Mary Hakken-Phillips

Mr. Chair & Members of the Committee: As a member of the NH Bar Association, I oppose HB1825 as a proposed. This bill attempts to upend hundreds of years of legal practice in NH by deregulating the profession of law, creating a “freedom to practice law,” and stating anyone can get a license to be a lawyer if they pass the Multi-State Professional Examination without having to go to law school (what could go wrong?!). The bill creates a duplicate and parallel track for attorney licensing and discipline, at great expense to the Court system that is already under budgetary distress without an adequate appropriation to fund this new policy. This bill is simply a mess. A warning: Would you agree to a life changing surgery by a surgeon who didn’t go to medical school? No, and common sense tells us that you shouldn’t hire someone who didn’t go to law school to handle your life changing legal affairs - your liberty could be at stake! Let’s let the professionals remain professionals, and send this idea, based in anarchy, to the consent calendar as ITL. Thank you. Rep, Mary Hakken-Phillips