Hamblett & Kerrigan, P.A.

A practice with long roots in Nashua

Hamblett & Kerrigan, P.A. traces its start to 1889, when Charles Hamblett opened the practice. The firm describes itself as Nashua's oldest law firm. That is a long stretch of continuous work in one New Hampshire city. In my opinion, longevity like this deserves a mention on a directory built around evidence.

The firm works as a general practice. It serves individuals and businesses across New Hampshire and Massachusetts. It keeps two offices in New Hampshire, one in Nashua and one in Portsmouth. Spanish and Portuguese translators are available for clients who need them.

Focus and practice areas

The range of work here is wide. The firm lists personal injury, business law and disputes, estate planning and probate, and criminal defense. It also handles workers' compensation, family law and divorce, real estate, and employment law.

Beyond those, the menu adds appellate advocacy, general litigation, creditors' rights, and landlord representation. That breadth suits a general practice that has served the same region for a long time. A client with more than one legal need may find several of them covered under one roof.

Where the personal injury work sits

The firm says its personal injury attorneys hold more than 70 combined years of experience. Many personal injury cases are taken on a contingency fee basis. Under that arrangement, fees come from any recovery obtained rather than being paid up front. The site does not publish specific case results, so this review does not claim any.

How the team is built

Ten attorneys work at the firm, supported by five paralegals. The named lawyers cover the practice areas between them, and several carry more than one focus. Here is what the site states about each.

Joseph W. Kenny concentrates on trust and estate administration, estate planning, and taxation, including gift, estate, federal estate, and generation-skipping tax planning. Beth H. Davis practices real estate law. J. Daniel Marr handles business law, employment law, and entity formation.

Brenner G. Webb covers personal injury, workers' compensation, business law, criminal law, and family law and divorce. Kent M. Barker works in personal injury, family law and divorce, and criminal law. Brian C. Kelly practices estate planning and probate.

Robert M. Shepard's listed areas include family law and divorce, civil litigation, business and corporate law, landlord-tenant law, real estate and zoning, estate planning, and personal injury. Mark D. Kanakis practices commercial lending and real estate. Nicholas A. Kanakis handles loan workouts, collections, foreclosures, commercial real estate transactions, estate planning, and corporate law. Brittney M. White works across criminal law, abuse and neglect matters, termination of parental rights, estate planning, landlord-tenant law, civil litigation, and appellate advocacy.

One pattern stands out in that list. Estate planning shows up under several attorneys, not one. So does family law, and so does real estate. A firm that spreads a practice area across more than one lawyer can usually keep a matter moving when a single person is out or conflicted.

What the record shows on credentials

The firm publishes limited credential detail, and most of that detail sits with one attorney. Joseph W. Kenny earned his J.D. from New England School of Law in 1977. He was admitted in New Hampshire in 1978, Massachusetts in 1984, and Maine in 1998.

Kenny holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, a peer review mark. He belongs to the American, New Hampshire, and Nashua Bar Associations. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. As a reviewer, I read a peer rating and a fellowship as signals from inside the profession, which carry more weight than a slogan would.

For the other attorneys, the site names practice areas but not law schools or admission years. So this review lists what those pages state and stops there. Anyone weighing a specific lawyer may want to ask directly about bar admissions and years in practice.

Who may find this firm a fit

The picture is of a settled general practice with a broad menu and a small, named team. A person in New Hampshire or Massachusetts with a personal, family, property, or business matter could find a relevant attorney here. The two-office footprint and the translator support widen who can reach it.

The estate side looks well staffed, with Kenny's tax and trust focus backed by several colleagues who also list estate planning. The litigation and personal injury side is present too, with named attorneys and a stated pool of combined experience. Business owners have a route through Marr and the Kanakis attorneys for lending, formation, and collections.

In my opinion, the clearest evidence on the page is the mix of a long history, a fully listed team, and one attorney's public credentials. The firm keeps its own claims modest. That restraint fits a directory that values what a firm can show over what it can say.