Prominent Attorney Terry Shumaker to Join Bernstein Shur in Manchester, N.H.

Shumaker, a former U.S. ambassador, is well known in N.H. for ability in alternative dispute resolution

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Edward “Terry” Shumaker, a prominent New Hampshire attorney, is joining Bernstein Shur as a shareholder in its Manchester office, officials at the regional law firm have announced.
Shumaker, a former U.S. ambassador and a long-time labor and employment attorney in the Granite State, is leaving his post as executive director and general counsel of the National Education Association in N.H. to join the firm March 1.

At Bernstein Shur, Shumaker will focus his practice on commercial and employment arbitration and mediation, in addition to labor and employment counseling. He will provide ADR services throughout New England and nationally.

A Concord resident, Shumaker served as the United States ambassador to Trinidad from 1997 to 2001, and was previously a long-time partner and president of Gallagher, Callahan, and Gartrell in Concord.

“I am grateful for having had the opportunity to serve the NEA, an important institution,” Shumaker said. “I am excited about joining Bernstein Shur, a firm I have always respected.”

“An attorney of Terry Shumaker’s caliber is a significant addition for Bernstein Shur,” said Andru Volinsky, who manages the firm’s Manchester office. “His dispute resolution skills and expertise in labor and employment law will help our clients in many ways and add another important dimension to our practice in New Hampshire.”

Charles E. Miller, the firm’s managing shareholder, agreed.

“Our goal in continuing to expand the Manchester practice is to provide clients in the New Hampshire region with a wide range of unmatched legal expertise and services,” Miller said. “Hiring Terry Shumaker to join our already formidable team marks another important step in that direction.”

Shumaker is a panel arbitrator and mediator with the American Arbitration Association. He also is an approved mediator by the U.S. District Court in N.H., the New Hampshire Superior Court and the Human Rights Commission.

Shumaker, who was the first N.H. attorney to be inducted as a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, has an extensive list of public and professional service. He served as chair of the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad during his stint as ambassador, co-chair of the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section’s Subcommittee on International Trade, and commissioner of the National Commission for Employment Policy. In addition, he was an attorney member of the New Hampshire Supreme Court Rules Committee from 1984 to 1997 and is co-founder of the New Hampshire Labor & Employment Law Section of the New Hampshire Bar Association.

Shumaker is a 1970 graduate of Dartmouth College and received his law degree in 1973 from Boston University School of Law. In the 1970s, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

Bernstein Shur is one of northern New England’s largest multi-service law firms, with more than 90 attorneys in offices in Maine and New Hampshire. Founded in 1915, the firm provides practical and innovative counsel in the areas of business law, litigation, and municipal law to clients throughout the region and around the world. Bernstein Shur is Maine's exclusive member of Lex Mundi, the world's leading association of independent law firms. For more information, visit bernsteinshur.com.

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