town of Bedford, 135 N.H. 573 (1992) - Ordinance regulating private helicopter use upheld.
- Feins v. Town of Wilmot Planning Board, 154 N.H. 715 (2007) - Representing Mr. Feins, Planning Board decision denying subdivision application overruled.
- Durgin v. Pillsbury Lake Water District, 153 N.H. 818 (2006) - Limits on liability of Village District formed for purpose of providing water.
Administrative Agency and Superior Court Decisions
- Landmark Planning & Development, LLC v. Town of Greenfield, Town of Greenfield Zoning Board of Adjustment, and Town of Greenfield Planning Board, in which the court ruled in favor of the Town on a major subdivision request (John Teague on behalf of the Town of Greenfield).
- Seth Peters, et al v. Town of Nottingham, in which the court upheld the denial of a building permit on a substandard right-of-way (John Teague on behalf of the Town of Nottingham).
- Town of Webster v. Davis, upholding a provision of the Town’s zoning ordinance requiring the merger of contiguous, non-conforming lots in common ownership (Bart Mayer on behalf of the Town of Webster).
- Rich v. Town of Enfield, in which both the Superior and Supreme Courts upheld the Town’s bid procedures.
- Town of Londonderry v. Freda and O’Keefe, in which the Superior Court ruled a petitioned warrant article void, illegal and unenforceable.
Serving New Hampshire's
Legal Needs Since 1908
Municipal Attorneys