Welts, White & Fontaine, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

Based in Nashua, New Hampshire, this multi-practice firm has served clients since 1978. Its lawyers work in state, federal, and bankruptcy courts within the state. That mix of forums suggests the firm handles both everyday civil matters and cases that reach the federal level.

The practice list is broad. It covers personal injury, workers' compensation, and family law on one side, and estate planning, wills, and probate on the other. The firm also takes corporate law, commercial litigation, and creditor bankruptcy work.

Real estate is a clear thread here. The firm names real estate development and land use, real estate litigation, and landlord and tenant matters as separate areas. Retail and commercial collections round out the business side.

On the criminal side, the firm handles motor vehicle violations, DUI charges, drug crime charges, and cyber and internet crimes. In my opinion, a firm that pairs criminal defense with this much civil and business work is aiming to be a general practice for southern New Hampshire rather than a single-issue shop.

How the team is built

The site names eleven attorneys, supported by paralegals and professional staff. Several of them have public detail worth noting, and the range of their backgrounds gives a sense of how the work is divided.

Long-tenured lawyers

Michael J. Fontaine has more than 35 years of experience representing injury victims in New Hampshire courtrooms. He also sits on the firm's management team. Jack S. White serves as Senior Counsel with more than four decades of practice, and he handles family law, including divorce.

George H. Thompson Jr. has practiced civil litigation at the firm since 1991. He holds a BA in economics from the University of New Hampshire, a JD from Suffolk University Law School, and an LLM in banking from Boston University School of Law. His work includes collections, foreclosure, replevins, landlord and tenant disputes, and mechanic's liens.

Mid-career and associate attorneys

Israel F. Piedra handles appellate matters and personal injury cases. He has been recognized on the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list and in a national peer-review listing. Nicole Fontaine Dooley earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2014 and focuses on commercial litigation and intellectual property litigation.

Davi M. Peters is an associate who earned a B.A. from Skidmore College in 1995 and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1999. Peters handles bankruptcy and debt collection, estate planning, health care, personal injury, and commercial, corporate, and civil litigation. That is a wide brief for one lawyer.

The site also lists Michael D. Brown, Sean M. Davidson, Barbara Halevi, Aryanna Villalva, and Brad Westgate as attorneys. Public detail on their individual practices was not available at the time of this review, so I will not guess at it.

Courts, memberships, and reach

The firm's lawyers belong to the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, the New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association, and the Nashua Bar Association. Two of those groups focus on trial and plaintiff-side work, which fits the personal injury and workers' compensation practice.

The firm's office is in Nashua. Beyond its home city, the firm says it serves Bedford, Manchester, Milford, and Windham, along with other communities in southern New Hampshire. For a client near the Massachusetts border, that reach covers much of the region's population.

What the record shows

The clearest fact about this firm is its age. A practice that has run since 1978 has stayed open through several economic cycles, and that longevity is its own kind of evidence. The named attorneys back this up: Fontaine at more than 35 years, White at more than 40, and Thompson at the firm since 1991.

The individual recognitions are limited but real. Piedra's listings in Super Lawyers Rising Stars and a national peer-review listing are the only named honors the site publishes, and they attach to one lawyer rather than the firm as a whole. As a reviewer, I read that as a firm content to let its history and its people speak instead of a wall of badges.

There are gaps. The site does not publish law schools or admission dates for every attorney, and detailed bios were not readable for most of the team. A visitor who wants to vet a specific lawyer may need to call and ask. That is a fair request to make of any firm.

Who might find this firm useful

The fit here is a client in the Nashua area who wants one office for more than one problem. Someone dealing with an injury claim, a divorce, an estate, or a business dispute could stay with the same firm across those needs.

The depth in real estate, collections, and bankruptcy also points to landlords, small businesses, and creditors as a natural audience. In my opinion, the firm reads as a steady, broad-based local practice rather than a niche boutique, and its long run in Nashua is the main thing a prospective client can weigh.