New Hampshire Superior Court Judge Daniel Will is Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s pick to join the state’s highest court. If confirmed, Will would fill the vacancy on the court opened by the mandatory retirement of Justice Ann Barbara Hantz Marconi, who turns 70 next month.
Will, who is 59 and lives in Loudon, was appointed to the state Superior Court in 2021 by former Gov. Chris Sununu. Before that, Will was the state’s first solicitor general, a job in which he led high-profile appellate work for the state.
Will needs to be confirmed by the five-member Executive Council to take a seat on the Supreme Court.
“He has the qualifications, integrity, and commitment to public service Granite Staters expect in a Supreme Court Justice, and I am confident he will uphold the rule of law and our Constitution,” Ayotte said in a statement Tuesday announcing her nomination of Will.
Will has argued before the New Hampshire Supreme Court on a range of legal matters, including defending the state’s position in the Con-Val school funding lawsuit. Last year, the court ruled in that case that the state has failed to provide children in public schools with the “adequate education” guaranteed by the constitution.
Will has also represented the state in federal court, successfully defending Sununu’s use of emergency powers to suspend certain civil liberties during the COVID pandemic.
In a statement Tuesday, Will said he sees the role of a Justice as rooted in serving the law and people.
“Granite Staters expect fair and impartial decisions from their Supreme Court.” he said. “If confirmed, I will strive everyday to meet that expectation, uphold the rule of law, and help resolve disputes fairly and expeditiously.”
If he earns Executive Council approval, Will would join a court at a time of turmoil.
In addition to Marconi’s retirement — which comes just months after she pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge of trying to influence the criminal investigation of her husband, former state ports director Geno Marconi — there is also the question of Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald’s management of the court.
State investigators last year cleared MacDonald and other judicial managers of any criminal wrongdoing in connection to a $50,000 payout to a top court administrator. But the Department of Justice said the incident appears to have violated the Judicial Branch’s personnel procedures. The controversy, brought to light by a whistleblower, has brought more scrutiny to the court system.
Will is Ayotte’s second nominee to the state’s high court in recent months. In September, Bryan Gould was confirmed to the five-justice court.
