Peter E. Hutchins

A native of New Hampshire and a graduate of Dartmouth College and Boston College Law School, Peter is in his 25th year of legal practice in New Hampshire. He focuses his practice on plaintiff personal injury civil litigation in both state and federal courts. He has represented clients statewide in civil claims involving sexual abuse, medical malpractice, injuries to children, wrongful death, automobile accidents, products liability, liquor and restaurant liability, premises and commercial liability, recreational injuries, construction and work related injuries, brain injury cases, spinal cord and paraplegia injury cases, class actions, slander, libel, defamation and privacy issues. He has developed an extensive network of attorneys in New Hampshire and throughout New England who refer complex and catastrophic personal injury matters to him for representation in litigation in New Hampshire. He has represented numerous individuals and estates of individuals in cases involving catastrophic injury and/or death arising from auto and trucking accidents, medical malpractice, workplace and construction accidents, defective and dangerous products and automobiles, pharmaceutical malpractice, and the negligence of municipal and state governmental entities. Peter is also experienced at litigating both simple and complex insurance coverage matters on behalf of plaintiffs, and in challenging the applicability and constitutionality of restrictive legislation providing civil immunity to defendants and corporations guilty of negligence. In the past several years alone, Peter has argued several cases before the New Hampshire Supreme Court on legal issues arising from his complex plaintiff’s practice. His representation of victim survivors of sexual violence, abuse and harassment involve claims on behalf of both minors and adults against religious institutions, school districts, towns and municipalities, hospitals, individual perpetrators, day care facilities, recreational and youth sports organizations, medical professionals, and corporations and employers. The cases range from the sexual molestation and abuse of children, to the rape of adolescents and adults. In addition to representing his own clients in clergy abuse cases in New Hampshire, he served as local counsel in mass tort actions against the Archdiocese of Boston and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He has also successfully brought direct claims on behalf of New Hampshire residents against religious orders and institutions headquartered in other states and abroad. He has attended numerous national education conferences on clergy abuse and sexual abuse litigation generally. Peter has lectured extensively at educational seminars designed for lawyers in programs sponsored by both the New Hampshire Bar Association and the New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association. He has also appeared extensively on statewide television as a commentator on a variety of legal issues and cases, and has authored numerous editorials for the statewide newspaper on issues of immediate concern and importance to the legal profession and the pursuit of justice in New Hampshire. Beginning in the Fall of 2008, he will moderate a weekly television talk show focusing on legal issues of general importance to the public on MCTV in Manchester, New Hampshire. He serves as chair of the firm’s plaintiff personal injury group. In his spare time, Peter enjoys golf and officiating high school basketball. His wife Kathy owns her own residential real estate agency in Manchester, and his daughter Jamie is a client representative at Merrill Lynch in Manchester. AFFILIATIONS New Hampshire Bar Association: Secretary (1998-99, 2008-present) New Hampshire Bar Foundation: Director (1995-2002, 2008-present) New Hampshire Bar Association: President (2001-02) New Hampshire Bar Association: President Elect (2000-01) New Hampshire Bar Association: Vice President (1999-00) New Hampshire Bar Association: Secretary (1998-99) New Hampshire Bar Association: Governor-at-Large (1995-1998) New Hampshire Association for Justice (formerly NH Trial Lawyers Association)American Association for Justice (formerly American Trial Lawyers Association) New Hampshire Supreme Court Professional Conduct Committee (1999-00) New Hampshire Attorney Discipline Hearings Committee (2004-present) Manchester Bar Association (1983-present) American Bar Association (2000-2006) ABA Conference of Bar Presidents (2000-2006) Manchester Country ClubDartmouth Lawyers Association International Association of Approved Basketball OfficialsBAR MEMBERSHIPSNew Hampshire Bar Association (admitted 1983) The United States District Court for the District of New HampshireUnited States Court of Appeals for the First CircuitNOTABLE WORK  From 2002 through the present, Peter has successfully represented over 150 victims of clergy sexual abuse in New Hampshire against both the Diocese of Manchester and a variety of religious orders and parochial schools. During this time, he has achieved between $15 and $20 million in settlements on behalf of his client victim/survivors. In 2007, Peter successfully settled two cases in excess of $1 million. One of the cases was a sexual abuse claim, and the other involved a medical malpractice claim against a New Hampshire hospital and the physicians involved. Peter has worked closely with organizations opposing domestic violence and sexual abuse, and has testified extensively before the New Hampshire House and Senate in support of successful legislation extending the civil statute of limitations in New Hampshire for claims by victims of sexual abuse, most recently in 2008 relative to SB 311 which extends the limitation to the age of 30. Peter successfully briefed and argued an appeal before the New Hampshire Supreme Court which has served to clarify and define the law regarding tort claims for civil malicious prosecution and abuse of process in New Hampshire. Peter has argued a number of other significant cases before the New Hampshire Supreme Court, including cases challenging New Hampshire’s ski area immunity statute and recreational use statute. He also testified at length in 2006 before the New Hampshire legislature on legislation greatly limiting the rights of individuals injured by the negligence of ski area operators to seek compensation for catastrophic injury. Peter currently represents numerous victims of sexual abuse by teachers at both private and public educational facilities and schools. He has successfully opposed and defeated Motions to Dismiss sexual abuse claims alleging expiration of the statute of limitations. His sexual abuse victims range in age from 4 to 50+ years old. Peter’s medical malpractice clients involve individuals injured by the medical negligence of hospitals and practitioners alike, and include claims for negligent failure to diagnose, negligent treatment, and negligent operation of medical facilities and nursing homes. He has also represented clients against national pharmacy chains for the negligent filling of prescriptions. His practice, focusing as it does on medical and psychological injury to his clients through the legal fault of third parties, necessarily involves extensive negotiation on behalf of his clients with private and governmental health insurance providers. He is currently co-counsel on behalf of a New Hampshire client in a defamation case pending in federal court in New York against Dow Jones, Inc. and the Wall Street Journal. He has similarly served as co-counsel in numerous other cases involving defendants and/or litigation in jurisdictions outside New Hampshire. Peter has enjoyed great success at resolving the vast majority of his cases, both simple and complex tort matters, through the use of private mediation, achieving successful settlements for his injured clients while sparing them the risk, uncertainty and additional trauma of trial. During his 25 year career, Peter has tried over 60 civil injury cases to verdict in New Hampshire state and federal courts. He currently serves as chair of Wiggin & Nourie’s plaintiff personal injury group which is comprised of nine (9) attorneys who represent injured plaintiffs in New Hampshire – one of the largest plaintiff practice groups in the state. This group provides Peter and the firm with the resources and legal support necessary to handle the most difficult and complex of personal injury matters.