Gardner, Fulton & Waugh to Merge with Drummond Woodsum

Law firms team up to better serve New Hampshire municipalities and school districts

Drummond Woodsum is teaming up with Gardner Fulton & Waugh to create a single team with greater depth and resources to meet the needs of New Hampshire municipal and school clients.  The two firms made the announcement at the New Hampshire Municipal Association annual conference in Manchester.  The merger will be completed in January, 2019.

Headquartered in Lebanon, Gardner Fulton & Waugh attorneys Adele Fulton, Shawn Tanguay, Matt Decker, Christine Fillmore, Jennifer Stralka, Jane Taylor, Cathryn “Cappy” Nunlist and Bernie Waugh will all join Drummond Woodsum and will continue to serve the legal needs of numerous New Hampshire municipalities and school districts. Founded in 1965, Drummond Woodsum is a full-service law firm with over 80 professionals with offices in Manchester and Portsmouth, New Hampshire and in Portland, Maine. The firm represents municipalities and school districts in Maine and New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, Drummond Woodsum’s municipal team includes attorneys Matt Serge, Matt Upton, Keri Roman, Mark Broth, Anna Cole and Greg Im. The combined firms will be among the largest providers of legal services to the public sector in New Hampshire, enabling Drummond Woodsum and Gardner Fulton & Waugh lawyers to provide the greatest depth of service and experience to New Hampshire towns, cities, counties and school districts. The combined firms will continue to provide services from offices in Lebanon, Manchester and Portsmouth, and will use the Drummond Woodsum name.

“Our firm has been steadily growing over the past 15 years and has become a leading law firm focused on representing municipalities and, more recently, school districts in New Hampshire. All of us at Gardner Fulton & Waugh are enthusiastic about this upcoming merger and becoming part of one combined team of attorneys with Drummond Woodsum. We both have a shared focus on serving the needs of our municipal and school law clients and the strengths of both firms will be joined into one team, in one firm, to enhance benefits available to our mutual clients,” said Adele Fulton, Gardner Fulton & Waugh managing partner.

“We are very excited about merging with Gardner Fulton & Waugh. We have had many opportunities over the years to work with their lawyers and know that we share common values. Most importantly, we believe in local government and understand its importance to New Hampshire communities. Our firms share the same commitment to helping town, city, county and school district officials perform their necessary and important functions. Our combined depth of experience allows us to offer a wider range of legal services and to enhance our client services available to our clients, creating efficiencies while enhancing our customer service,” said Mark Broth, Drummond Woodsum’s managing shareholder in New Hampshire.

The merged firms will continue to provide New Hampshire municipalities with legal services in such areas as land use, planning, zoning and enforcement; ordinance drafting; shorefront access; tax abatement; general municipal matters; labor and employment; and litigation and appeals. Drummond Woodsum attorneys also provide legal services to municipalities and school districts in the areas of municipal bonds, public finance, and environmental law.

View the Gardner Fulton & Waugh merger FAQs here.