Professor Musinsky Receives Ricker Achievement Award

Professor of Law and Externship Director Ellen J. Musinsky received the 2009 Marilla M. Ricker Achievement Award at a reception given by the New Hampshire Women's Bar Association (NHWBA) at its annual Fall Reception October 22.

The achievement award, celebrating its tenth year in 2009, is named for Marilla M. Ricker, the first woman to apply for admission to the New Hampshire bar.  It honors outstanding women lawyers in New Hampshire who have achieved professional excellence, paved the way to success for other women lawyers, advanced opportunities for women in the profession or performed exemplary public service on behalf of women.

The evenings presentations and celebration

The event was well-attended by a broad cross-section of the New Hampshire legal community, including fellow faculty and Franklin Pierce Law Center alumni.  Maureen Manning, JD '86 of Manning & Smith, and past-president of NHBWA was effusive in her praise of Prof Musinsky, pointing out her skills as a mentor and role model.

In her remarks at the reception, New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Carol Ann Conboy said, "Professor Musinsky deserves this award for many reasons – the most obvious of which is her consummate skill as a lawyer.  But I’d like to focus for a moment on her enormous contribution as a teacher.

"During my 17 years as a trial judge, I had the privilege of collaborating with Professor Musinsky as she supervised the many student externs who worked with me.  I saw first-hand her dedication to their education and to their development as ethical, compassionate lawyers committed to the rule of law.  Her pedagogy is unique:  Her gentle, but probing -- if not insistent -- manner, pulls from the most reticent student unvarnished self-examination. 

"As a nearly 20-year member of Pierce Law’s board of trustees, I also have a special insight into Professor Musinsky’s invaluable contribution to the tremendous growth of the school.  Her students are truly far-flung emissaries attesting to the quality of a Pierce Law education.  Her work – through them – has contributed immeasurably to the school’s reputation of producing graduates prepared to practice law from day one."

Professor Musinsky joined Franklin Pierce Law Center over twenty years ago and has worked to develop the clinical programs that train hundreds of students to be competent, as well as compassionate, attorneys.  She currently teaches and directs the externship program.  She has litigated cases at all court levels and has been actively involved in the legislative process.  She was one of the founders of the New Hampshire Women's Lobby and the New Hampshire Citizen's Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Rights.  She has served as chair of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and has served on the board of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union.

In receiving this award, Musinsky joins a coterie of Franklin Pierce Law Center honorees:  Cathy J. Green, JD '77 and Trustee, received the award in 2001; Adjunct Professor Emily Gray Rice was honored in 2003; Professor Mary Pilkington-Casey, JD '86, director of the school's Administrative Advocacy Clinic was awarded it in 2005; Adjunct Professor Barbara Keshen was selected in 2006; and Sherilyn Burnett Young, JD '82 and Trustee, was the recipient in 2007.  Last year's Ricker Achievement Award was  presented to Justice Carol Ann Conboy, JD '78 and Trustee.

Dean John D. Hutson noted after the event, "It was a grand and gracious evening which was made all the better by the clear recognition of how many times our graduates have received this award.  It really is quite remarkable."