NH House family-court subcommittee assigns study groups to examine mediation, pro se materials, recordings and structure of family court

Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pearson called the meeting to order and opened the Family Court Subcommittee of the New Hampshire House Children and Family Law Committee to organize study work on family court practice and to comment on House Bill 652. "For the record, I am subcommittee chairman Mark Pearson," he said, adding that the group would draw on testimony collected by a prior special committee and on attorney research available to the panel.

The subcommittee agreed to retain House Bill 652 as a working document while also pursuing additional changes to the family court system. The chair described two broad study areas: pretrial work (how to help litigants reach agreement and who provides that help) and trial practice (court structure, evidence rules and judge training). He said the subcommittee would split topics into small, two-person working groups that may meet over the summer and report back in September.

Why it matters: family-court procedure affects litigants’ access to justice and how quickly cases move through the system. The panel emphasized changes aimed at reducing unnecessary trials and improving outcomes for parties who appear without lawyers.

Discussion highlights and assigned work

Mark Pearson described the subcommittee’s approach as collaborative and noted the prior special committee’s work that produced 12 hours of public testimony.…