State supreme court chief justice resigns after staffer receives nearly $50K payout
The chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court resigned Tuesday after admitting to violating the judicial code of conduct connected to the removal and reappointment of a former staff member.
New Hampshire Public Radio and Law.com have coverage.
Dianne Martin, the director of the administrative office of the courts, was laid off in April 2025, resulting in a payout of nearly $50,000 for unused annual leave, sick leave and termination pay. But two days later, she was hired as the general counsel of bar admissions in the judicial branch.
According to New Hampshire Public Radio, the move came during a time when the judiciary in New Hampshire was in a budget crisis.
Shortly after New Hampshire Public Radio broke the original story in October questioning the timing of rehiring of Martin, a longtime ally of former Chief Justice Gordon J. MacDonald, the New Hampshire Department of Justice completed a preliminary review of the move a month later.
In the stipulation and agreement issued by the New Hampshire Judicial Conduct Committee, an independent panel of judges and lawyers that investigates wrongdoing by state judges, MacDonald, who was in his chief justice post for five years, acknowledged his role in Martin’s employment moves.
And in the released findings, the committee found that MacDonald failed to “promote public confidence” in the judiciary, failed to perform his duties competently, and failed to “avoid favoritism with respect to the removal of Dianne Martin” from her position. In the 583-page report, MacDonald stated he and three additional state supreme court judges weighed in on the decision to lay off and rehire Martin.
In his Sept. 15 resignation letter to New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte, he wrote, “I believe this is in the best interests of the New Hampshire judicial branch. I accept responsibility and accountability for my conduct.”
McDonald, 64, has been on medical leave since late July—with no reason stated.
In a statement Tuesday, the state supreme court’s associate justices acknowledged that the chief justice had resigned, and that they had taken on his duties during his absence.
MacDonald also chairs the Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform, a group established by the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators, which published an influential report in 2025 that made recommendations to state courts regarding practice readiness for new lawyers, focused law school accreditation on the public, and encouraged experiential learning.
He was named a 2026 ABA Journal Legal Rebel for that work.
The National Center for State Courts declined to comment. A request for comment from New Mexico Supreme Court Justice C. Shannon Bacon, the vice chair of the Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform, was not immediately returned.
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