Legal Services & Lawyers

New Hampshire Attorney Ryan Russman specializes in drunk driving (DWI/DUI) cases, personal injury law, criminal and estate litigation law. Russman Law Offices is a highly qualified law firm with a long and impressive record, and where every client is treated with the utmost respect.

Attorney Russman is dedicated to ongoing education to help his clients win their cases. In the area of DWI, for example, he is a certified Evidentiary Breath Alcohol Technician, Field Sobriety Instructor and Practitioner, and a graduate of the National College for DUI Defense. Attorney Russman’s emphasis on procedural knowledge has helped him to successfully defend clients in a manner unprecedented by most other NH attorneys trying drunk-driving cases.

The Russman Law Office has also gained a reputation as a capable personal injury law firm. From wrongful death, car accidents, workplace accidents and medical malpractice, Mr. Russman has secured countless favorable judgments for his clients.

Finally, Attorney Russman and his firm have successfully defended many clients in criminal cases, and ably assist clients in the areas of wills and estates.

Russman received his JD from Suffolk University Law School in 1999 and a BA from American University. A volunteer firefighter in Rockingham County, Ryan and his wife, Nancy, have one child.

Ed has been practicing law over 30 years. He received his law degree from Suffolk University Law School in 1978. Ed is admitted to practice before all the courts of the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Ed is also certified as an Advocate by the National College of Advocacy. Ed has completed the Brain Injury Association Trial Lawyers Conference. One of Edâs cases was reported in Trial Magazine, a magazine published by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, reporting on the fact that Ed was able to introduce into evidence, for the first time in United States legal history, objective test confirming the diagnosis of PTSD. Ed has argued a case in front of the Supreme Court for the state of New Hampshire.

Ed is also a qualified mediator having completed the mandatory course in Mediation through Mediation Works Inc. In addition, he has, for almost a decade, sat as a conciliator in the Superior Courts of Massachusetts. Please visit Edâs mediation website TheMediationLawyers.com.

Ed has participated in the AITLAmerica Advanced Combat Training: How to Win Big in the Tough Trucking Case in Atlanta, Georgia. He is now a member of the Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America (AITLA) and the American Association for Justice (AAJ).

Attorney Patrick Donovan has more than 17 years of trial court experience litigating criminal and civil cases in the state and federal courts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. As a former New Hampshire Department of Justice homicide prosecutor, and a private practitioner, Attorney Donovan has tried dozens of high profile, complex cases, as well as countless DWI/OUI, felony, misdemeanor and small business and commercial disputes. We pride ourselves in delivering the experience and knowledge of a large firm, with the efficiencies and attention of a small firm.

John Pendleton has been a lawyer for more than 15 years. He has an active consumer bankruptcy practice. Attorney Pendleton is a former felony prosecutor, who today as a criminal defense lawyer works in federal and state courts throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts. John is an effective DWI defense lawyer and is certified in the National Highway Safety Administration's standardized field sobriety test.

Attorney Pendleton also practices in the areas of water law, public utility law before the NH Public Utility Commission, business, land use, personal injury and toxic waste and oil spill matters. His clients include water companies, such as Pennichuck Corporation, municipal water and sewer districts, developers and individuals relative to land use, water and environmental issues.

Attorney Pendleton is a past recipient of the Robert Kirby Award, recognizing a member of the New Hampshire Bar Association as an outstanding attorney, 35 years old or younger, demonstrating excellent advocacy and personal characteristics.

Attorney Pendleton received his B.A. degree from Trinity College and his J.D. degree from the University of Richmond. Attorney Pendleton has twice been on the NH Bar Association's Board of Governor's and served a number of years on the New Hampshire Bar Association's Ethics Committee. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for NH Legal Assistance, as a member of the Steering Committee for the Campaign for Legal Services, and on the NH Supreme Court's Access to Justice Commission. Attorney Pendleton has served the State of New Hampshire over the past ten years as Vice Chairman of the New Hampshire Plumbers Licensing Board. He currently serves his community as the Vice President of Seacoast Mental Health's Board of Directors. He has previously served on the Governor's Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission and the Board of Bridges, Rape & Assault Support Services of Nashua, New Hampshire.

Please feel free to contact Attorney Pendleton by email at jpendleton@granitestatelawyers.com or by telephone at (603) 433-7105

Richard Samdperil has been practicing criminal defense in New Hampshire since 1995.

He has tried and won cases in almost every court in southern New Hampshire, and has won new trials for convicted defendants at the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Richard's practice includes criminal defense, DWI defense, appellate litigation, and civil and personal injury litigation.

Samdperil & Welsh, PLLC maintains a state-wide criminal practice, with its principal clients in Rockingham and Strafford counties. The firm represents adult and juveniles in all types of criminal and family court matters, with a significant percentage of the practice devoted to clients under the age of 21.

BACKGROUND

After graduating from law school in 1994, Richard went to Georgia to work with lawyers defending capital murder cases. In 1995, Richard returned to New England, and has been working as a trial and appellate lawyer in the New Hampshire courts ever since.

As a trial lawyer, Richard has tried and won cases in the district and superior courts of Cheshire, Sullivan, Hillsborough, Rockingham, and Strafford counties. He estimates that he has tried over 100 cases before a judge or jury.

From 2000-2002, Richard worked as an attorney with the Appellate Defender Program at the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, NH. As an appellate lawyer, Richard briefed and argued dozens of cases before the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He has litigated over 50 cases before the State's highest court, many of which have resulted in published opinions.

Richard has also authored materials and taught defense lawyers on topics including New Hampshire constitutional law, law and forensic sciences, and the elements and defenses of common crimes. In 2007-08 Richard was an adjuct faculty member in the Criminal Justice Department at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH where he taught Criminal Law.

Richard is a member of both the National and New Hampshire Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and has been affiliated with both organizations for over a decade. Richard is also active in the local and state bar organizations. The law firm is a member of the Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce, and Seacoast Local.

Richard lives on New Hampshire's seacoast with his wife and three children.

For many years, Ed Van Dorn has provided personal injury victims in New Hampshire, Vermont and all of New England with comprehensive personal injury legal representation. He has represented clients in a wide variety of serious personal injury cases, including wrongful death, motor vehicle accidents, industrial accidents, medical malpractice cases, product liability cases and in dog bites cases. Most notably, Mr. Van Dorn, Jr. obtained three record-setting jury verdicts in three different states. He has been featured in the national legal professional journals U.S. Law Week and Trial Magaizine. He has served on the Board of Governors of the New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association, and presently serves on the Board of Governors of the Vermont Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Van Dorn is a certified civil trial lawyer by The National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has over 30 years of trial experience in representing seriously injured personal injury victims in five different states in the Northeast. If you need quality legal representation that leads to outstanding settlements or verdicts, contact our New Hampshire office to speak to personal injury lawyer Edward M. Van Dorn, Jr.
Education:
B. S. St. Peters College, Jersey City N.J, 1970. J.D. Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn N.Y. 1976

Professional Honors & Activities:
Judicial Clerkship with the Honorable Arthur Dwyer, Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, General Equity, Essex County, New Jersey, 1976-1977. Twice awarded New Hampshire Trial Attorney's Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Services to his Clients. Certified Civil Trial Attorney by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Member Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Three record setting jury verdicts in three states for serious personal injury cases.

I bring more than 30 years of experience to the practice of law. I help individuals, familes and small businesses solve legal problems, often without the need for assistance from the court.