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Marilla M. Ricker Achievement Award |
Congratulations to the 2026 Marilla M. Ricker Achievement Award to UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law Interim Dean Courtney Q. Brooks. |
| Courtney Q. Brooks is the Interim Dean at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law where she has worked since 2010 serving in a range of leadership roles focused on client readiness and professional development. She has directed the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program (DWS) since 2020, served as Associate Dean for Faculty from July 2024 through January 2026, and directed the Legal Residency Program between 2011 and 2020. Brooks continues to lead the DWS Program while serving as Interim Dean. The DWS Program is the nation’s first and only alternative bar licensing program. Launched in partnership with the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the New Hampshire Bar in 2005, the award-winning program has been widely recognized as a model for the future of legal education. DWS provides students with a rigorous combination of practical skills training and performance-based assessment over two years. |
Assigned bar examiners evaluate students’ work, and successful students are admitted to the New Hampshire Bar the day before graduation, without taking the traditional two-day bar exam—allowing graduates to launch their legal careers immediately.
Before joining UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, Brooks practiced complex commercial litigation at national and regional law firms, including Nixon Peabody LLP in Manchester, New Hampshire; Pierce Atwood LLP in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Reed Smith LLP in Oakland, California. Her practice focused on representing businesses—including national banks and pharmaceutical and medical device companies—in product liability and complex business disputes, including litigation matters involving contracts, partnerships, trademarks, trade secrets, patents, and consumer protection claims in both federal and state courts. Brooks is proud to have served on the NH Women’s Bar Association Board between 2014 and 2020. |
We are excited to celebrate and formally present this award to Interim Dean Brooks at our 2026 Fall Reception on Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. Register today to celebrate her achievements, the 2026 Winnie McLaughlin Scholarship recipient, Camila De Paula, and the NHWBA's accomplishments in the past year. |
Since 2000, the Marilla M. Ricker Achievement Award has been presented annually at NHWBA's Fall Reception. Its recipients are women lawyers who have achieved professional excellence, and paved the way to success for other women lawyers, or advanced opportunities for women in the legal profession, and/or performed exemplary public service on behalf of women.
You can learn more about Marilla M. Ricker, a woman of many New Hampshire legal firsts, here.
Nomination Process
The Award(s) will be presented at NHWBA’s Annual Fall Reception. NHWBA Board of Director members currently serving on the Board and/or who served on the Board during the most recent 2-year term are not eligible for the Award.
To nominate a woman lawyer: (1) Complete the Nomination Form; (2) Attach a copy of the nominee’s resume or biography; and (3) Describe in your own words how the nominee has:
A. Achieved professional excellence; AND
B. Paved the way to success for other women lawyers; AND/OR
C. Advanced opportunities for women in the legal profession; AND/OR
D. Performed exemplary public service on behalf of women.
The narrative should not exceed two typed pages and should contain concrete examples for at least one of the listed criteria. You may attach articles written by the nominee or other letters of support from individuals or organizations.
All nominations shall remain active for a period of three years. Materials may be submitted to update and/or supplement a nomination during that same time period.
Send the following nomination materials via email or mail:
Nominations are being accepted until Wednesday, July 1, 2026. | Email: info@NHWBA.org |
Past Ricker Award Winners |
| 2025 Lauren J. Noether 2024 Hon. Landya B. McCafferty 2023 Charla Stevens 2022 Christine M. Rockefeller 2021 Robin D. Melone 2020 Hon. Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi 2019 Maureen Raiche Manning 2018 Catherine E. Shanelaris 2017 Hon. Linda Stewart Dalianis 2016 Jennifer L. Parent 2015 Jane E. Young 2014 Carol L. Hess 2013 Hon. Tina L. Nadeau 2012 Connie Rakowsky 2011 Lucy C. Hodder 2010 Marital Master Deborah Kane Rein 2009 Ellen J. Musinsky 2008 Hon. Carol Ann Conboy 2007 Sherilyn Burnett Young 2006 Barbara Keshen 2005 Mary Pilkington-Casey 2004 Rep. Ann McLane Kuster 2003 Hon. Jean K. Burling and Emily G. Rice 2002 Linda S. Johnson and Deborah J. Cooper 2001 Cathy J. Green and Mary Susan Leahy 2000 Hon. Susan B. Carbon and Martha Van Oot |
(L to R): Hon. Susan B. Carbon, Catherine E. Shanelaris, Christine M. Rockefeller, Connie Rakowsky, Hon. Landya B. McCafferty,
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Front (L to R): Ellen Musinsky, Hon. Jean K. Burling, Hon. Tina Nadeau, Justice Linda Dalianis, Justice Carol Ann Conboy, Hon. Susan Carbon, Jennifer Parent |
Back (L to R): Marital Master Deborah Kane Rein, Jennifer Parent, Ellen Musinsky
L to R: Ellen Musinsky, Justice Carol Ann Conboy, Emily Rice, Deborah Rein, Connie Rakowsky, Lucy C. Hodder, Mary Susan Leahy, Jennifer Parent, Hon. Susan Carbon
Back (L to R): Carol Hess, Linda Johnson, Cathy Green, Representative Ann McLane Kuster, Deborah Rein, Connie Rakowsky, Emily Rice