Approaching Statutory Interpretation (Federal Practice Sec Mtg)Federal Practice Section Meeting

Hon. Joseph N. Laplante is the chief judge of the US District Court for the District of NH in Concord. He was appointed as a U.S. district judge in 2007 after five years in the US Attorney’s Offices in Boston, MA and Concord, NH working primarily for the New England Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, as both assistant and first assistant US attorney. Judge Laplante also worked in the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice in Washington and Los Angeles, the NH Attorney General's Office Homicide Unit, and the Manchester, NH law firm of Wiggin & Nourie. He has served as Chief Judge since 2011. Judge Laplante earned both his A.B. (1987) and his J.D. (1990) from Georgetown University, and attended one semester (3L, non-matriculating) at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is an adjunct professor of law at Boston College Law School, the University of New Hampshire School of Law, and Suffolk University Law School, teaching statutory interpretation. He has written several articles of legal analysis published in the NH Bar Journal, and book reviews for the NH Bar News. Judge Laplante is the co-chair of the N.H. Access to Justice Commission, and a member of the Nashua Bar Association and the Webster-Batchelder American Inns of Court. He has served on the NHBA’s New Lawyers’ Committee (former chair), the Committee on Professionalism (former chair), and the Committee on Cooperation with the Courts. Awards he has received include the American College of Trial Lawyers Golden Gavel Award (2018); the NH Bar Association’s Distinguished Service to the Public Award (2017); the NH Bar Foundation’s Robert E. Kirby Award (2001); the Edward “Ted” Jordan Humanitarian Award (Nashua Bar Association 2008); and the Thomas More Award. Prior to assuming the bench, he received several awards from the New England Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force; the NH Drug Task Force; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the Boston Police Department; and the NH Congressional Delegation. Judge Laplante is the vice chair of the Rivier University Board of Trustees, vice chair of the St. Paul’s School Advanced Studies Program Board of Overseers, and sits on the Georgetown University Alumni Association Board of Governors. He serves on the United States Judicial Conference (governing body of US Judiciary) Committee on Court Administration and Case Management (CACM), as well as the First Circuit Judicial Council and the Board of Directors for the Federal Judges Association. Locally, the majority of Judge Laplante’s volunteer time is spent at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua, and Nashua PAL. 10/18